The clinical significance of preschool depression: impairment in functioning and clinical markers of the disorder.
Objective: While much is now known about depression during school age and adolescence, whether clinical depression can onset even earlier in development during the preschool period remains under explored. The earliest possible identification of depression may be important for the design of preventio...
| Published in: | Journal of Affective Disorders Vol. 112; no. 1-3; pp. 111 - 120 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
| Format: | research Journal Article |
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Elsevier B.V.
Jan2009
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=105616832&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 105616832 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 01650327 3M9 jtl: Journal of Affective Disorders issn: 01650327 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jan2009 vid: 112 iid: 1-3 pid: 1004 pub: Elsevier B.V. artinfo: ui: 105616832 NLM18486234 2010156799 10.1016/j.jad.2008.03.026 NLM18486234 PMC2587510 105616832 ppf: 111 ppct: 9 formats: tig: atl: The clinical significance of preschool depression: impairment in functioning and clinical markers of the disorder. aug: au: Luby JL Belden AC Pautsch J Si X Spitznagel E Luby, Joan L Belden, Andy C Pautsch, Jennifer Si, Xuemei Spitznagel, Edward affil: Washington University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Box 8134, 660 S. Euclid, St. Louis, MO 63110, United States sug: subj: Depression Diagnosis Age Factors Age of Onset Caregivers Psychosocial Factors Caregivers Statistics and Numerical Data Child Child, Preschool Comorbidity Cross Sectional Studies Data Collection Depression Epidemiology Depression Psychosocial Factors Developmental Disabilities Diagnosis Developmental Disabilities Epidemiology Developmental Disabilities Psychosocial Factors Fatigue Diagnosis Fatigue Epidemiology Female Guilt Male Multivariate Analysis Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Statistics and Numerical Data Prevalence Psychological Tests Statistics and Numerical Data Questionnaires Reproducibility of Results Severity of Illness Indices Human Child: 6-12 years Child, Preschool: 2-5 years Female Male ab: Objective: While much is now known about depression during school age and adolescence, whether clinical depression can onset even earlier in development during the preschool period remains under explored. The earliest possible identification of depression may be important for the design of prevention and early developmental intervention programs. This study investigated functional impairment associated with depression, symptoms that served as the best markers of depression vs. other disorders, as well as depression severity between two depressed sub-groups and other diagnostic comparison groups.Method: Three hundred and five preschoolers between the ages of 3.0 and 6.0 and their primary caregivers were recruited using a depression screening checklist distributed at community sites. The Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment (PAPA) was used to derive psychiatric diagnoses in the study sample. Multivariate analyses of covariance were used to investigate the effects of depression on independent measures of functional impairment while controlling for the effects of co-morbidities.Results: Functional impairment specifically associated with depression was found in multiple domains and contexts, however depressed preschoolers were not developmentally delayed. The symptoms of guilt and extreme fatigue were found to be highly specific for preschool depression. A statistically significant hierarchy of depression severity was found between diagnostic comparison groups, in the expected direction with the highest in a melancholic subgroup.Conclusions: Validation for preschool depression with associated functional impairment across contexts was found in preschool children. These findings replicate and extend earlier evidence for validity of MDD diagnosed in the preschool period and highlight the need for clinical attention. The finding that these depressed and impaired preschoolers were not yet developmentally delayed may have important public health significant significance as it suggests a possible window of opportunity for early intervention. Study findings were limited by reliance on parent and teacher informants and a cross-sectional view. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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