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Objectives: Assessment of predictive value of the occurrence of depressive symptoms during adolescence. For this purpose,the life history of untreated adolescents screened for the presence of depressive symptoms was assessed twice, at intervals of fifteen years, including an assessment of their health history, their family-related, occupational, material and social situation. The comparison of the fate of depressive adolescents with the fate of their non-depressive peers was aimed at answering the question about the influence of adolescent depression on health in adulthood., Methods: In 1985, a random sample of 1,035 people - students aged 15 and 17 - was examined for a screening diagnosis of adolescent depression. The Krakow Depression Inventory (KID) questionnaires version for 15-year-olds ("IOB1") and for 17-year-olds ("IOC1") were used. After 15 years, data on 238 people (23%) were obtained. In 2015, responses were obtained from 101 people (9.8% of those surveyed in 1985)., Results: An analysis of the results of a 30-year prospective study of the relationship between depressiveness in adolescence, in untreated adolescents, and the health and functioning in adulthood indicates that, contrary to predictions, the appearance of depression in this phase of development cannot be treated as a predictor of mental disorders later in life., Conclusions: Long-term observation in our prospective study supports the hypothesis of a developmental character of adolescent depression.

Aim: To determine the extent to which mental disorders (depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, eating disorders) and psychoactive substance use are prevalent among Krakow secondary school adolescents in the late adolescent phase., Method: A representative sample of the population of Krakow secondary school pupils was tested. Two-stage draw method identified a group of 1933 2nd form pupils of all types of secondary schools: grammar schools, technical schools and vocational schools (17-year-olds). They were tested using the following screening questionnaires: Beck Depression Scale, EAT-26 eating disorders scale, Obsessive-compulsive disorder (Leyton) scale and the author's drug questionnaire., Results: Girls declared symptoms of mental disorders twice as often as boys (41.2% vs. 22.7%). Among girls, the most common disorders were: depressive symptoms (33.6%), eating disorder symptoms (18.7%) and obsessive-compulsive disorders (5.4%). And in the boys group: depressive symptoms (22.7%), eating disorder (7.3%) and obsessive-compulsive symptoms (3.4%). Findings were obtained concerning the prevalence of substance use in the boys and girls group (73% vs. 68%), mainly alcohol, as well as alcohol and cigarettes and alcohol, cigarettes and drugs., Conclusions: The prevalence of mental disorders in the population of 17-year-olds is significant; it concerns especially depressive symptoms and eating disorder symptoms. A significant prevalence of psychoactive substance use was found in this age group, mainly alcohol and mixed type substance use: alcohol and cigarettes and alcohol, cigarettes and drugs.

Unlabelled: Results of scarce epidemiological studies on depression in children are diverse and dependent of survey methodology as well as on the theoretical approach of the research. Those studies where the methods are comparable show that depression prevalence depends on the macrosocial situation and the adolescence stage., Aim: The study aimed to assess changes in depression prevalence in early-adolescents between 1984 and 2001. A presumption was made that the social situation in Poland had changed in the last 17 years., Method: In 2001 a representative sample of school attending 10 y.o. children was screened with KID AO "B I". The results were compared with those of a similar survey, using the same method, carried out in 1984., Results: Point prevalence index in 2001 appeared to be lower than in the survey in 1984 (27.7% versus 38.2%). This resulted exclusively from a significant decrease in depression among boys (31.0% versus 46.6%) and girls (23.9% versus 30.0%)., Conclusion: The obtained data allows for an interpretation of the findings as a result of macrosocial changes. Other hypotheses e.g. the influence of the adolescence timing and course require a longitudinal prospective study.

Aim: The aim of the study is to evaluate the changes in prevalence and dynamics of depression during puberty. It was conducted in prospective studies in a representative group of large-town primary school students., Method: A group of 1993, 10 year-old students were chosen in a two-stage draw. They were studied with the Karków Depression Inwentory (KID) in the subsequent years 2001, 2002, 2003., Results: The point prevalence of depression was respectively 29%, 30% and 26% for 10, 11 and 12 year-olds. The spread-out rate of depressive disorder was relatively stable., Conclusions: Depression is more common in pre-adolescent boys than girls. The dynamics of the disorder, when studied in these three years show that depression is a disorder with a very unequivocal course amongst the preadolescents.

Unlabelled: Results of scarce epidemiological studies on depression in adolescents are diverse and dependent of survey methodology as well as on the theoretical approach of research. Those studies where the methods are comparable show that depression prevalence depends on the macrosocial situation and the adolescence stage., Aim: The study aimed to assess changes in depression prevalence in mid-adolescents between 1984 and 2001. A presumption was made that the social situation in Poland had changed in the last 17 years., Method: In 2001 a representative sample of school attending 13 y.o. adolescents was screened with KID-IO "B1". The results were compared with those of a similar survey, using the same method, carried out in 1984., Results: Point prevalence index in 2001 appeared to be lower than in the survey in 1984 (24.6% versus 31.6%). This resulted exclusively from a significant decrease in depression among girls (26.8% versus 42.2%)., Conclusion: The obtained data allows for an interpretation of the findings as being a result of macrosocial changes. Other hypotheses e.g. influence of the adolescence timing and course requires a longitudinal prospective study.

