Am J Psychiatry 1981; 138:143-153
Copyright © 1981 by American Psychiatric Association
Current perspectives on childhood depression: an overview
JH Kashani, A Husain, WO Shekim, KK Hodges, L Cytryn and DH McKnew
The rapidly increasing research interest in childhood depression indicates
that it has become a recognized disorder. The authors review the literature
on depression in children, focusing on epidemiology, various diagnostic
criteria, classification schemes, assessment instruments, and intervention
studies that have been applied to childhood depression. Given that there
are many etiological factors, it will be important to study the disorder
from various conceptual frameworks, including biochemical, genetic learned
helplessness, life stresses, cognitive distortion, behavioral
reinforcement, and sociological models.
