Depression in childhood and adolescence
Depression in childhood and adolescence is similar to adult
Base rates and prevalence
About 8% of children and adolescents suffer from depression.
Suicidal intent
Like their adult counterparts, children and adolescents suffering from depression are at an increased risk of attempting or committing suicide.[15] Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among 15- to 19-year-olds.[16] Adolescent males may be at an even higher risk of suicidal behavior when also presenting with a conduct disorder.[17] In the 1990s, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) found that up to 7% of adolescents who develop major depressive disorder may commit suicide as young adults.[18] Such statistics demonstrate the importance of interventions by family and friends, the importance of early diagnosis, and treatment by medical staff, in order to prevent suicide amongst youth at-risk. However, some data showed an opposite conclusion. Most depression symptoms are reported more frequently by females; such as sadness (reported by 85.1% of women and 54.3% of men) and crying (approximately 63.4% of women and 42.9% of men). Women have a higher probability to experience depression than men, with the prevalence of 19.2% and 13.5% respectively.[19]
Risk factor
Comorbidity
There is also a substantial comorbidity rate with depression in children with anxiety disorder, conduct disorder, and impaired social functioning.[1][29] Particularly, there is a high comorbidity rate with anxiety, ranging from 15.9% to 75%.[29][30][unreliable medical source?] Conduct disorders also have a significant comorbidity with depression in children and adolescents, with a rate of 23% in one longitudinal study.[31][unreliable medical source?] Beyond other clinical disorders, there is also an association between depression in childhood, poor psychosocial and academic outcomes, as well as a higher risk for substance abuse and suicide.[1]
The prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities during adolescence may vary by race and ethnicity.[32]
Social causes
Adolescents are engaged in a search for identity and meaning in their lives. They have also been regarded as a unique group with a wide range of difficulties and problems in their transition to adulthood. Academic pressure, intrapersonal and interpersonal difficulties, death of loved ones, illnesses, and loss of relationships, have shown to be significant stressors in young people.[33] While it is a normal part of development in adolescence to experience distressing and disabling emotions, there is an increasing incidence of mental illness globally. Depression is usually a response to life events such as relationship issues, financial problems, physical illness, bereavement, etc. Some people can become depressed for no obvious reason and their suffering is just as real as those reacting from life events. Psychological makeup can also play a role in vulnerability to depression. People who have low self-esteem, constantly view themselves and the world with pessimism, or are readily overwhelmed by stress, may be especially prone to depression.[33] Community surveys find that women are more likely than men to say they are under stress. Other studies suggest that women are more likely than men to become depressed in response to a stressful event. Women are also more likely to experience certain kinds of severe stress such as child sexual abuse, adult sexual assaults, and domestic violence.[21]Furthermore, depression can be the result of a bad experience, one of which might occur during athletics where social causes transcend into hierarchy practices in the form of bullying, which can root the initial cause.[34]
Diagnosis
According to the
Assessment
It is recommended by the
Correlation between adolescent depression and adulthood obesity
According to research conducted by Laura P. Richardson et al., major depression occurred in 7% of the cohort during early adolescence (11, 13, and 15 years of age) and 27% during late adolescence (18 and 21 years of age). At 26 years of age, 12% of study members were obese. After adjusting for each individual's baseline body mass index (calculated as the weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters), depressed late-adolescent girls were at a greater than 2-fold increased risk for obesity in adulthood compared with their non-depressed female peers (relative risk, 2.32; 95% confidence interval, 1.29-3.83). A dose-response relationship between the number of episodes of depression during adolescence and the risk for adult obesity was also observed in female subjects. The association was not observed for late adolescent boys or for early adolescent boys or girls.[38]
Correlation between child depression and adolescent cardiac risks
According to research by RM Carney et al., any history of child depression influences the occurrence of adolescent cardiac risk factors, even if individuals no longer suffer from depression. They are much more likely to develop heart disease as adults.[39]
Distinction from major depressive disorder in adults
While there are many similarities to adult depression, especially in expression of symptoms, there are many differences that create a distinction between the two diagnoses. Research has shown that when a child's age is younger at diagnosis, typically there will be a more noticeable difference in the expression of symptoms from the classic signs in adult depression.[40] One major difference between the symptoms exhibited in adults and in children is that children have higher rates of internalization; therefore, symptoms of child depression are more difficult to recognize.[41] One major cause of this difference is that many of the neurobiological effects in the brain of adults with depression are not fully developed until adulthood. Therefore, in a neurological sense children and adolescents express depression differently.
