Bright Light Therapy for MDD in Children and Adolescents: a narrative review of literature

Abstract

Introduction Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a common mood disorder diagnosed in children and adolescents. Bright light therapy has been effective for seasonal affective disorders, however its role in the treatment of MDD is under studied. Objectives Our objective is to evaluate if bright light therapy (BLT) is a practical approach in treating Child and Adolescents having MDD. Methods We performed an extensive literature search using a wide range of MeSH terms in PubMed, PubMed Central and Google Scholar. We reviewed the literature for studies (published between 1983-2021) assessing the efficacy of BLT in the treatment of MDD in children and adolescents. Results The final search results yielded 8 randomized clinical trials and 1 case report from 1983 to 2021. BLT showed a superior effect in children and adolescents with MDD compared to the control group in the majority of the randomized trials and a case report. In six studies BLT showed good effect, however in a study by Magnusson et al. and Sonis et al., found a milder degree of improvement in depression symptoms when compared to the control group. In the majority of the studies, patients’ age range was 7 years 18 and in most of the studies, patients were not on antidepressants. Conclusions The use of BLT in children and adolescents suffering from MDD can be a promising alternative method of biological treatment, which is effective as well as well tolerated. Future long-term studies on large sample size are necessary in this field. Disclosure No significant relationships.

Keywords

• MDD
• Bright light therapy