The DOI matches its Crossref record; 62 of the 62 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Global prevalence of depression and elevated depressive symptoms among adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Adolescence is a formative and turbulent phase where physiological, psychosocial, and cognitive changes leave adolescents vulnerable to psychological disorders. Given the lack of reviews that consolidate and compare worldwide prevalence of depression among adolescents, this review aims to examine the global prevalence of major depressive disorders, dysthymia, and elevated depressive symptoms among adolescents. METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted. Six databases were searched for studies published from 2001 to December 2020. Seventy-two studies were included. Subgroup analysis were performed for year of publication, geographical region, gender, and assessment tools used. RESULTS: The global point prevalence rate of elevated self-reported depressive symptoms from 2001 to 2020 was 34% (95% CI: 0.30-0.38). Point prevalence for major depressive disorder (MDD) and dysthymia was 8% (95% CI: 0.02-0.13) and 4% (95% CI: 0.01-0.07), respectively. The pooled one-year prevalence and lifetime prevalence for MDD were 8% (95% CI: 0.05-0.12) and 19% (95% CI: 0.12-0.26). Point prevalence of elevated depressive symptoms among adolescents increased from 24% (95% CI: 0.19-0.28) between 2001 and 2010 to 37% (95% CI: 0.32-0.42) between 2011 and 2020. The Middle East, Africa, and Asia have the highest prevalence of elevated depressive symptoms, and female adolescents were reported to have a higher prevalence of elevated depressive symptoms than male adolescents. CONCLUSION: Besides targeting those with existing clinical depression, research and policies should also focus on educational and supportive mitigation efforts to curb depressive symptoms among adolescents before escalation. The findings encourage future research to develop more gender-specific and culturally relevant intervention programmes. PRACTITIONER POINTS: 34% of adolescents globally, aged 10-19 years, are at risk of developing clinical depression, which exceeds the reported estimates of individuals aged 18 to 25 years. Practitioners are highly encouraged to prioritize depression screening and intervention implementation for individuals in this age group. Female adolescents and adolescents from Middle East, Africa, and Asia have the highest risk of developing depression. This urges practitioners and researchers to develop more gender-specific and culturally relevant intervention programmes.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“women have higher prevalence rates of both depression and anxiety problems (Deng et al., 2023; Shorey et al., 2022)”
From Process of change and efficacy of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for anxiety and depression symptoms in adolescents: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. (2025) · cites this paper as Shorey et al., 2022
In the citing paper
“In recent years, there has been a substantial increase in the prevalence of youth mental illness which has coincided with the growing use of social media throughout society.”
From Will restricting the age of access to social media reduce mental illness in Australian youth? (2025) · cites this paper as Shorey et al., 2022
Citations
Cites
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
American Psychiatric Association (2013) · doi:10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596 · Cited by 116,369
Measuring inconsistency in meta-analyses
Higgins, J. P. T., Thompson, S. G., Deeks, J. J., & Altman, D. G. (2003) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7414.557 · Cited by 63,139
Quantifying heterogeneity in a meta‐analysis
Higgins, J. P. T., & Thompson, S. G. (2002) · Statistics in Medicine · doi:10.1002/sim.1186 · Cited by 36,763
Liberati, A., Altman, D. G., Tetzlaff, J., Mulrow, C., Gøtzsche, P. C., Ioannidis, J. P. A., Clarke, M., Devereaux, P. J., Kleijnen, J., & Moher, D. (2009) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000100 · Cited by 28,164
James, S. L., Abate, D., Abate, K. H., Abay, S. M., Abbafati, C., Abbasi, N., Abbastabar, H., Abd-Allah, F., Abdela, J., Abdelalim, A., et al. (2018) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(18)32279-7 · Cited by 13,867
Vos, T., Allen, C., Arora, M., Barber, R. M., Bhutta, Z. A., Brown, A., Carter, A., Casey, D. C., Charlson, F. J., Chen, A. Z., et al. (2016) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(16)31678-6 · Cited by 7,253
Polanczyk, G. V., Salum, G. A., Sugaya, L. S., Caye, A., & Rohde, L. A. (2015) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/jcpp.12381 · Cited by 3,990
Munn, Z., Moola, S., Lisy, K., Riitano, D., & Tufanaru, C. (2015) · International Journal of Evidence-Based Healthcare · doi:10.1097/xeb.0000000000000054 · Cited by 3,131
Ferrari, A. J., Charlson, F. J., Norman, R. E., Patten, S. B., Freedman, G., Murray, C. J. L., Vos, T., & Whiteford, H. A. (2013) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001547 · Cited by 3,115
The Epidemiology of Depression Across Cultures
Kessler, R. C., & Bromet, E. J. (2013) · Annual Review of Public Health · doi:10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031912-114409 · Cited by 2,657
(2007) · PubMed Central · Cited by 2,521
The emergence of gender differences in depression during adolescence.
