A recent study published in the January 2015 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry underscores the important public health significance of depression among U.S. adolescents.
Mental disorders are the leading cause of years lived with disability worldwide with 40.5% of this burden attributable to major depression. In adolescence, rates of depression increase substantially between 13 and 18 years of age, and the estimated cumulative incidence in this population approximates the adult lifetime prevalence rate.
Using data from a nationally representative sample of adolescents who participated in the National Comorbidity Survey - Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A), a group of researchers led by Dr. Kathleen Merikangas of the National Institute of Mental Health's Intramural Research Program, evaluated symptoms of DSM-IV major depressive disorder (MDD), mild/moderate MDD, and severe MDD in 10,123 adolescents. Data was collected from adolescents 13 to 18 years old, representing the critical developmental period for the onset of depression.
[For more of this story go to http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/287651.php]
Comments (0)