Research Article Critique

 Research Article Critique
Research articles create the basis for many studies. Data gathered by specialists
in the field can help other researchers to access information that could not be analyzed
otherwise. The scope of research articles implies that authors have to rely on each
other’s findings to create a system of relevant and logically explained conclusions.
Meta-analytic reviews play a significant role in this situation because they collect and
analyze large amounts of data in order to provide other researchers with a solid
foundation for further findings. Therefore, it is important for researchers to assess the
quality of such works and determine their usefulness for society and science. For
example, the article “A Meta-Analytic Review of Depression Prevention Programs for
Children and Adolescents: Factors that Predict Magnitude of Intervention Effects,”
written by Stice, Shaw, Bohon, Marti, and Rohde in 2009, can be used by psychologists
and other medical professionals. This study explores the topic of depression in children
and adolescents. This paper aims to critique the mentioned article and find its strong
and weak points as well as discuss its importance for future research and society
overall.
Article Summary
The article focuses on the topic of depression among children and adolescents.
According to Stice, Shaw, Bohon, Marti, and Rohde (2009), the problem of major
depression in young individuals is one of the most common psychiatric issues for that
age. Thus, medical professionals have created many ways to treat this problem, relying
mostly on depression prevention. The authors argue that while some studies attempted
to analyze the effects of such depression prevention programs, nobody has conducted 
RESEARCH ARTICLE CRITIQUE 4
a meta-analytic study that would review and evaluate different methods of prevention as
well as the contents of each method and their effectiveness. According to the text, this
article aims to collect information from a wider range of studies and extent old reviews
by looking at a number of additional recent trials.
The authors outline a number of hypotheses that can be derived from the
investigated studies. First of all, they believe that high-risk individuals respond to
prevention programs better than other participants. Moreover, programs that are
targeted at a specific issue rather than general prevention result in participants being
more active and responsive to the treatment (Stice et al., 2009). Secondly, the article
proposes that female youth displays more effects of depression prevention programs
than young male participants because girls are reported to have more visible symptoms
than boys. The next hypothesis evaluates the connection between participant ethnicity
and effects of the programs. The authors suggest that participants, who belong to an
ethnic minority, can show mixed results in their response to a prevention program.
However, the correlation between ethnicity and treatment outcomes are not investigated
enough to make further claims. The researchers hypothesize that older youth are more
susceptible to programs than younger participants due to their ability to understand
complex concepts and ideas (Stice et al., 2009). Finally, the study examines the relation
of participants’ age to their level of program reception.
The authors investigate features of created interventions and look at programs’
content. According to the article, characteristics of prevention programs significantly
affect treatment results. For example, the authors hypothesize that the content of such
programs is the main influencing factor of every intervention. Thus, the authors describe 
RESEARCH ARTICLE CRITIQUE 5
a number of the most frequently used approaches, including change of cognition,
encouragement to participate in pleasant activities, development of problem-solving
skills, and promotion of social interactions. Furthermore, longer interventions are
supposed to be more efficient than short ones (Stice et al., 2009). Finally, programs that
incorporate homework as a way to encourage children to continue treatment after
sessions are believed to produce good results.
Upon analyzing forty-six trials of programs for depression prevention, the authors
come to multiple conclusions. According to the researched studies, female participants
are more motivated to participate in treatment. Thus, the effects of studies that focus on
female youth show greater effects of depression prevention than the others do. The
connection between age and program effectiveness also stands true, as older
adolescent participants are said to encounter more problems due to their occupation
and age. Furthermore, ethnic minority youth may require medical professionals to
create specific programs for prevention that will be tailored to the groups’ unique cultural
and psychological characteristics. According to the authors, the content of preventio