Phenomenology of depression in young girls.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the prevalence of depressive symptoms, the overlap between caregiver and child report, the association between depression and anxiety, and the relationship between symptoms of depression and impairment in young girls.


METHODS
Participants in the Pittsburgh Girls Study, a community sample of 2,451 girls aged 5-8 years old and their primary caregivers were interviewed in 2000-2001 using the Child Symptom Inventory and the Short Moods and Feelings Questionnaire to measure depression, the Screen for Child Anxiety and Related Emotional Disorders to measure anxiety, and the Children's Global Assessment Scale to measure impairment.


RESULTS
Less than 1% of 5- to 8-year-old girls had five or more symptoms of major depression according to the caregiver report. Individual differences in symptom counts and depression scores by caregiver and child report were observed. Agreement between caregivers and girls on depression symptoms was low, with only 2% of the variance in caregiver-reported depression on the Child Symptom Inventory being accounted for by child report on the Short Moods and Feelings Questionnaire. The level of association between depression and anxiety scores suggested that these constructs are associated but relatively independent in young girls. Both caregiver report and child report of depressive symptoms were uniquely associated with impairment ratings.


CONCLUSIONS
Although major depression appears to be rare among 5- to 8-year-old girls, continuous measures of depressive symptoms yield significant individual differences that are associated with impairment. Thus, preliminary evidence suggests that depressive symptoms can be validly measured in 5- to 8-year-old girls.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Chicago, IL 60637, USA. kkeenan@yoda.bsd.uchicago.edu
Kate
K
Keenan
Alison
A
Hipwell
Jeanne
J
Duax
Magda
M
Stouthamer-Loeber
Rolf
R
Loeber
D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010414:Pennsylvania; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011203:Poverty / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D012494:Sampling Studies