title: Should depression in young school-children be diagnosed with different criteria?
abstract: In a two-stage epidemiological study 5686 randomly selected 8 to 9-year-old children were screened using the CDI (Children's Depression Inventory), of whom 418 were questioned with the DISC-C1 (Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children). According to DSM-III criteria the prevalence of MDD (Major Depressive Disorders) was 0.48% and of DD (Dysthymic Disorder) 0.06%. The prevalence rates did not change when DSM-III-R and DSM-IV criteria were employed. Fifteen children reported suicidal thoughts but according to DSM-III criteria only 1 of these children was depressed. Duration and frequency of depressive symptoms are essential for making a diagnosis of depressive disorder by the DSM-III, but children's reliability in reporting them is questionable. Omitting the duration and frequency of symptoms from the DSM-III criteria raised the prevalence of MDD to 4.0% and of DD to 2.2%. Eight of the children with suicidal thoughts were depressed. By the adapted DSM-III-R and DSM-IV criteria the prevalence rate of MDD was 4.0% and of DD 9.7%.
authors.affiliation: University of Tampere, Tampere School of Public Health, Finland.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Puura
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tamminen
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Almqvist
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kresanov
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kumpulainen
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Moilanen
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Koivisto
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D012307:Risk Factors; D012494:Sampling Studies; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology; D000092864:Suicide Prevention