Are Adolescents Changed by an Episode of Major Depression?

doi:10.1097/00004583-199411000-00010

Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Volume 33, Issue 9, November–December 1994, Pages 1289-1298

https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-199411000-00010 Get rights and content

ABSTRACT

Objective

This Study examined whether adolescents having a first onset of major depression are changed by the experience (i.e., does having an episode of depression result in residual effects that did not exist before the episode?).

Method

Among 1,507 community adolescents assessed at two time points approximately 1 year apart, 45 experienced and recovered from a first episode of depression between the two assessments. These adolescents were contrasted with never-depressed control subjects on an array of depression-related psychosocial variables before and after the episode.

Results

Psychosocial scars (characteristics evident after but not before the episode) included internalizing behavior problems, stressful major life events, excessive emotional reliance on others, cigarette smoking, and subsyndromal depression symptoms. Both before and after the episode, the depressed adolescents reported an elevated level of physical health problems.

Conclusions

More scars were found in the present study than in previous research with formerly depressed adults. This is consistent with the hypothesis that early-onset depression is a more pernicious from on the disorder that may impact adolescents more severely than adults.

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: This research was partially supported by National Institute of Mental Health grant MH40501. We thank Antonette M. Zeiss and Ian H. Gotlib for their comments on earlier versions of this article.

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ArticlesAre Adolescents Changed by an Episode of Major Depression?

ABSTRACT

Objective

Method

Results

Conclusions

J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry

Behav Res Ther

Behav Res Ther

J Am Acad Child Psychiatry

Behav Res Ther

Behav Ther

J Affect Disord

Behav Res Ther

The classification of child psychopathology: a review and analysis of empirical efforts

Psychol Bull

Manual for the Youth Self-Report and Profile

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd edition-revised (DSM-III-R)

Psychometric properties of scales for the measurement of psychosocial variables associated with depression in adolescence

Psychol Rep

A method of the assessment of social support networks in community survey research

Connections

An inventory for measuring depression

Arch Gen Psychiatry

Health and Ways of Living: The Alameda County Study

Nicotine dependence and major depression: new evidence from a prospective investigation

Arch Gen Psychiatry

A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales

Educ Psychol Meas

Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences, revised

A behavioral paradigm for identifying persons at risk for bipolar depressive disorder: a conceptual framework and five validation studies

J Abnorm Psychol

The incidence of specific DIS/DSM-III mental disorders: data from the NIMH Epidemiologic Catchment Area Program

Acta Psychiatr Scand

Public and private self-consciousness: assessment and theory

J Consult Clin Psychol

An analysis of coping in a middle-aged community sample

J Health Soc Behav

Smoking, smoking cessation, and major depression

JAMA

Depression and smoking treatment: a clinical trial of an affect regulation treatment

Problems of Drug Dependence 1991: Proceedings of the 53rd Annual Scientific Meeting, the Committee on Problems of Drug Dependence, Inc

A rating scale for depression

J Neurol Neurosurg

The generation of stress in the course of unipolar depression

J Abnorm Psychol

The Perceived Competence Scale for Children

Child Dev

Dependency, self-esteem, and clinical depression

J Am Acad Psychoanal

Premorbid personality assessment of first onset of major depression

Arch Gen Psychiatry

Schedule of Recent Experiences

Articles
Are Adolescents Changed by an Episode of Major Depression?