[Symptoms of depression during puberty: initial results of a longitudinal epidemiological study]

We present the results of a study on the depressive symptomatology in scholars during 2 years period of follow up. The initial sample was of 534 subjects (223 girls and 311 boys) of 11 and 12 years. We performed the evaluation of depressive symptoms with the self-evaluative scale CDI. We examined the puberal development with the Tanner stages. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was high and did not differ as a whole in the 2 years of survey (9.4% and 9.7%). Results showed an increment in the feminine sex from puberal stage. The incidence of depressive symptomatology in a 1 year period is 6.2%. We observed a different clinical expressivity between boys and girls. There was no significant relation between puberal stages and depressive symptoms. The results obtained support the concept of chronicity of depressive syndrome, at the same time as suggest that puberty is a crucial stage in the prevention itself.