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In addition the application of diagnostic criteria in children has greatly improved. In everyday usage the term depression refers to the experience of sadness, or dysphoria, is also a central feature of the clinical definition of depression. Loss of the experience of pleasure, social withdrawal, lowered self-esteem, inability to concentrate, poor schoolwork, alterations of biological functions (sleeping, eating, elimination), and somatic complaints are often noted. Prevalence rates for major depression in youngsters varies between 2 and 5 percent within a community. In a clinical population estimates would sometimes fall between10 and 20 percent. No gender differences have been reported for children ages six to twelve. Yet among adolescents depression is far more common among girls. Factors in the variations in reported rates of depression are the different criteria that are employed to define depression. Conclusions regarding correlates of depression may be affected by the criterion and informant employed to designate youngsters as depressed. There have been many assessment instruments developed to help realize depression as the problem. Assessment is likely to involve a number of strategies and would sample a broad spectrum of attributes. Influences on the Development of Depression Genetic influences are generally thought to play a role in depression in children and adolescents. There have been many studies done to prove that children who seem to be depressed came from parents who had a tendency to be depressed. There has not been much evidence of the truth to this matter and further tests would have to say. The study of the biochemistry of depression in adults has highlighted the role of neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine, serotonin, and acetylcholine. Research on the biological aspects of depression suggests that during the earlier developmental periods of childhood and adolescence, the neuroregulatory system is not equivalent to that in adulthood. Thus, while many workers still find evidence for a biological dysfunction in childhood depression, a translation of the adult findings would not be sufficient. Most of the characteristics of adult depression are not present with childhood depression, and vise versa. Despite much interest, much of the thinking regarding social and psychological influences on child and adolescent depression is still based on theories derived from work with depressed adults. Probably the most common psychological explanation of depression would be separation or loss. The loss could be real, as in a death or move, or it could be separation anxiety that could be present when the child begins school or parent returns to work. This could be a very emotion time for the child and they may need some extra help learning to cope with their feelings. There has been studies don to suggest that many children with learning disabilities would become depressed due to a sense of hopelessness. They have, in their minds, let down the people around them by not being able to do everything as well as they should. They may not know how to deal with their feelings toward themselves so they then become withdrawn and depressed. A major area of research on childhood depression has been an examination of children of depressed parents. Much of the research done has focused on depression in the mothers and relatively little is known on the impact of depressed fathers. It is clear, however, that parental depression is a major risk factor for childhood depression. The children of depressed parents are not only at specific risk for depression. The negative impact of depressed parents appears to emerge in multiple areas of children’s functioning. These youngsters appear to be at risk for a range of adjustments difficulties including conduct disorders, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety disorders, academic difficulties, and impaired social competence. The practice of prescribing antidepressant medication for children and adolescents is still controversial since the effectiveness and safety of pharmacotherapy with depressed youngsters remains unclear. Since most medications are made and marketed for adults there have been little studies done on their effectiveness on children. Most doctors would not want to subscribe an antidepressant for a child not knowing whether or not it will be effective. There is little established information about the psychological treatment of depression in children and adolescents. Therapy is the kind of treatment that most children and adolescents would receive. The rate of effectiveness would vary from patient to patient. Some could have a one on one therapy session while others could be in a group kind of therapy. The kind of therapy would depend on what issues the doctor thought were going to have to be addressed. While finding information for this paper I have come up with one conclusion. That there has not been nearly enough studies done on this issue. Maybe the reason that there are so many depressed adults in this world is because they were depressed as children. If no0one new enough to recognize that a child was depressed, and then how to take care of the problem how could they ever be helped? Bibliography: Comer, Ronald J., Abnormal Psychology Third Edition W.H.Freeman and Company, New York, 1998 Israel, Allen C. and Wicks-Nelson, Rita, Behavior Disorders of Childhood Third Edition Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1997 Word Count: 907
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