Treatment
Clinicians often divide treatment into three phases: In the acute phase, which usually lasts six to 12 weeks, the goal is to relieve symptoms. In the continuation phase, which can last for several more months, the goal is to maximize improvements. At this stage, clinicians may make adjustments to the dose of a medication. In the maintenance phase, the aim is to prevent relapse. Sometimes the dose of a drug is lowered at this stage, or psychotherapy carries more of the weight. Unique differences in life experience, temperament, and biology make treatment a complex matter; no single treatment is right for everyone.[21]
Pediatric
Treatment programs have been developed that help reduce the symptoms of depression. These treatments focus on immediate symptom reduction by concentrating on teaching children skills pertaining to primary and secondary control. While much research is still needed to confirm this treatment program's efficacy, one study showed it to be effective in children with mild or moderate depressive symptoms.[46]
Identification and treatment of concomitant parental depression is associated with improved responses to treatment in adolescents with depression as having a parent with depression may negatively affect a young person's response to therapy as well as their outlook on depression.[20]
Talk therapy
There are a variety of common types of talk therapy. These can assist people to live more fully, help improve good feelings, and have a better life.[47] Effective psychotherapy for children always includes parent involvement, teaching skills that are practiced at home or at school, and measures of progress that are tracked over time.[48] In many types, men are encouraged to open up more emotionally and communicate their personal distress, while women are encouraged to be assertive of their own strengths.[49] Often psychotherapy teaches coping skills while allowing the teens or children to explore feelings and events in a safe environment.[50]
Severe depression, low global functioning, higher scores on suicidality scales, co-existing anxiety, distorted thought processes and feelings of hopelessness are characteristics of adolescent depression that are associated with a poor response to psychotherapy.[20] If there is concomitant family conflict then interpersonal therapy is more effective than cognitive therapy.[20]
Cognitive therapy
Cognitive therapy aims to change harmful ways of thinking and reframe negative thoughts in a more positive way. Aims of cognitive therapy include various steps of patient learning. During cognitive behavioral therapy, children and adolescents with depression work with therapists to learn about their diagnosis, how to identify and reshape negative thought patterns, and how to increase engagement in enjoyable activities.[51] CBT-trained therapists work with individuals, families, and groups. The approach can be used to help anyone irrespective of ability, culture, race, gender, or sexual preference. It can be applied with or without concurrent psychopharmacological medication, depending on the severity or nature of each patient's problem. The duration of cognitive-behavioral therapy varies, although it typically is thought of as one of the briefer psychotherapeutic treatments. Especially in research settings, duration of CBT is usually short, between 10 and 20 sessions. In routine clinical practice, duration varies depending on patient comorbidity, defined treatment goals, and the specific conditions of the health care system.[52]
Behavioral therapy
Interpersonal therapy
Interpersonal therapy helps one learn to relate better with others, express feelings, and develop better social skills. Interpersonal therapy helps the patient identify and cope through reoccurring conflicts within their relationships. Typically, the therapy will focus on one of the four specific problems, grief, social isolation, conflicts about roles and social expectations, or the effect of a major life change.[21]
Family therapy
The principles of group dynamics are relevant to family therapists who must not only work with individuals, but with entire family systems.[53] Family counseling can help families understand how a child's individual challenges may affect relations with parents and siblings and vice versa.[48]
Therapists strive to understand not just what the group members say, but how these ideas are communicated (process). Therapists can help families improve the way they relate and thus enhance their own capacity to deal with the content of their problems by focusing on the process of their discussions. Virginia Satir expanded on the concept of how individuals behave and communicate in groups by describing several family roles that can serve to stabilize expected characteristic behavior patterns in a family. For instance, if one child is considered to be a "rebel child", a sibling may take on the role of the "good child" to alleviate some of the stress in the family. This concept of role reciprocity is helpful in understanding family dynamics because the complementary nature of roles makes behaviors more resistant to change.[54]
