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Juvenile- versus adult-onset depression: multiple differences imply different pathways.
Jonathan Hill1, Andrew Pickles, Lynn Rollinson
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Liverpool, UK. Jonathan.Hill@liverpool.ac.uk
Psychological Medicine
|February 24, 2005
Summary
Juvenile-onset depression in women is linked to childhood trauma and peer issues, while adult-onset depression involves different sexual abuse histories. This distinction highlights varied childhood factors and adult life mechanisms in major depression.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Clinical Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Major depression exhibits heterogeneity linked to age of onset, comorbidities, and childhood trauma.
- This study investigates these factors, contrasting depression onset in young women before and after age 16.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine heterogeneity in adult depression based on age of onset (juvenile vs. adult).
- To identify distinct childhood and adult life factors associated with each onset group.
Main Methods:
- Two-phase sampling of women aged 25-36 from primary care practices.
- Interviews assessed childhood experiences, psychopathology, parental psychiatric history, adult personality, and lifetime psychopathology.
- Weighted analyses projected findings to the general population.
Main Results:
- Juvenile-onset depression associated with childhood psychopathology, peer problems, poor parental care, and sexual abuse (intercourse).
- Adult-onset depression linked to childhood sexual abuse (non-intercourse) and, to a lesser extent, poor parental care.
- Both groups showed distinct patterns of adult psychopathology and personality dysfunction.
Conclusions:
- The distinction between juvenile- and adult-onset depression is significant for understanding heterogeneity.
- Different individual and environmental factors in childhood, and distinct adult mechanisms, are implicated in each onset group.