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Cited by 103Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesMental Health Treatment and Access

Developmental changes in the phenomenology of depression in girls compared to boys from childhood onward

Kovacs, M·2003·Journal of Affective Disorders
DOI 10.1016/s0165-0327(02)00429-9
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Abstract

Background Although it is well documented that teenage girls are at increased risk for depression, little is known about the importance of sex and development subsequent to onset of depression. In this article, we therefore report on sex differences in the developmental phenomenology of depression in a clinical sample.Methods Longitudinal analyses were used to examine changes in the risk of depression, patterns of comorbid diagnoses, and depressive symptoms from ages 8-13 years up to young adulthood (age 21) among 87 patients.Results Girls and boys were at similar risk for recurrent depression during follow-up. As girls got older, they had higher rates of comorbid eating disorders and lower rates of externalizing and substance use disorders than did boys; high risk periods for comorbid conditions also differed by sex. Comorbid disorders were usually contemporaneous with depression among girls but not among boys, and comorbidity patterns were influenced by age at depression onset. Girls with earlier (compared to later) onset depression were at lower risk for nonaffective disorders; boys evidenced the opposite pattern and were at particularly high risk for substance use disorders. There also were sex differences in developmental symptom patterns.Limitations Results based on this initially clinically referred sample may not generalize to youths in other settings.Conclusions Among depressed youths, sex-associated developmental trajectories in comorbid disorders and depressive symptoms have implications for intervention. Such information may help identify optimal timing of efforts to reduce the risk of or to treat comorbid disorders, and help select developmentally appropriate target symptoms for girls versus boys.

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Crossref · 10.1016/s0165-0327(02)00429-9

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  • Childhood-onset depression recurs in adolescence in 40% to 60% of clinically referred cases.

    “Kovacs and coworkers have shown that childhood-onset depression is likely to recur in adolescence in 40% to 60% of clinically referred cases.9”

    From Subthreshold Symptoms of Depression in Preadolescent Girls Are Stable and Predictive of Depressive Disorders (2008) · cites this paper as [9]

  • Results of studies on sociodemographic factors (age, gender, socioeconomic status, marital status) as risk factors for recurrence have been inconsistent.

    “Many studies showed that sociodemographic factors such as younger age, women, and those who have never been married were at higher risk of recurrence [7, 11–15]; however, results of other studies on these risk factors have been inconsistent.”

    From Predictors of recurrence of major depressive disorder (2020) · cites this paper as [18]

  • In our study, age at onset of first MDE and gender did not predict subsequent episode of MDE.

    “In terms of age at onset and gender, the results of our study replicated results of several earlier studies showing that age at onset of first MDE [17, 18, 59–60] and gender [16, 18, 59–61] did not predict subsequent episode of MDE.”

    From Predictors of recurrence of major depressive disorder (2020) · cites this paper as [18]

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Authors
Kovacs, M.
Venue
Journal of Affective Disorders
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2003-03
Volume
74
Issue
1
Pages
33-48
ISSN
0165-0327 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/s0165-0327(02)00429-9
OpenAlex
W1987974996
Cited by
103
References
36
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 5
FWCI
6.93
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Journal of Affective Disorders (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Mental Health (MH33990, P01MH056193, MH 56193)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
Keywords
adolescent depression, sex differences, developmental trajectories, comorbidities, eating disorders, substance use disorders, externalizing disorders, age of onset, depressive symptoms, recurrent depression
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Feeding and Eating Disorders, Child, Child Development, Major Depressive Disorder, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Male, Sex Factors, Comorbidity, Prevalence, Substance-Related Disorders, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

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