Depression in preschoolers
In recent years, childhood depression has received a lot of attention as researchers have tried to unravel how the disorder affects kids. But little is known about if, and how, depression strikes very young children. A new study suggests that children as young as 3 can be diagnosed with depression and that the disorder is often a chronic condition.
The study, which appears in the August issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, is sure to raise eyebrows among people who question if children that young are emotionally mature enough to be depressed. The study's authors say that despite skepticism, a growing body of research suggests that depression does exist among preschoolers and they launched the study to better understand it.
The authors studied 306 children 3 to 6 years old, including 75 of them diagnosed with depression, and evaluated them for up to two years. Preschoolers with depression at the beginning of the study were four times more likely to have depression 12 or 24 months later than children who were not depressed at the study's start.
Researchers found depression was more common in children whose mothers were depressed and those who had experienced a traumatic event. The study underscores the importance of diagnosing depression as early as preschool, the authors say. But the study didn't research treating children so young with medication, for instance, which has been controversial. The authors say more study is needed in this area.
I wonder what parents make of this research. Is it possible to diagnose depression in children so young? And, if so, what is an appropriate treatment for a preschooler?
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Categories: Mental health, Pediatrics
Comments
I wonder what criteria they use to make such a diagnosis in children who cannot always verbalize their feelings. What type of treatment did they get, if any over the two years?
Posted by: Carolyn Edwards | August 5, 2009 5:09 PM
Any condition can receive more attention if the drug companies can sell you harmful junk to try to get rid of it. There is always a natural solution for kids problems.
Posted by: Clay | August 10, 2009 10:24 AM
It doesn't surprise me that young children get depressed. They crave attention and tenderness from adults and don't always get it. If a child is neglected or abused I can see how that child would develop some form of depression. I don't think it requires drugs though, I think it requires the right kind of attention of parents or other caretakers.
Posted by: sheila | February 3, 2010 8:34 PM