Open AccessAntecedents of depression in children and adolescents
Author(s) -
Savita Malhotra,
Swapnajeet Sahoo
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
industrial psychiatry journal/industrial psychiatry journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 0976-2795
pISSN - 0972-6748
DOI - 10.4103/ipj.ipj_29_17
Subject(s) - depression (economics) , psychosocial , psychology , vulnerability (computing) , childhood depression , clinical psychology , population , developmental psychology , temperament , cognition , psychiatry , medicine , personality , environmental health , social psychology , computer security , computer science , economics , macroeconomics
Depression in children and adolescents is a growing health problem in the 21 st century. There is growing evidence that depression poses a significant risk in the developmental trajectory of children and adolescents. It is important to identify the antecedents of depression in this vulnerable group of individuals so as to develop specific and effective preventable techniques and strategies. In this brief review, we have tried to highlight the specific antecedents of childhood and adolescence depression on which evidence is available in a structured manner. Antecedents identified in childhood and adolescent depression were categorized into biological factors, temperament, cognitive vulnerability, family factors, sociodemographic factors, academic factors, changing social milieu, school factors, and peer group influence along with the emergence of the recentproblem of excessive social networking use. Biological and psychosocial factors are equally important in the development of depression in this age group. Antecedents of childhood and adolescence depression can be targeted both to prevent and intervene depression in this population.