Nolen–Hoeksema, S., & Girgus, J. S. (1994) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.115.3.424 · Cited by 2,315
A systematic review of studies of depression prevalence in university students
Ibrahim, A. K., Kelly, S. J., Adams, C. E., & Glazebrook, C. (2013) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2012.11.015 · Cited by 1,988
Twenge, J. M., Cooper, A. B., Joiner, T. E., Duffy, M. E., & Binau, S. G. (2019) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/abn0000410 · Cited by 1,469
Liu, Q., He, H., Yang, J., Feng, X., Zhao, F., & Lyu, J. (2020) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2019.08.002 · Cited by 1,452
Hankin, B. L., & Abramson, L. Y. (2001) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.127.6.773 · Cited by 1,343
Avenevoli, S., Swendsen, J., He, J.-P., Burstein, M., & Merikangas, K. R. (2015) · Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2014.10.010 · Cited by 1,202
Major depressive disorder in older adolescents
Lewinsohn, P. M., Rohde, P., & Seeley, J. R. (1998) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/s0272-7358(98)00010-5 · Cited by 1,078
Andrade, L., Caraveo‐anduaga, J. J., Berglund, P., Bijl, R. V., Graaf, R. D., Vollebergh, W., Dragomirecka, E., Kohn, R., Keller, M., Kessler, R. C., et al. (2003) · International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1002/mpr.138 · Cited by 1,068
Is there an epidemic of child or adolescent depression?
Jane Costello, E., Erkanli, A., & Angold, A. (2006) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01682.x · Cited by 983
Depressed Adolescents Grown Up
Weissman, M. M. (1999) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.281.18.1707 · Cited by 972
Comparative education: the dialectic of the global and the local
(2000) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.37-5799 · Cited by 876
Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: Adolescent Depression and Long-Term Psychosocial Outcomes
Clayborne, Z. M., Varin, M., & Colman, I. (2019) · Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2018.07.896 · Cited by 787
Culture–gene coevolution of individualism–collectivism and the serotonin transporter gene
Chiao, J. Y., & Blizinsky, K. D. (2009) · Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.1650 · Cited by 694
Han, B., & Eskin, E. (2011) · The American Journal of Human Genetics · doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2011.04.014 · Cited by 680
Mental health problems among medical students in Brazil: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Pacheco, J. P. G., Giacomin, H. T. A., Tam, W., Ribeiro, T. B., Arab, C., Bezerra, Í. M. P., & Pinasco, G. C. (2017) · Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1590/1516-4446-2017-2223 · Cited by 581
Health Outcomes Related to Early Adolescent Depression
Keenan‐Miller, D., Hammen, C. L., & Brennan, P. A. (2007) · Journal of Adolescent Health · doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.03.015 · Cited by 399
Fergusson, D. M., Boden, J. M., & Horwood, L. J. (2007) · British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.107.036079 · Cited by 349
Association of adolescent risk behaviors with mental health symptoms in high school students
Brooks, T., Harris, S. K., Thrall, J. S., & Woods, E. R. (2002) · Journal of Adolescent Health · doi:10.1016/s1054-139x(02)00385-3 · Cited by 336
Bernarás, E., Jaureguizar, J., & Garaigordobil, M. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00543 · Cited by 334
Ferrari, A. J., Charlson, F. J., Norman, R. E., Flaxman, A. D., Patten, S. B., Vos, T., & Whiteford, H. A. (2013) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0069637 · Cited by 330
Ormel, J., Raven, D., van Oort, F., Hartman, C. A., Reijneveld, S. A., Veenstra, R., Vollebergh, W. A. M., Buitelaar, J., Verhulst, F. C., & Oldehinkel, A. J. (2015) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291714001469 · Cited by 276
Global Epidemiology of Mental Disorders: What Are We Missing?
