Age and sex analyses of somatic complaints and symptom presentation of childhood depression in a Hungarian clinical sample.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether the symptom presentation of major depressive disorder (MDD) in a large clinical sample of youngsters is influenced by age, sex, and the interaction of age and sex.


METHODS
The sample included 559 children (mean age = 11.69 years; range, 7-14 years; 247 girls) with MDD recruited from 23 mental health facilities across Hungary. Psychiatric evaluations were conducted via the semistructured Interview Schedule for Children and Adolescents-Diagnostic Version (ISCA-D). Final DSM-IV diagnoses were rendered via the best-estimate diagnostic procedure. Evaluations were conducted between April 2000 and May 2005.


RESULTS
Six depression symptoms increased with age: depressed mood (odds ratio [OR] = 1.10, P < .05), hypersomnia (OR = 1.17, P < .05), psychomotor retardation (OR = 1.11 P < .05), fatigue (OR = 1.13, P < .01), thoughts of death (OR = 1.11, P < .05), and suicidal ideation (OR = 1.18, P < .01), while psychomotor agitation decreased with age (OR = 0.91, P < .05). Boys were less likely to evidence anhedonia (OR = 0.67, P < .05), insomnia (OR = 0.68, P < .05), and hypersomnia (OR = 0.56, P < .05) but more likely to have psychomotor agitation (OR = 1.59, P < .01). There were no age-by-sex interactions. Rates of somatic complaints did not decrease with age (OR = 1.01, P > .05).


CONCLUSIONS
The symptom presentation of MDD becomes somewhat more neurovegetative as children get older. However, girls display more affective and atypical symptoms across all age groups. Somatic complaints were common regardless of age and should be considered an associated feature of depression in children and adolescents.
Baji
Ildikó
I
Vadaskert Hospital, Budapest, Hungary.
Lopez-Duran
Nestor L
NL
Kovacs
Maria
M
George
Charles J
CJ
Mayer
László
L
Kapornai
Krisztina
K
Kiss
Eniko
E
Gádoros
Julia
J
Vetró
Agnes
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006814:Hungary / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D011595:Psychomotor Agitation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D012737:Sex Factors; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology