ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates the importance of considering normal developmental processes in the study of childhood depression. Depression was one of the first mental disorders to be recognized and studied by psychiatrists and psychologists, the first well-documented case predating the time of Hippocrates. A statistical definition of depression would lead to the inclusion of insufficient appetite as a symptom of depression in 9-year- olds, but not in 6-year-olds. The conceptualization of childhood depression as a syndrome is largely due to the precedent of the similar practice in conceptualizing depressions in adults. Biological theories of depression attribute the symptoms and affect of depression to chemical or molecular physical irregularities. Behavioral theories also focus on reinforcement changes in their approaches to the treatment of depression. The use of verbal reports plays an important, albeit implicit, role in a number of conceptualizations of depression in adults.
