Depression and anxiety in adolescents with pediatric-onset spinal cord injury

Little is known about depression and anxiety in adolescents with spinal cord injury (SCI).

To examine how depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and usage of treatment differ by age and sex among adolescents with SCI.

Youth 12 to 18 years old who had acquired SCI at least 1 year prior were recruited from 3 specialty hospitals. They completed the Children's Depression Inventory (ages 12-17 years) or Beck Depression Inventory-II (18 years), and Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (12-18 years). Analyses assessed differences between younger and older adolescents and between males and females.

The 236 participants were an average age of 15.58 years (SD 1.98), 58% were male, and 60% Caucasian. Average age at injury was 10.57 years (SD 5.50), and 62% had paraplegia. For depression, 5.5% of adolescents ages 12 to 17 years exceeded the clinical cutoff and 12.7% of 18-year-old adolescents fell into a range of moderate or severe depression. For anxiety, 10.6% of adolescents ages 12 to 18 years exceeded the clinical cutoff. Univariate results revealed that older adolescents were more depressed than younger adolescents, and girls were more anxious than boys. An interaction between sex and age emerged, in that older adolescent girls were significantly more anxious than other youth. Older adolescents were also more likely to be taking medications for emotional, psychological, or behavioral reasons. Reports of suicidal ideation did not differ by adolescent age or sex.

For these adolescents, depression differed with age, and anxiety differed based on age and sex. Implications for intervention include early identification and treatment for struggling adolescents.