Am J Psychiatry 1986; 143:1138-1143
Copyright © 1986 by American Psychiatric Association
Depression and depressive symptoms in preschool children from the general population
JH Kashani, WR Holcomb and H Orvaschel
This multiphasic study used four independent sources of information to
investigate depression and depressive symptoms in a sample of preschool-
age children from a general population. The study provides evidence that
major depressive disorder exists in preschoolers and that stressful life
events are associated with depressive symptoms; it underscores the
importance of the teacher's report for identifying the presence of
depression in this age group. Details of the findings, including a new
scale for rating depression in young children, are discussed.
