Epidemiology

The prevalence rates of childhood depression vary somewhat, depending on the sample and period assessed.

In the US, data from the 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health suggests that 3.2% of children aged 3 to 17 years have a current diagnosis of depression.[3] In adolescents, the 12-month prevalence rises to approximately 8%.[4] Before puberty, girls and boys have similar rates of depression, but a gender difference emerges around early adolescence from the age of 12 onwards, when the diagnosis becomes more common in girls.[4] Depression becomes more than twice as prevalent in young women than in men by mid-adolescence to early adulthood (aged 14-25 years).[4][5] The ages of 13 to 18 represent a key period for depression onset in both boys and girls; depression rates rise substantially for both sexes during this time.[3][6] The majority of depressive illnesses in adults can be traced back to their origins in adolescence.[7]

There is some evidence to suggest an increase of major depressive disorder in certain areas within the past two decades; in Australia, a national survey found an approximately 50% increase in community prevalence rates between 1998 and 2014.[8] In the UK, the number of 12- to 17-year-olds prescribed antidepressants more than doubled between 2005 and 2017 (although antidepressant prescriptions decreased slightly overall for children aged 5-11 between 1999 and 2017).[9] It is unclear to what extent this represents a change in depression rates, or difference in diagnosis and treatment, during this period.

The presence of poverty has been associated with an increased risk of children requiring treatment for depression.[3][9][10] Depressive disorders may be higher in indigenous children and in children with chronic medical illness.[11][12]

Depression in childhood is frequently associated with psychiatric and behavioural comorbidities. In the US, around 73.8% of children aged 3 to 17 years with depression also have anxiety, and 47.2% have co-occurring behavioural problems.[3]

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