ABSTRACT
In the last decade there has been an explosion in the number of articles written about depressive disorders in children and adolescents. Major depression and dysthymic disorder are known to contribute significantly to serious psychiatric disturbance in childhood and adolescence. Studies have in fact indicated that the incidence of depressive disorders in children and adolescents may be increasing. Until about two decades ago several investigators felt that the occurrence of major depression in very young prepubertal children was rare or even nonexistent (Kovacs & Beck, 1977). However, since then, several investigators have reported depression in young children and concluded that major depression exists in preschoolers and that stressful life events are associated with depressive symptoms. The incidence of major depression in clinical populations is widely varied ranging from 3 percent to 33 percent (Robins, 1979).
