Depression in children and adolescents

The EBMH Notebook summarises key messages about depression in children and adolescents, sourced from Clin Evid Concise2003;10:62–4.[OpenUrl][1] For this review, Clinical Evidence Concise searched and appraised material published until September 2002. Compared with adult depression, depression in children (6–12 years) and adolescents (13–18 years) may have a more insidious onset, may be characterised more by irritability than sadness, and occurs more often in association with other conditions such as anxiety, conduct disorder, hyperkinesis, and learning problems.1 Estimates of prevalence of depression among children and adolescents in the community range from 2–6%.2–,3 Prevalence tends to increase with age, with a sharp rise around onset of puberty. Pre-adolescent boys and girls are affected equally by the condition, but depression is seen more frequently among adolescent girls than boys.4 The aetiology is uncertain, but may include genetic vulnerability,5 childhood events … [1]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DClin%2BEvid%2BConcise%26rft.volume%253D10%26rft.spage%253D62%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx