It has only been within the past two decades that the majority of clinicians and researchers reached agreement that children can experience a depressive disorder. Initially, researchers believed children’s lack of psychosexual development prohibited development of depression in childhood.
There has also been disagreement regarding which symptomatology comprises childhood depression, and how it differs from depression in adults. Many clinicians and researchers shared the belief that depression in children was “masked” by other symptoms (e.g., aggression, enuresis, anxiety, among others). More recent research has identified and emphasized the similarities between depressive symptoms experienced by adults and children. Cohort data suggest that the age-of-onset of depression has decreased, and prevalence has increased as compared to children born in the first half of the 20th century.
Prevalence
While depression does occur in childhood, it is more likely to manifest in adolescence and...
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Suggested Reading
American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: Text revision (4th ed.). Washington D.C.: American Psychiatric Association.
Ginsburg, S. D., & Twentyman, C. T. (1987). Prevention of childhood depression. In R. F. Munoz, (Ed.), Depression prevention: Research directions (pp. 93–103). New York: Hemisphere Publishing Corporation.
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Stark, K. D., Laurent, J., Livingston, R., Boswell, J., & Swearer, S. (1999). Implications of research for the treatment of depressive disorders during childhood. Applied & Preventive Psychology, 8, 79–102.
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Love, K.B., Swearer, S.M. (2010). Childhood Depression. In: Clauss-Ehlers, C.S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cross-Cultural School Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-71799-9_67
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