Characteristics of depressed preschoolers with and without anhedonia: evidence for a melancholic depressive subtype in young children.
OBJECTIVE
This study investigated whether a melancholic subtype similar to that established in depressed adults can be identified in depressed preschool children.


METHODS
A final group total of 156 preschool children between the ages of 3.0 and 5.6 years and their caregivers underwent a comprehensive psychiatric assessment that included a structured psychiatric interview modified for young children. The clinical characteristics of four study groups (N=156) were compared: depressed preschoolers with anhedonia, depressed preschoolers without anhedonia ("hedonic"), a psychiatric comparison group with DSM-IV attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and/or oppositional defiant disorder, and a healthy comparison group.


RESULTS
Fifty-four depressed preschoolers were identified, and 57% of this depressed group was anhedonic, a symptom deemed to be highly developmentally and clinically significant when arising in the preschool period. The anhedonic depressed subgroup identified was characterized by greater depression severity, alterations in stress cortisol reactivity, increased family history of major depressive disorder, and increased frequency of psychomotor retardation as well as other melancholic symptoms, such as a lack of brightening in response to joyful events.


CONCLUSIONS
The clinical characteristics of this depressed subgroup are consistent with those described in melancholic depressed adults and suggest that a melancholic depressed subtype can be manifest in children as young as age 3.
Luby
Joan L
JL
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave., Box 8134, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA. luby@psychiatry.wustl.edu
Mrakotsky
Christine
C
Heffelfinger
Amy
A
Brown
Kathy
K
Spitznagel
Edward
E
D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D000367:Age Factors; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005006:Ethnicity; D005190:Family; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis; D007182:Income; D008016:Life Change Events; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors
D006854:Hydrocortisone