Latent class analysis of anxiety and depressive symptoms in referred adolescents.
BACKGROUND
Comorbidity between anxiety disorders and depressive disorders in adolescents occurs very frequently. The aim of this study was to investigate if anxiety and depression represent distinct disease entities.


METHODS
Two thousand thirty two 11- to 18-year-olds, referred to mental health services, were investigated. Self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression were analyzed with latent class analysis.


RESULTS
The numbers of adolescents with severe depression symptoms, but with less severe, or absent, anxiety symptoms, were negligible. Further, two subgroups could be discerned in those with severe anxiety symptoms: one with severe depressive symptoms, and one with mild depressive symptoms.


CONCLUSIONS
A self-report questionnaire was used, whereas diagnostic interview information regarding DSM-IV disorders was not available.


CONCLUSIONS
It seems less useful to develop treatments, or to conduct studies aimed at etiological mechanisms, that are specifically aimed at depression and not at anxiety. Further, it may be relevant to discern specific subgroups of anxious adolescents, with severe versus mild comorbid depression symptoms.
Ferdinand
Robert F
RF
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands. r.f.ferdinand@erasmusmc.nl
de Nijs
Pieter F A
PF
van Lier
Pol
P
Verhulst
Frank C
FC
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012720:Severity of Illness Index