title: Prevalence of major depression in preschool children.
abstract: The prevalence of preschool major depressive disorder (MDD) was studied in the community. The whole population of children between 3 and 6 years attending preschool nurseries in three areas (one urban, one rural and one suburban) in Spain (n = 1,427) were contacted. Selection was by a two-stage procedure. At stage I, the ESDM 3-6, a screening measure for preschool depression, was used to identify a sample for more intensive interviewing. Sensitivity and specificity of the cut-off point of the ESDM 3-6 had been previously tested in a pilot study (n = 229). During the first stage, 222 preschool children (15.6%) were found to be probable depressives, because they scored 27 or more, the cut-off used. At stage II, the children were interviewed and diagnosed by the consensus of two clinicians, blind to the ESDM 3-6 results. DSM-IV diagnostic criteria were used to define caseness. A total of 16 children (1.12%) met the MDD criteria. The prevalence by areas was urban 0.87%, rural 0.88%, suburban 1.43%. Sex distribution prevalence was 1:1. This study is a contribution to the scarce epidemiology of preschool depression in the community.
authors.affiliation: Child and Adolescent Psychopathology Research Unit, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus de Bellaterra, Edifici B, Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), 08193 Barcelona, Spain. edelmira.domenech@uab.es
authors.forename: Edelmira
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Domènech-Llaberia
authors.forename: Ferran
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Viñas
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pla
authors.forename: Maria Claustre
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Jané
authors.forename: Mercè
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mitjavila
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Corbella
authors.forename: Josefa
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Canals
mesh_terms: D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data