Depression in Children and Adolescents: A Review of Indian studies

Depression is a common mental disorder seen across all age groups, including children and adolescents. Depression is often associated with significant disability in children and adolescents.

This review aims to evaluate the Indian research on depression in children and adolescents.

Available data suggest that the point prevalence of depression/affective disorders ranges from 1.2% to 21% in the clinic-based studies; 3%-68% in school-based studies and 0.1%-6.94% in community studies. There has been only one incidence study from India which estimated the incidence to be 1.6%. With respect to the risk factors for depression, studies have reported various education-related difficulties, relationship issues with parents or at home, family-related issues, economic difficulties, and other factors. A limited number of studies have evaluated the symptom profile, and the commonly reported symptoms include depressed mood, diminished interest in play activities, concentration difficulties, behavior problems in the form of anger and aggression, pessimism, decreased appetite, decreased sleep, anhedonia, and somatic symptoms. None of the studies from India has evaluated the efficacy/effectiveness of various antidepressants in children and adolescents with depression.

There is a wide variation in the point prevalence reported across different studies, which is mainly due to methodological differences across studies. Limited data are available with respect to symptom profile and factors associated with depression in children and adolescents.