Baxter, A. J., Patton, G. C., Scott, K. M., Degenhardt, L. J., & Whiteford, H. (2013) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0065514 · Cited by 236
Major depressive disorder in children and adolescents
Mullen, S. (2018) · Mental Health Clinician · doi:10.9740/mhc.2018.11.275 · Cited by 219
Wickersham, A., Sugg, H. V. R., Epstein, S., Stewart, R. J., Ford, T. J., & Downs, J. M. (2020) · Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2020.10.008 · Cited by 217
Issues, Challenges, and Solutions in Translating Study Instruments
Weeks, A., Swerissen, H., & Belfrage, J. (2007) · Evaluation Review · doi:10.1177/0193841x06294184 · Cited by 168
Lin, H., Tang, T., Yen, J., Ko, C., Huang, C.-F., Liu, S., & Yen, C. (2008) · Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences · doi:10.1111/j.1440-1819.2008.01820.x · Cited by 168
Factors that differentiate early vs. later onset of major depression disorder
Zisook, S., John Rush, A., Albala, A., Alpert, J., Balasubramani, G. K., Fava, M., Husain, M., Sackeim, H., Trivedi, M., & Wisniewski, S. (2004) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2004.07.004 · Cited by 140
Mental health issues amongst medical students in Asia: a systematic review [2000-2015].
(2016) · Europe PMC (PubMed Central) · doi:10.3978/j.issn.2305-5839.2016.02.07 · Cited by 139
Prevalence of depressive symptoms among medical students: overview of systematic reviews
Tam, W., Lo, K. K.-H., & Pacheco, J. P. G. (2018) · Medical Education · doi:10.1111/medu.13770 · Cited by 135
Nalugya, J., Rukundo, G. Z., Ovuga, E., Kiwuwa, S. M., Musisi, S., & Nakimuli‐Mpungu, E. (2016) · Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health · doi:10.1186/s13034-016-0133-4 · Cited by 114
A Cross-Cultural Investigation of Cognitions and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents.
Stewart, S. M., Kennard, B. D., Lee, P. W. H., Hughes, C. W., Mayes, T. L., Emslie, G. J., & Lewinsohn, P. M. (2004) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-843x.113.2.248 · Cited by 97
Nature of Life Events and Difficulties in Depressed Adolescents
Williamson, D. E., Birmaher, B. B., Frank, E., Anderson, B. P., MATTY, M. K., & Kupfer, D. J. (1998) · Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1097/00004583-199810000-00015 · Cited by 84
Fatiregun, A. A., & Kumapayi, T. E. (2014) · Journal of Adolescence · doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.12.003 · Cited by 77
Prevalence and characteristics of depressive disorders in early adolescents in central Norway
Sund, A. M., Larsson, B. S., & Wichstrøm, L. (2011) · Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health · doi:10.1186/1753-2000-5-28 · Cited by 69
Adolescent health and development
(2011) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-7295-3804-6.50063-5 · Cited by 65
Course profiles of early- and adult-onset depression
Gollan, J. K., Raffety, B. D., Gortner, E. T., & Dobson, K. S. (2005) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2004.12.009 · Cited by 63
Depression in late adolescence: a cross-sectional study in senior high schools in Greece
Magklara, K., Bellos, S., Niakas, D. A., Stylianidis, S., Kolaitis, G. A., Mavreas, V. G., & Skapinakis, P. (2015) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-015-0584-9 · Cited by 59
Vaughan, C., & Halpern, C. T. (2010) · Journal of Research on Adolescence · doi:10.1111/j.1532-7795.2010.00646.x · Cited by 47
Prevalence of Anxiety Disorders among Children and Adolescents in Iran: A Systematic Review.
Zarafshan, H., Mohammadi, M.-R., & Salmanian, M. (2015) · PubMed Central · Cited by 47
Yuen, W. W. Y., Liu, L. L., & Tse, S. S.-K. (2019) · Journal of Adolescent Health · doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2018.10.005 · Cited by 47
Diagnosis and Treatment of Dysthymia in Children and Adolescents
Nobile, M., Cataldo, M. G., Marino, C., & Molteni, M. (2003) · CNS Drugs · doi:10.2165/00023210-200317130-00001 · Cited by 45
Normal Child and Adolescent Development: A Psychodynamic Primer
Gilmore, K. J., & Meersand, P. (2013) · Cited by 44
Lambert, S., Clover, K. A., Pallant, J., Britton, B., King, M. T., Mitchell, A. J., & Carter, G. L. (2015) · Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network · doi:10.6004/jnccn.2015.0149 · Cited by 37
DEPRESSION AND ITS ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN MALAYSIA.
