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Subthreshold Symptoms of Depression in Preadolescent Girls Are Stable and Predictive of Depressive Disorders

NCJ Number
225296
Journal
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Volume: 47 Issue: 12 Dated: December 2008 Pages: 1433-1442
Author(s)
Kate Keenan Ph.D.; Alison Hipwell Ph.D.; Xin Feng Ph.D.; Dara Babinski B.A.; Amanda Hinze B.A.; Michal Rischall B.A.; Angela Henneberger B.A.
Date Published
December 2008
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Since the successful prevention of depression requires defining the developmental features of the disorder, the current study contributed to this effort by testing the stability and predictive validity of DSM-IV symptoms of depression in a nonreferred sample of preadolescent girls (n=232).
Abstract
The study found that half of the sample of girls screened high on a measure of depression at 8 years old. Early emerging symptoms of depression in this sample were stable and predictive of depressive disorders and impairment at age 10 or 11. Poverty moderated the stability of preadolescent depressive symptoms, but race and pubertal stage did not. Among the girls who did not meet criteria for a depressive disorder at age 9, the odds of meeting criteria for depressive disorders and for demonstrating impairment age 10 or 11 years increased by 1.9 and 1.7, respectively, for every increase in the number of depression symptoms. Without data on the incidence of depression during adolescence for this sample, this study cannot state that the best predictor of adolescent-onset depression is childhood symptoms; however, the study findings suggest this will be the case. If so, then efforts to prevent depression among females should focus on symptoms in the preadolescent years. The 232 9-year-old girls recruited for the current study were drawn from the Pittsburgh Girls Study, an existing longitudinal study. Girls were interviewed about depressive symptoms using a diagnostic interview at ages 9, 10, and 11 years old. Caregivers and interviewers rated impairment in each year. 2 figures, 1 table, and 48 references