Depression in young people
Open accessAbstract
Depression rates in young people have risen sharply in the past decade, especially in females, which is of concern because adolescence is a period of rapid social, emotional, and cognitive development and key life transitions. Adverse outcomes associated with depression in young people include depression recurrence; the onset of other psychiatric disorders; and wider, protracted impairments in interpersonal, social, educational, and occupational functioning. Thus, prevention and early intervention for depression in young people are priorities. Preventive and early intervention strategies typically target predisposing factors, antecedents, and symptoms of depression. Young people who have a family history of depression, exposure to social stressors (eg, bullying, discordant relationships, or stressful life events), and belong to certain subgroups (eg, having a chronic physical health problem or being a sexual minority) are at especially high risk of depression. Clinical antecedents include depressive symptoms, anxiety, and irritability. Evidence favours indicated prevention and targeted prevention to universal prevention. Emerging school-based and community-based social interventions show some promise. Depression is highly heterogeneous; therefore, a stepwise treatment approach is recommended, starting with brief psychosocial interventions, then a specific psychological therapy, and then an antidepressant medication.
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Incorporating psychological interventions alongside antidepressant medications has augmented benefit.
“In light of these challenges, several studies indicate the augmented benefit of incorporating psychological interventions alongside antidepressant medications (Breedvelt 2021; Thapar 2022; Verhoeven 2023).”
From Psychotherapeutic treatments for depression in older adults (2024) · cites this paper as Thapar 2022
The Medication section reports added benefit from CBT alongside antidepressants for relapse prevention and for adolescents switching medication after an unsuccessful SSRI trial. But it also reports that, in adolescent acute-treatment trials, fluoxetine plus CBT was not superior to fluoxetine alone. The unqualified claim of augmented benefit is therefore broader than the evidence this review describes (page unavailable). (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredSocial determinants, including economic deprivation, family and peer relationships, discrimination and social exclusion, and exposure to stressful environments, have a profound influence on youth mental health.
“Social determinants, including economic deprivation, family and peer relationships, discrimination and social exclusion, and exposure to stressful environments, have a profound influence on youth mental health [2, 3].”
From Social inequalities in youth mental health in Canada, 2007–2022: a population-based repeated cross-sectional study (2025) · cites this paper as [2]
Given increasing incidence of mental health problems and help-seeking among adolescents, group therapy may be a cost-effective alternative to individual therapy.
“Given the increasing incidence of mental health problems and help-seeking among adolescents (Mojtabai and Olfson, 2020; Thapar et al., 2022), group therapy may be a cost-effective alternative to individual therapy (Bjerke et al., 2021).”
From “And I Can Remind Myself That I Am All Of This”: adolescents’ experiences of group-based acceptance and commitment therapy (2024) · cites this paper as Thapar et al., 2022
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References 161 · Cited by 869
Research works printed but not linked: 3
- APA. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. American Psychiatric Association, 2013 DOI:10.1016/B978-0-12-809324-5.05530-9. 6 ICD-11. https://icd.who.int/en (accessed Sept 8, 2021). · DOI
- Hakulinen C, Elovainio M, Pulkki-Råback L, Virtanen M, Kivimäki M, Jokela M. Personality and Dpressive Symptoms: Individual-Participant Meta-Analysis of 10 Cohort Studies. Depress Anxiety 2015; 32: 461-70.
- Weavers B, Heron J, Thapar AK, et al. The antecedents and outcomes of persistent and remitting adolescent depressive symptom trajectories: a longitudinal, population-based English study. The Lancet Psychiatry 2021; 8: 1053-61. 120
- Authors
- Thapar, A., Eyre, O., Patel, V., & Brent, D.
- Affiliations
- Cardiff University (GB)
- Harvard University (US)
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- Corresponding author
- Thapar, Anita
- Venue
- The Lancet
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2022-08
- Volume
- 400
- Issue
- 10352
- Pages
- 617-631
- ISSN
- 0099-5355 (ISSN-L)
- 0140-6736
- OpenAlex
- W4290098820
- Cited by
- 869
- References
- 161
- Citations by year
- 2026: 239 · 2025: 291 · 2024: 230 · 2023: 100 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 26.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- orca.cardiff.ac.uk
- Licence
- Locations
- The Lancet (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University) (submittedVersion)
- ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- adolescent depression, youth, depression prevention, early intervention, risk factors, family history of depression, bullying, social stressors, sexual minority youth, chronic physical illness, depression recurrence, anxiety comorbidity, irritability, school-based intervention, community-based intervention, stepwise treatment, brief psychosocial intervention, psychotherapy, antidepressants, sex differences
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Antidepressive Agents, Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Depression, Female, Humans, Schools
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