A Systematic Review of Treatments for Depression for Young Black Girls and Women

ABSTRACT Suicide rates among Black women and girls have been rising, with depression being a major precursor to suicide attempts. Implementing evidence‐based treatments for depression could significantly help in reducing these suicide rates. As such, the aim of the study was to review treatment effects of depression intervention on young Black girls and women (YBGW) across treatment settings. Studies that used Randomized Controlled Trials (RCT) to reduce depressive symptomatology in Black girls and women ages 12–29 were eligible for inclusion. Following the review of 715 abstracts and 68 full‐text articles, 12 studies were ultimately selected. The RCT articles were then organized into four categories based on the intervention methods used in the study. Notably, only two studies specifically targeted YBGW, and only one provided treatment effect sizes for this group. The remaining RCTs did not include data specific to YBGW, limiting the ability to draw robust conclusions regarding treatment effects on depression. Despite these limitation, the study highlights the critical need for targeted depression interventions to address the rising suicide rates among Black women and girls.