Predictors of Outcome of Treated Depression in Adolescents

Review Article

Predictors of Outcome of Treated Depression in Adolescents

Paul Wilkinson
Affiliation: University of Cambridge Section of Developmental Psychiatry, Cambridge, UK


ABSTRACT

Adolescent depression is an important illness, with a 6‐month prevalence of 6% and significant effects on both short‐term psychosocial functioning and developmental trajectory. There is great heterogeneity in outcome, with some cases getting better after a few weeks and some cases remaining depressed for many years. This paper reviews which clinical, socio‐demographic, and biological variables predict persistence of adolescent depression. Although several variables have been found to be significant univariate predictors in at least one study, these findings may be down to chance or confounding. Only two variables, severity of depressive symptoms and suicidality, have been found to be significantly predictive of persistent depression, with robust controlling for both chance and confounding.

Keywords: depression, adolescence, prognosis, suicidality, comorbidity, life events
Correspondence: , Universityof Cambridge Section of Developmental Psychiatry, Douglas House, 18b Trumpington Road, Cambridge, CB2 8AH, UK. Tel: (44)‐1223‐746001; e‐mail: pow12@cam.ac.uk