Antidepressants
Clinicians usually recommend a
SSRIs act on the serotonin system that affects mood, arousal, anxiety, impulses, and aggression. SSRIs also appear to indirectly influence other neurotransmitter systems, including those involving norepinephrine and dopamine. Some possible adverse reactions of SSRIs include headache, gastrointestinal side effects, dry mouth, sedation or insomnia and
Other medications can be added to SSRIs if a partial response is achieved and further improvement is needed; these agents include
In the USA, as of 2021, the
Research
Differences in the brain's structure and function appear to be present in adolescents with depression though this may depend on age. Younger adolescents, mostly under the age of 18, with depression have shown greater white matter volume within frontal regions of the brain, greater cortical thickness in the anterior cingulate cortex and medial orbitofrontal cortex, as well as greater functional connectivity between cortico-limbic brain regions.[59][60] Whereas older adolescents, mostly above the age of 18, appear to show lower cortical surface area in regions including the lingual, occipital gyri, as well as medial orbitofrontal and motor cortices.[61] Results such as these have led to the hypothesis that the biological causes of depression may in part be neurodevelopmental, with its biological underpinnings forming early on in brain development.[62][63]
History
Although
Controversies
Throughout the development and research of this disorder, controversies have emerged over the legitimacy of depression in childhood and adolescence as a diagnosis, the proper measurement and validity of scales to diagnose, and the safety of particular treatments.
Legitimacy as a diagnosis
In early research of depression in children, there was debate as to whether or not children could clinically fit the criteria for
Diagnosis controversy
In order to diagnose a child with depression, different screening measures and reports have been developed to help clinicians make a proper decision. However, the accuracy and effectiveness of certain measures that help psychologists diagnose children have come into question.[68] Due to absence of strong evidence that screening children and adolescents for depression leads to improved mental health outcomes, it has been questioned whether it causes more harm than benefit.[69] Questions have also surfaced about the safety and effectiveness of antidepressant medications.[70]
Measurement reliability
The effectiveness of dimensional child self-report checklists has been criticized. Although literature has documented strong psychometric properties, other studies have shown a poor specificity at the top end of scales, resulting in most children with high scores not meeting the diagnostic criteria for depression.[11] Another issue with reliability of measurement for diagnosis occurs in parent, teacher, and child reports. One study, which observed the similarities between child self-report and parent reports on the child's symptoms of depression, acknowledged that on more subjective symptom reports measures, the agreement was not significant enough to be considered reliable.[68] Two self-report scales demonstrated an erroneous classification of 25% of children in both the depressed and controlled samples.[71] A large concern in the use of self-report scales is the accuracy of the information collected. The main controversy is caused by uncertainty about how the data from these multiple informants can or should be combined to determine whether a child can be diagnosed with depression.[11]
Treatment issues
The controversy over the use of
In the UK, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines state that antidepressants for children and adolescents with depression should be prescribed together with therapy and after being assessed by a child and adolescent psychiatrist. However, between 2006 and 2017, only 1 in 4 of 12-17 year olds who were prescribed an SSRI by their GP had seen a specialist psychiatrist and 1 in 6 has seen a paediatrician. Half of these prescriptions were for depression.[73][74] Among the suggested possible reasons why GPs are not following the guidelines are the difficulties of accessing talking therapies, long waiting lists and the urgency of treatment.[73][75] According to some researchers, strict adherence to treatment guidelines would limit access to effective medication for young people with mental health problems.[76]
See also
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External links
- Depression in Children on WebMD.
- Antidepressants for children and teenagers: what works for anxiety and depression? – plain English summary of research by the NIHR.