ABSTRACT
On the basis of studies begun during the 1970s, quite a bit has become known about depression during adolescence and childhood (e.g., Fleming & Offord, 1990; Garber, Kriss, Koch, & Lindholm, 1988; Kovacs, 1996; Lewinsohn, Hops, Roberts, Seeley, & Andrews, 1993; McGee et al., 1990). In an effort to contribute to this literature, our group at the Oregon Research Institute has been engaged since the mid-1980s in an extensive program of research on the epidemiology and treatment of adolescent depression. A central component of this effort is the Oregon Adolescent Depression Project (OADP), which is based on a large, randomly selected cohort of high school students who were assessed at two points over a period of 1 year using rigorous diagnostic criteria and structured diagnostic interviews (Lewinsohn et al., 1993). We recently completed a third wave of diagnostic assessments with a subset of participants after they had turned 24 years of age. The goal of this chapter is to summarize findings from the OADP concerning the consequences of adolescent depression on young adult functioning. Although our primary focus in this chapter is to summarize findings that have emerged from the OADP, we relate our data to other pertinent research findings as much as possible.
