There were a total of 30 participants in the experiment. This was not a huge amount of participants, but it was enough for the researchers to maintain more control in the study. The participants were children (ages 7-11) and adolescents (ages 12-16) who were diagnosed with MDD at least 5 weeks prior this study in the NYS Psychiatric Institute in New York City. Before the study began, the researcher made sure the participants were not receiving any medications or therapy after being diagnosed to prevent any alterations in the results. Participants were going to receive $500 at the end of the study as a reward for participating. Every participant was asked to fill out a consent sheet with their parents signature giving permission to their participation
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This design was perfect for this study because the effect of different treatments were being tested on different groups. There were advantages and disadvantages to this experimental design. One of the main disadvantages was that there were certain differences among the participants and groups. Genetic differences and different lifestyles could exist among participants. Also, the different factors that caused MDD in the participants could also have an influence on how the treatments would be working on each patient. One advantage in this design was that it worked hand to hand with the purpose of this experiment because researchers were able to randomly assign participants to their groups, and each group received different treatments. Participants were randomly divided into three groups. Group A was treated with the pharmacotherapy Citalopram. This group started with a dose of 20 mg per day, and 5 mg were increased every two weeks up to 40 mg. Researchers started with a dose of 20 mg per day because it is recommended a similar dose or less to prevent risk of QT prolongation, which is a heart rhythm disorder (Drugs.com, n.d). Group B received one session of CBT per day every other day with the same psychotherapist during the complete experiment to avoid any differences within the psychotherapists. Lastly, group C was the group receiving both types of treatments. This group received the same amount of treatments that the other two groups
This design was perfect for this study because the effect of different treatments were being tested on different groups. There were advantages and disadvantages to this experimental design. One of the main disadvantages was that there were certain differences among the participants and groups. Genetic differences and different lifestyles could exist among participants. Also, the different factors that caused MDD in the participants could also have an influence on how the treatments would be working on each patient. One advantage in this design was that it worked hand to hand with the purpose of this experiment because researchers were able to randomly assign participants to their groups, and each group received different treatments. Participants were randomly divided into three groups. Group A was treated with the pharmacotherapy Citalopram. This group started with a dose of 20 mg per day, and 5 mg were increased every two weeks up to 40 mg. Researchers started with a dose of 20 mg per day because it is recommended a similar dose or less to prevent risk of QT prolongation, which is a heart rhythm disorder (Drugs.com, n.d). Group B received one session of CBT per day every other day with the same psychotherapist during the complete experiment to avoid any differences within the psychotherapists. Lastly, group C was the group receiving both types of treatments. This group received the same amount of treatments that the other two groups