Latiff, L. A., Tajik, E., Ibrahim, N., Abubakar, A. S., & Ali, S. S. B. (2016) · PubMed · Cited by 36
Shaikh, B., Doke, P., & Gothankar, J. S. (2018) · Indian Journal of Public Health · doi:10.4103/ijph.ijph_174_17 · Cited by 33
Khanh, H. N. T., Nguyen-Thanh, L., Quoc, T. P., Viet, C. P., Minh, D. D., & Kim, A. L. T. (2020) · Health Psychology Open · doi:10.1177/2055102920954711 · Cited by 27
Liu, Y.-H., Chen, L., Su, Y., Fang, Y., Srisurapanont, M., Hong, J. P., Hatim, A., Chua, H. C., Bautista, D., & Si, T. (2015) · Chinese Medical Journal · doi:10.4103/0366-6999.152654 · Cited by 26
Dachew, B. A., Bifftu, B. B., Tiruneh, B. T., Anlay, D. Z., & Wassie, M. A. (2019) · Journal of Mental Health · doi:10.1080/09638237.2019.1630717 · Cited by 23
Depression: Phenomenology, Epidemiology, and Pathophysiology
Nihalani, N. D., Simionescu, M., & Dunlop, B. W. (2009) · Medical psychiatry · doi:10.3109/9781420084887.001 · Cited by 13
Abdullah, M. Q. (2017) · Psychology & Psychological Research International Journal · doi:10.23880/pprij-16000133 · Cited by 7
Why Is It Useful to Measure Incidence and Prevalence?
Stein, Z. (1981) · International Journal of Mental Health · doi:10.1080/00207411.1981.11448871 · Cited by 6
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 4
- Chentsova‐Dutton Y. E., 2014, Understanding depression across cultural contexts
- National Institute of Mental Health, 2017, What is prevalence?
- National Institute of Mental Health, 2019, Major depression
- Ritchie H., 2018, Mental health
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Lu, B., Lin, L., & Su, X. (2024) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2024.03.074 · Cited by 357
A Review of Machine Learning and Deep Learning Approaches on Mental Health Diagnosis
Iyortsuun, N. K., Kim, S.-H., Jhon, M., Yang, H.-J., & Pant, S. (2023) · Healthcare · doi:10.3390/healthcare11030285 · Cited by 337
“[18], in their study, stated that 34% of adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 are at risk of clinical depression, exceeding the estimates of individuals aged between 18 and 25.”
BackgroundKeyes, K. M., & Platt, J. M. (2024) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/jcpp.13864 · Cited by 253
Micai, M., Fatta, L. M., Gila, L., Caruso, A., Salvitti, T., Fulceri, F., Ciaramella, A., D’Amico, R., Giovane, C. D., Bertelli, M. O., et al. (2023) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105436 · Cited by 211
Depression and internet addiction among adolescents:A meta-analysis
Ye, X., Zhang, W., & Zhao, F. (2023) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115311 · Cited by 153
Metadata
- Authors
- Shorey, S., Ng, E. D., & Wong, C. H. J.
- Affiliations
- National University of Singapore (SG)
- National University Hospital (SG)
- Corresponding author
- Shorey, Shefaly
- Venue
- British Journal of Clinical Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2021-09-26
- Volume
- 61
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 287-305
- ISSN
- 0144-6657 (ISSN-L)
- 2044-8260
- OpenAlex
- W3203726726
- Cited by
- 1,511
- References
- 62
- Citations by year
- 2026: 389 · 2025: 530 · 2024: 370 · 2023: 178 · 2022: 42 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 23.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- British Journal of Clinical Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology (medical) › Treatment of Major Depression
- Keywords
- adolescent depression, major depressive disorder, dysthymia, global prevalence, lifetime prevalence, point prevalence, gender differences, regional variation, temporal trends, depression screening, culturally sensitive interventions, mental health policy, adolescent mental health services, school-based mental health services, community mental health services
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Depression, Major Depressive Disorder, Female, Humans, Male, Prevalence
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review