Background: The occurrence of depressive disorders in adolescence is of high individual and social importance because of their prevalence and persistence into adulthood and their co-morbidity with other psychological disorders and psychosocial problems. International researchers have recognized the seriousness of depressive disorders in adolescence and thus have been involved in the development and evaluation of prevention programs.

Methods: This article will present the difficulties encountered in prevention research with adolescents and in the determination of prevention program efficacy. The main focus will be an overview of current prevention programs and their efficacy with special attention paid to programs featured in the German language literature. Finally, this article will highlight future directions for prevention research.

Conclusions: In spite of some critical points, there appears to be a positive outlook for depression prevention programs for adolescents. There is currently support for universal depression prevention programs that may be incorporated into school settings and on which future research may build. It is expected that the methodological problems highlighted in this article may be corrected in the next few years, which may result in more effective, easily integrated programs and a more thorough understanding of adolescent depression.