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Depression

Pharmacotherapies

  • Chapter
Handbook of Treatment Approaches in Childhood Psychopathology

Part of the book series: Applied Clinical Psychology ((NSSB))

Abstract

The existence and manifestations of depression in children have captured the attention of mental health clinicians and researchers in recent years. No one ever doubted, of course, that children could be unhappy or have a depressed mood state occasionally. The occurrence of a depressive disorder, however, is distinguished from merely a depressed mood by its enduring concomitant emotional, cognitive, psychomotor and vegetative symptoms, disabling enough to interfere with a child’s social and academic functioning. This has only recently been acknowledged (see review Cantwell & Carlson, 1983). There are a number of issues yet to be clarified, which include (1) the impact of different stages of development on the phenomenology, course, prognosis, and treatment options in childhood depression; (2) the relationship between depressive symptomatology and other child psychiatric disorders; and (3) the continuity or lack of it between childhood and adult depression. If depression in children as it is currently identified appears to be a sufficiently significant entity clinically to warrant evaluation and treatment, the use of psychotropic drugs in children continues to be controversial (Pearce, 1980–1981; Pfefferbaum & Overall, 1984). This factor has handicapped research in the area of antidepressant use. The result is that, although antidepressant drugs have been used in children for almost 30 years, published data that demonstrate unequivocal efficacy or lack of it and that specify the therapeutic effects are surprisingly meager.

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  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York, 11794, USA

    Gabrielle A. Carlson

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  1. Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70803-5501, USA

    Johnny L. Matson

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Carlson, G.A. (1988). Depression. In: Matson, J.L. (eds) Handbook of Treatment Approaches in Childhood Psychopathology. Applied Clinical Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0983-3_15

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