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Children's Health

Is Your Child Depressed?

Summary & Participants

Depression is usually thought of as a "grown-up" problem, but studies have shown that up to 2.5 percent of young children and 8.3 percent of adolescents in the U.S. suffer from this emotional condition. Left untreated, it can lead to difficulty in school, social problems, and even violence or suicide. How do you know if your child is suffering from depression? What should you do if you're concerned? Tune in to learn what every parent should know about childhood depression.

Medically Reviewed On: July 11, 2008

Webcast Transcript

LISA CLARK: I'm Lisa Clark. Welcome and thanks for joining us for this Webcast. Depression is usually thought of as a grown-up problem. But studies have shown that up to 2.5% of young children, 8.3% of adolescents in the U.S. suffer from depression. Left untreated, it can lead to academic, social problems, or even violence and suicide. How do you know if your child might be suffering from depression? What does depression at a young age mean? And here to discuss these questions, we have Dr. Peter Jensen. He is a Professor of Child Psychiatry at Columbia University-eminently qualified for this topic. Children can experience depression obviously.

PETER JENSEN, MD: Absolutely. And the sad thing is we used to think that depression couldn't, by definition, occur in young children. When I trained originally, that was the general notion, that depression perhaps didn't occur in children.

LISA CLARK: So what brought about the change in thinking and the recognition that this can affect children?

DR. PETER JENSEN: Well investigators, the researchers, began to apply the approaches and the methods used to study depression in adults to children. And lo and behold, they found it wasn't just a stage. And if you had all the signs and symptoms that adults have, as a young child, you're probably at much greater risk even than when an adult has onset with depression. It has a much more difficult problematic course. And early intervention is quite critical.

LISA CLARK: Are there certain types of children who are more prone to depression?

DR. PETER JENSEN: We think that family history is important, so genetic factors probably play a role. But there are other factors that are also suspect. Prolonged medical illnesses might serve as a precipitant. Stress factors occurring throughout a substantial period of one's life. Some people have demonstrated that the loss of significant loved ones in early critical periods, in the first five years of life, might lead to later problems, and later a modest increased risk for depression. Some of the other things we don't think about, but also are linked to depression, are substance use. And so prolonged substance use probably is linked to depression as well.

LISA CLARK: For the child to have had substance use, or the mother during gestation?

DR. PETER JENSEN: Both.

LISA CLARK: Now girls are more prone to depression at certain stages in development. When is that?

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