[Prevalence of depression in Krakow population of 17 years old students in years 1984 and 2001].

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.