ABSTRACT
Child and adolescent depression is generally a common, recurrent, chronic, and debilitating disorder as it is associated with short-term and long-term functional impairment, morbidity, and mortality. The association of depression in childhood with school and with peer difficulties had been described by Puig-Antich et al. and compared with normal controls. Difficulties with peers were assessed both in depressed and non-depressed adolescents in the Newcastle Childhood Depression Project. However, the depressed group were more likely to absent themselves from school. Also, the findings of this study have underlined a more specific link between depression and school phobia. In the Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study the combination of fluoxetine with cognitive behavioural therapy was effective in improving functioning, global health, and quality of life in depressed adolescents. The main objective of this study was to examine the psychosocial outcome following the application of two psychotherapies—that is, individual psychodynamic and systemic family therapy—in a sample of children and adolescents with major depression.
