Back to Search
Start Over
Are child-, adolescent-, and adult-onset depression one and the same disorder?
- Source :
- Biological Psychiatry. 49:980-1001
- Publication Year :
- 2001
- Publisher :
- Elsevier BV, 2001.
-
Abstract
- This paper reviews prior research studies examining neurobiological correlates and treatment response of depression in children, adolescents, and adults. Although there are some similarities in research findings observed across the life cycle, both children and adolescents have been found to differ from depressed adults on measures of basal cortisol secretion, corticotropin stimulation post-corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) infusion, response to several serotonergic probes, immunity indices, and efficacy of tricyclic medications. These differences are proposed to be due to 1) developmental factors, 2) stage of illness factors (e.g., number of episodes, total duration of illness), or 3) heterogeneity in clinical outcome (e.g., recurrent unipolar course vs. new-onset bipolar disorder). Relevant clinical and preclinical studies that provide support for these alternate explanations of the discrepant findings are reviewed, and directions for future research are discussed. To determine whether child-, adolescent-, and adult-onset depression represent the same condition, it is recommended that researchers 1) use the same neuroimaging paradigms in child, adolescent, and adult depressed cohorts; 2) carefully characterize subjects' stage of illness; and 3) conduct longitudinal clinical and repeat neurobiological assessments of patients of different ages at various stages of illness. In addition, careful attention to familial subtypes (e.g., depressive spectrum disorders vs. familial pure depressive disorders) and environmental factors (e.g., trauma history) are suggested for future investigations.
- Subjects :
- Adult
Cortisol secretion
Serotonin
Thyroid Hormones
medicine.medical_specialty
Adolescent
Hydrocortisone
Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone
Anti-Inflammatory Agents
Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic
Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone
Serotonergic
Dexamethasone
Diagnosis, Differential
Basal (phylogenetics)
Neuroimaging
medicine
Humans
Bipolar disorder
Child
Psychiatry
Biological Psychiatry
Depression (differential diagnoses)
Depressive Disorder, Major
Immunity, Cellular
Brain
medicine.disease
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
El Niño
Age of onset
Psychology
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 00063223
- Volume :
- 49
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Biological Psychiatry
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....1753383a803f855cce5207e82ec089ec