Unlabelled: Results of scarce epidemiological studies on depression in adolescents are diverse and dependent of survey methodology as well as on the theoretical approach of researchers. Those studies where the methods are comparable show that depression prevalence depends on the macrosocial situation and the adolescence stage., Aim: The study aimed to assess changes in depression prevalence in mid-adolescents between 1984 and 2001. A presumption was made that the social situation in Poland had changed in the last 17 years., Method: In 2001 a representative sample of school attending 17 y.o. adolescents was screened with KID-IO"C1". The results were compared with those of a similar survey, using the same method, carried out in 1984., Results: Point prevalence indexes appeared to be similar as well as higher for girls in comparison with boys. However, dependence of depression prevalence and the type of the senior school has changed. In 1984 it was higher in senior schools preparing for university studies, while in 2001--in those which train in a skill., Conclusions: Earlier conceptualisations of adolescent depression as connected with social conditions making ways to adulthood difficult (e.g. unemployment) as well as high indexes of depression prevalence in adolescents living in regions with higher unemployment rates than in Kraków, allow for an interpretation of the findings as result of macrosocial changes. Other hypotheses e.g. influence of the adolescence timing and course require a longitudinal prospective study.

Prospective longitudinal observation of children socially and emotionally immature and depressive at entering school was carried on till their early adolescence. The study's aim was to describe: 1. childhood depression dynamics, 2. developmental changes in depression, 3. factors related to the depression course, 4. relation of childhood depression to adolescence depression. A screening study of representative population of school entering children led to identification of a risk group followed-up 3 and 6 years later. The Kraków Depression Inventory (AO "B1" and IO "B1") was used to diagnose, and for analysis of depression. Results of the study revealed a tendency to chronic course of depression in the studied group. Data collected at the first and the second stage showed coincidence of the depression chronicity and a set of nonspecific factors of "biological vulnerability" on the one hand, and dysfunctional family on the other. The latter was characterized by unclear family boundaries and difficult relational individuation. Data collected at the third stage of the study showed persistence of depression in the same individuals. Entering adolescence seemed to have no impact on depression prevalence in the studied group. It was, however, evident that cognitive and general activity disturbances increased among those studied who were not diagnosed depressive in the second and third stage. This finding requires further studies.

A prospective follow-up study was conducted of a group of 32 children diagnosed at 7 years of age as socially and emotionally immature and depressive. In the three year follow-up a group found still depressive was compared with those no longer depressive. Biological vulnerability, early childhood development, family internal and external boundaries and child relational individuation were taken into account. Chronicity of childhood depression can be related to vulnerability and to family disfunction. Mutual interrelation of those factors requires further studies.

Prospective follow-up study of a group of 33 children diagnosed as socially and emotionally immature, and depressive at age 7 years were conducted. Results of assessment at 10 years of age revealed chronicity of depression in this group. Chronicity of depression was reflected in the change of symptomatology. The thesis about the dependence of depressive symptoms on the developmental stage was supported. Answers to the question about the nature of childhood depression should be looked for in farther longitudinal studies.

The aim of the epidemiologic studies on depression in children and adolescents is to elucidate the nature of the disorder, in particular to verify the hypothesis of the dependence between the nature of adolescence and the occurrence of depression. Subjects with depressive features were identified from the representative sample of junior-school population, as well as from the early- and middle adolescents. The data regarding the course of the development of depressive and non-depressive probands obtained from parents interview were compared. Significant differences were found in the course of the development of depressive and non-depressive children as well as probands in the middle phase of the adolescence. There were no specific features in the course of the development in juvenile patients with the onset of depression in the early adolescence phase. Therefore, depression is more frequent among children in whom the early biological and social development is more disturbed. The infantile central nervous system's damage causes higher risk for depression in childhood. Depression in the early adolescence phase may be recognized as a specific developmental reaction, possibly connected with psychoendocrinologic puberty crisis. The onset of depression in the middle adolescent phase is connected with the difficulties of realization of developmental tasks. The infantile central nervous system's damage increases the risk for depression in that particular phase of life.

Depression in children has an unfavourable influence on the psychosocial development of the individual, therefore it requires suitable therapeutic and prophylactic approach. The dependencies between school-age immaturity and the prevalence of depression in children were evaluated in the prospective study. The school maturity, and one year later the prevalence of depression were studied in a representative sample of 502 "0"-grade children from the large urban population. The school immaturity was found in 10.56% of probands. More common symptoms were: withdrawal and antisocial behaviour. Depression was found in 32.79% of first-grade students, more frequent children with adaptation difficulties, especially among school-immature boys. The premature biological development, the symptoms of organic brain damage, and low I.Q. do not explain sufficiently neither the school-immaturity nor the prevalence of depression in children. It was found that emotional and social immaturity to the school duties facilitates the onset of depression among I grade students, while the role of the family and school in the genesis of both phenomena studied requires further investigations.