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Measurement-Based Care for Depression in Youth: Practical Considerations for Selecting Measures to Assess Depression, Associated Features and Functioning

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Abstract

Identification and management of major depressive disorder (MDD) in children and adolescents remains a significant area of public health need. The process for identifying depression (e.g. screening) and management (e.g. measurement based care [MBC]) is substantially enhanced by utilization of clinical measures and rating scales. Measures can be self- or caregiver reported or clinician rated. They can aid recognition of at-risk individuals for future assessment and assist in clinical diagnosis and management of depression. In addition to assessing symptoms of depression, rating scales can be used to assess important associated features (e.g. anxiety, trauma) and functional outcomes (e.g. quality of life, performance/productivity). In this manuscript, we discuss practical considerations for clinicians and researchers when selecting rating instruments for assessing depression, associated factors, functioning, and treatment outcomes (i.e. adherence and side effects) as part of MBC in youth and provide a summary of rating scales commonly used in research and clinical settings.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the many healthcare professionals, school staff, and frontline workers who have started these conversations with patients and contributed to the de-stigmatization of child mental health care. Thank you for being there for the patients and their families.

Funding

This manuscript was funded by the Texas Youth Depression and Suicide Research Network (TX-YDSRN), a research initiative of the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium (TCMHCC). The TCMHCC was created by the 86th Texas Legislature and, in part, funds multi-institutional research to improve mental health care for children and adolescents in Texas. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding organizations. The TX-YDSRN is implemented under the leadership of the central UT Southwestern HUB (Madhukar Trivedi, M.D., Principal Investigator, Sarah Wakefield, M.D., Medical Director [Texas Tech University Health Science Center Lubbock], Abu Minhajuddin, PhD, Data/Statistics Lead, Maria Monastirsky, M.A., Regulatory Oversight, and Holli Slater, PhD, Project Lead).”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Harlingen, TX, USA

    Cynthia Garza, Diana Chapa & Catherine Hernandez

  2. Center for Depression Research and Clinical Care, Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute and Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA

    Hayley Aramburu & Taryn L. Mayes

  3. Children’s Health, Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA

    Graham J. Emslie

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CG: Conceptualization, writing—original draft, DC: Conceptualization, writing—review and editing, CH: Resources, visualization; HA: Resources, visualization, TM: Writing—review and editing.

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Correspondence to Cynthia Garza.

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Authors CG, DC, and TM are funded members of the Texas Youth Depression and Suicide Research Network (TX-YDSRN). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article. The authors have no financial or proprietary interests in any material discussed in this article.

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Garza, C., Chapa, D., Hernandez, C. et al. Measurement-Based Care for Depression in Youth: Practical Considerations for Selecting Measures to Assess Depression, Associated Features and Functioning. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-023-01652-4

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