Login
Search Button
Button
Home
About Us
Services
Providers
Mission
Key Contributors
Family Resources
Education
Mental Health Services
Family Education
Mental Health
Trauma Informed Care
Prevention
Recovery
Provider Continuing Education
Provider Resources
Behavioral Health Conditions
Screening Tools
Medications
Clinical Improvement Initiatives
Other Resources
Events
Depression Protocols
Abstract
Depression is surprisingly common in the pediatric population, and the risk of depression increases with age into adolescence and young adulthood. Major depressive disorder (MDD) affects approximately 3% of prepubertal children and 4 percent to 8 percent of adolescents at any one time. By age 18 years, approximately 20% of youth will have experienced a MDD, very close to its lifetime prevalence. Dysthymic disorder, a chronic form of depression lasting at least one year, is found in approximately 1% of prepubertal children and between 2 percent and 8 percent of adolescents. Persistently depressed or irritable mood does not reflect “normal adolescence”.
There is growing consensus that primary care providers can and should work to identify children and adolescents under their care who are suffering from depression. This reflects the public health relevance of this disorder. Depressed children and adolescents are functionally impaired relative to their peers (i.e., interpersonally, socially, and academically, with poorer school attendance and performance on average), and are at greater risk for suicide; alcohol, drug, and tobacco use; persistence of MDD; recurrence of MDD; other “comorbid” psychiatric disorders; or future psychiatric disorders.
Download our recommended protocol for pediatric depression in primary care
Downloadable supporting materials:
GLAD-PC Assessment/Diagnosis Guidelines (PDF)
Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) (PDF)
PHQ-9 Modified for Teens (PDF)
Evaluation of the PHQ-2 as a Brief Screen for Detecting Major Depression Among Adolescents (PDF)
Center Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) (PDF)
Kutcher Adolescent Depression Scale (KADS) (PDF)
Mood and Feeling Questionnaire Child (MFQ) (PDF)
Mood and Feeling Questionnaire Parent (MFQP) (PDF)
Brief MDD Screening Form of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) (PDF)
GLAD-PC Treatment (PDF)
Parents Med Guide Depression (PDF)
GLAD-PC Clinical Management Flow Chart (PDF)
AAP Brief MDD Screening Form (PDF)
Behavioral Health Conditions
Screening Tools
Medications
Clinical Improvement Initiatives
Other Resources