To investigate the clinical efficacy of transcranial magnetic stimulation combined with cognitive behavioral therapy in adolescents with mild depression.

A total of 160 adolescents diagnosed with mild depression at Taixing City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from January 2023 to January 2025 were selected and randomly divided into a control group (80 cases) and an observation group (80 cases) using a random number table. The control group received cognitive behavioral therapy, while the observation group received transcranial magnetic stimulation in addition to the cognitive behavioral therapy regimen. The total effective rate of treatment, anxiety scores, coping style scores, somatization scores, depression scale scores, and levels of disease-related factors before and after treatment were compared between the two groups.

The total effective rate in the observation group (96.25%) was higher than that in the control group (77.50%), with a statistically significant difference (P<0.05). Before treatment, there were no significant differences in anxiety scores, coping style scores, or somatization scores between the two groups (P>0.05). After treatment, the observation group showed better results than the control group in anxiety scores, coping style scores, and somatization scores, with statistically significant differences (P<0.05). Before treatment, there was no significant difference in depression scale scores between the two groups (P>0.05), whereas after treatment, the observation group had lower depression scale scores than the control group, with a statistically significant difference (P<0.05). Before treatment, there were no significant differences in levels of disease-related factors between the two groups (P>0.05). After treatment, the observation group had better levels of disease-related factors than the control group, with statistically significant differences (P<0.05).

Cognitive behavioral therapy combined with transcranial magnetic stimulation can enhance clinical efficacy in adolescents with mild depression, improve anxiety and depressive responses, alleviate disease severity, and achieve good therapeutic outcomes.