William Beardslee, MD

Department	Psychiatry
Hospital Title	Director, Baer Prevention Initiatives
Academic Title	Gardner/Monks Professor of Child Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Phone	617-919-4629
Fax	617-730-0759
Email	William Beardslee
Website	Web-based training in the intervention Dr. Beardslee developed, Family Talk, is available at www.fampod.org
Location	Children’s Hospital Boston Department of Psychiatry Center for Behavioral Science 21 Autumn Street Room 130.2 Boston, MA 02115

Research Overview

William Beardslee's research focuses on depression in children. He is principal investigator of long-term study that he and several colleagues first embarked upon in 1979. The researchers studied the lives of 275 children from 143 families in which the parents had depression or several risk factors for depression.

From this research he identified risk factors for depression in children and went on to implement a prevention program for families in crisis.In the last several years, the research effort has focused on helping other investigators use the approach, on treatment and preventive approaches for childhood depression and on international collaborations.

About William Beardslee

William Beardslee received his MD degree from Case Western Reserve University. He completed an internship at University of California Medical Center and a residency and fellowship at Children's Hospital Boston

Dr. Beardslee is the author of over 100 articles and chapters and two books: The Way Out Must Lead In: Life Histories in the Civil Rights Movement, which explores the mechanisms that allowed civil rights workers to endure; and Out of the Darkened Room: When a Parent Is Depressed: Protecting the Children and Strengthening the Family, a book about how parents and caregivers can help families overcome depression.

Key Publications

Journal

• Beardslee WR. "The role of self-understanding in resilient individuals: The development of a perspective". American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 59:2, 266-278, 1989.
• Beardslee WR. "Prevention and the clinical encounter". American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 68:4, 521-533, 1998.
• Beardslee WR, Gladstone TRG, Wright EJ, and Cooper AB. "A family-based approach to the prevention of depressive symptoms in children at risk: Evidence of parental and child change". Pediatrics, 112(2), e119-e131, August 2003.
• Szigethy E, Whitton SW, Levy-Warren A, DeMaso DR, Weisz J, and Beardslee WR. "Cognitive-behavioral therapy for depression in adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease: A pilot study". J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry, 43(12), 1469-1477, 2004.
• Beardslee WR, Wright EJ, Gladstone TRG, and Forbes P. "Long-term effects from a randomized trial of two public health preventive interventions for parental depression". J Family Psychol, 21, 703-713, 2008.
• DAngelo EJ, Llerena-Quinn R, Shapiro R, Colon F, Gallagher K, and Beardslee WR. "Adaptation of the preventive intervention program for depression for use with Latino families". Fam Process, 48(2), 269-291, 2009.
• Garber J, Clarke GN, Weersing VR, Beardslee WR, Brent DA, Gladstone TRG, DeBar LL, Lynch FL, DAngelo E, Hollon SD, Shamseddeen W, and Iyengar S.. "Prevention of depression in at-risk adolescents: A randomized controlled trial". JAMA, 301(21), 2215-2224, 2009.
• Lester P, Peterson K, Reeves J, Knauss L, Glover G, Mogil C, Duan N, Saltzman W, Pynoos R, Wilt K, and Beardslee W. "The long war and parental combat deployment: Effects on military children and at-home spouses". JAACAP, 310-320, 2010.
• Beardslee WR, Ayoub C, Avery MW, Watts CI, and OCarroll KL. "Family Connections: An approach for strengthening early care systems in facing depression and adversity". Am J Orthopsychiatry, 80(4), 482-95, 2010.
• Beardslee WR, Chien PL, and Bell CC. "Prevention of mental disorders, substance abuse, and behavioral problems: A developmental perspective". Psychiatr Serv, 62(3), 247-254, 2011.
• Beardslee WR, Paez A, Herrera LD, Montero F, Herrera HC, Llerena-Quinn RI, Arenales GA, and Alvarado MD. "Adaptation of a preventive intervention approach to strengthen families facing adversities, especially depression". Int J of Mental Health Promotion, 13(2) , 5-13, 2011.
• Beardslee, WR, Gladstone, TRG, and OConnor, E. . "Children of affectively ill parents: A review of the past 12 years". JAACAP, 50, 1098-1109, 2011.
• Beardslee WR, Lester P, Klosinski L, Saltzman W, Woodward K, Nash W, Mogil C, Koffman R, and Leskin G. "Family-centered preventive intervention for military families: Implications for implementation science". Prev Sci, 2011.

Book

• Beardslee WR. "When a parent is depressed: How to protect your children from the effects of depression in the family". Little, Brown and Company, 2002, Paperback 2003.
• National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. Preventing Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People: Progress and Possibilities. Committee on Prevention of Mental Disorders and Substance Abuse Among Children, Youth, and Young Adults: Research Advances and Promising Interventions. O’Connell ME, Boat T, and. Warner KE, Editors. Board on Children, Youth, and Families, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. 2009.