Infectious Disease

Four trajectories can help predict the consequences of depression in adolescents

October 26, 2021

Read for 2 minutes

Source / information

Disclosure:
Weber and colleagues do not report any relevant financial information. Fogarty and Mensah report on research by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, supported by the Victorian government’s Operational Infrastructure Support Program. Fogarty reports on support from the Stronger Futures Center of Research Excellence in Intergenerational Trauma, funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council. Mensah reports fees for the statistical review of the accepted manuscript by Weavers and colleagues. The authors do not report any relevant financial information.

ADD SUBJECT TO EMAIL ALERTS

Receive an email when new articles are published on

Please enter your email address to receive an email when new articles are published on . “data-action = subscribe> Subscribe

We could not process your request. Please try again later. If this problem persists, please contact [email protected].

Back to Healio

According to a longitudinal population-based study published in The Lancet Psychiatry, several factors, including age at onset during adolescence, can differentiate the future course of adolescent depression.

“It can be difficult for clinicians to distinguish adolescents who will eventually develop persistent depression with poor outcomes in adulthood from those whose depression subsides spontaneously.” Bryony Weber, BSc, from the Wolfson Center for Young People’s Mental Health at Cardiff University in the UK, and colleagues wrote. “Given that depression is widespread and its incidence in young people has increased dramatically in recent years, characterizing this variation is important in making treatment decisions and allocating finite clinical resources.”

Source: Adobe Stock

The researchers tried to examine the results of the courses of clinically significant depressive symptoms in adulthood in adolescents, as well as to identify factors that localize differentiated courses that continue or resolve in adulthood. They analyzed the data from 4,234 participants (63% female; mean age 10.6 years at baseline and 25.8 years at last point in time) of the English population-based Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children with available data on depressive symptoms. The participants reported symptoms of depression 10 times between the ages of 10.5 years and 25 years using the short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire. They also provided data on major depressive episodes at ages 13, 15, 17.5, and 25.

Weavers and colleagues used latent class growth analysis to characterize the course of symptoms of depression. They rated adult outcomes based on lifelong suicidal self-harm and functional impairment at age 24, and employment, education, and self-reported strengths and difficulties questionnaire at age 25.

The results showed four classes of depression progression: adolescent persistent depression that began early in adolescence (7%), adolescent-restricted depression that began later in adolescence and regressed in adulthood (14%), and worsening depression in adults (25%) stable-low degree of depression (54%). The researchers found a link between adolescent persistence class and poor adult outcomes for functional impairment (62%), suicidal self-harm (27%), mental health problems (25%), and lack of education, employment, or training (16th%).

They also reported an association between adolescent-limited depression and transient adolescent stress; However, functional impairments and psychological problems in early adulthood were similar to those in the stable-low group. The polygenic score for major depression, the level of education of the adolescents, and any adolescent adversity that persisted into adulthood differentiated the groups with adolescent persistence and adolescent disabilities.

“This information could be clinically useful in distinguishing young people who will eventually develop persistent or recurrent depression with poor outcomes in adulthood from those in spontaneous remission,” the researchers write.

In a related editorial Alison Fogarty and Fiona canteen, Both from Intergenerational Health, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Australia explained the implications of this study.

“Understanding how childhood histories and lived experiences of young people can trigger or exacerbate persistent depressive symptoms as they transition into adolescence is central to the delivery of holistic mental health care,” they wrote. “This study underscores the need for services that identify and respond quickly to mental disorders in young people and maintain support through sustained recovery and healing.”

ADD SUBJECT TO EMAIL ALERTS

Receive an email when new articles are published on

Please enter your email address to receive an email when new articles are published on . “data-action = subscribe> Subscribe

We could not process your request. Please try again later. If this problem persists, please contact [email protected].

Back to Healio

Related Articles