Depression is common in children, affecting up to 2.5 percent of children and up to 8.3 percent of adolescents in the U.S..
Unfortunately, these disorders often go unrecognized by families and physicians alike. Signs of depressive disorders in young people often are viewed as normal mood swings typical of a particular developmental stage.
In addition, health care professionals may be reluctant to prematurely "label" a young person with a mental illness diagnosis. Yet early diagnosis and treatment of depressive disorders are critical to healthy emotional, social, and behavioral development.
The diagnostic criteria and key defining features of major depressive disorder in children and adolescents are the same as they are for adults. However, recognition and diagnosis of the disorder may be more difficult in youth for several reasons. The way symptoms are expressed varies with the developmental stage of the youngster. In addition, children and young adolescents with depression may have difficulty in properly identifying and describing their internal emotional or mood states. For example, instead of communicating how bad they feel, they may act out and be irritable toward others, which may be interpreted simply as misbehavior or disobedience. Research has found that parents are even less likely to identify major depression in their adolescents than are the adolescents themselves.
Symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder Common to Adults, Children, and Adolescents
- Persistent sad or irritable mood
- Loss of interest in activities once enjoyed
- Significant change in appetite or body weight
- Difficulty sleeping or oversleeping
- Psychomotor agitation or retardation
- Loss of energy
- Feelings of worthlessness or inappropriate guilt
- Difficulty concentrating
- Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide
Five or more of these symptoms must persist for 2 or more weeks before a diagnosis of major depression is indicated.
Signs That May Be Associated with Depression in Children and Adolescents
- Frequent vague, non-specific physical complaints such as headaches, muscle aches, stomachaches or tiredness
- Frequent absences from school or poor performance in school
- Talk of or efforts to run away from home
- Outbursts of shouting, complaining, unexplained irritability, or crying
- Being bored
- Lack of interest in playing with friends
- Alcohol or substance abuse
- Social isolation, poor communication
- Fear of death
- Extreme sensitivity to rejection or failure
- Increased irritability, anger, or hostility
- Reckless behavior
- Difficulty with relationships
Risk Factors of Childhood Depression
In addition to understanding the symptoms of depression, it can be helpful to learn to recognize risk factors that put your children more at risk of becoming depressed.
In childhood, boys and girls appear to be at equal risk for depressive disorders; but during adolescence, girls are twice as likely as boys to develop depression. Children who develop major depression are more likely to have a family history of the disorder, often a parent who experienced depression at an early age, than patients with adolescent- or adult-onset depression. Adolescents with depression are also likely to have a family history of depression, though the correlation is not as high as it is for children.
Other risk factors include:
- Stress
- Cigarette smoking
- A loss of a parent or loved one
- Break-up of a romantic relationship
- Attentional, conduct or learning disorders
- Chronic illnesses, such as diabetes
- Abuse or neglect
- Other trauma, including natural disasters
What to Do
If you think that your child may be depressed, you should talk to your Pediatrician, or a child psychiatrist or psychologist.
Adapted from NIH Publication No. 00-4744
