Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-wxk4p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-31T12:46:26.935Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effects of age and pubertal status on depression in a large clinical sample

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 October 2008

Adrian Angold  and
Michael Rutter
Adrian Angold*
Affiliation:
Developmental Epidemiology Program, Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center
Michael Rutter
Affiliation:
MRC Child Psychiatry Unit, DeCrespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London
*
Address reprint requests to: Adrian Angold, Developmental Epidemiology Program, Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, Box 3454, Durham, NC 27710.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The rate of depression rises overall between childhood and adolescence, and by early adulthood depression is twice as common in women as in men. However, study results are conflicting as to the relative rates of depression in prepubertal boys and girls, and it is not clear whether the rates in adolescent boys rise, fall, or remain steady. It is also uncertain when in adolescence the female preponderance emerges. A number of studies point to effects of the biological developments of puberty as having an important place in these changes. From a developmental point of view, the fact that the hormonal and physical changes of puberty differ in boys and girls, mean that a “biological explanation” fits in well with the gender differentiation in rates of depression across puberty. In a sample of 3,519 8–16-year-old psychiatric patients, both boys and girls shared increasing levels of depression across this age range, but the rate of increase was faster in girls. There was no difference in the rates of depression between boys and girls before the age of 11, but by the age of 16 girls were twice as likely as boys to have significant depressive symptomatology. When age was controlled for, pubertal status had no effect on depression scores. Thus, these results did not support the idea that the biological changes of puberty are a primary motive force in producing the changes in the sex ratio in depression in adolescence. Therefore, further research on this topic needs not only to address the etiology of depression in young people, but also to search for etiologic factors with differential distributions or effects on boys and girls.

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , January 1992 , pp. 5 - 28
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

American Psychiatric Association. (1980). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Author.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association. (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed., rev.). Washington, DC: Author.Google Scholar
Anderson, J. C., Williams, S., McGee, R., & Silva, P. A. (1987). DSM-III disorders in preadolescent children: Prevalence in a large sample from the general population. Archives of General Psychiatry, 44, 69–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Angold, A. (1989). Structured assessments of psychopathology in children and adolescents. In Thompson, C. (Ed.), The instruments of psychiatric research (pp. 271–304). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Bancroft, J. (1988). Human sexuality and its problems (2nd ed.). Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.Google Scholar
Bardwick, J. M. (1976). Psychological correlates of the menstrual cycle and oral contraceptive medication. In Sachar, E. J. (Ed.), Hormones, behavior, and psychopathotogy (pp. 95–103).Google Scholar
Bird, H. R., Canino, G., Rubio-Stipec, M., Gould, M. S., Ribera, J., Sesman, M., Woodbury, M.Huertas-Goldman, S., Pagan, A., Sanchez-Lacay, A., & Moscoso, M. (1988). Estimates of prevalence of childhood maladjustment in a community survey in Puerto Rico. Archives of General Psychiatry, 45, 1120–1126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blazer, D., George, L. K., & Lauderman, R. (1985). Psychiatric disorders: A rural/urban comparison. Archives of General Psychiatry, 42, 651–656.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boyd, J. H., & Weissman, M. M. (1981). Epidemiology of affective disorders: A re-examination and future directions. Archives of General Psychiatry, 38, 1039–1046.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brooks-Gunn, J., & Warren, M. P. (1985). Measuring physical status and timing in early adolescence: A developmental perspective. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 14, 163–189.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brooks-Gunn, J., & Warren, M. P. (1989). Biological and social contributions to negative affect in young adolescent girls. Child Development, 60, 40–55.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, G. W., Harris, T., & Bifulco, A. (1986). Long-term effect of early loss of parent. In Rutter, M., Izard, C., & Read, P. (Eds.), Depression in childhood: Developmental perspectives (pp. 251–296). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Burke, P., & Puig-Antich, J. (1990). Psychobiology of childhood depression. In Lewis, M. & Miller, S. M. (Eds.), Handbook of developmental psychopathology (pp. 327–339). New York: Plenum.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caccioppo, J. T., & Tassinary, L. G. (1991). Inferring psychological significance from physiological signals. American Psychologist, 45, 16–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cairns, R. (1991). Multiple metaphors for a singular idea. Developmental Psychology, 27, 23–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caspi, A., & Moffit, T. (1991, 04). Puberty and deviance in girls. Symposium paper read at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Seattle, WA.Google Scholar
Cohen, J. (1990). Things I have learned (so far). American Psychologist, 45, 1304–1312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, P., & Brook, J. S. (1987). Family factors related to the persistence of psychopathology in childhood and adolescence. Psychiatry, 50, 332–345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costello, E. J. (1989). Developments in child psychiatric epidemiology. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 28, 836–841.Google ScholarPubMed
Costello, E. J., & Angold, A. (1988). Scales to assess child and adolescent depression: Checklist, screens and nets. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 27, 726–737.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fleming, J. E., & Offord, D. R. (1990). Epidemiology of childhood depressive disorders: A critical review. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 29, 571–580.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fleming, J. E., Offord, D. R., & Boyle, M. H. (1989). The Ontario Child Health Study: Prevalence of childhood and adolescent depression in the community. British Journal of Psychiatry, 155, 647–654.Google ScholarPubMed
Goodman, R., & Simonoff, E. (1991). Reliability of clinical ratings by trainee child psychiatrist: A research note. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 32, 551–555.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goodyer, I. M., & Altham, P. M. E. (1991). Lifetime exit events and recent social and family adversities in anxious and depressed school-age children and adolescents – II. Journal of Affective Disorders, 21, 229–238.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gottlieb, G. (1991). Experiential canalization of behavioral development: Theory. Developmental Psychology, 27, 4–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrington, R., Fudge, H., Rutter, M., Pickles, A., & Hill, J. (1990). Adult outcomes of childhood and adolescent depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 47, 465–473.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hay, D. F., & Angold, A. (in press). Precursors and causes in development and pathogenesis. In Hay, D. F. & Angold, A. (Eds.), Precursors and causes in development and pathogenesis. London: Wiley.Google Scholar
Houser, B. B. (1979). An investigation of the correlation between hormone levels in males and mood, behavior, and physical discomfort. Hormones and Behavior, 12, 185–197.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kashani, J. H., McGee, R. D., Clarkson, S. E., Anderson, J. C., Walton, L. E., William, S., Silva, P. A., Robins, A. J., Cytryn, L., & McKnew, D. H. (1983). Depression in a sample of nine year old children. Archives of General Psychiatry, 40, 1217–1223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kovacs, M., Feinberg, T., Crouse-Novak, M., Paulauskas, S., & Finkelstein, R. (1984). Depressive disorders in childhood: Parts I and II. Archives of General Psychiatry, 41, 229–239, 643–649.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loeber, R. (1991). Questions and advances in the study of developmental pathways. In Cicchetti, D. & Toth, S. (Eds.), Rochester Symposium on Developmental Psychopathology, Vol. 3: Models and integrations. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press.Google Scholar
Magnusson, D. (1988). Individual development from an interactional perspective: A longitudinal study. Hillsdale, NJ: Plenum.Google Scholar
McGee, R., Feehan, M., Williams, S., Partridge, F., Silva, P., & Kelly, J. (1990). DMS-III disorders in a large sample of adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 29, 611–619.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGee, R., & Williams, S. (1988). A longitudinal study of depression in nine-year-old children. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 27, 342–348.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Montgomery, J. C., Brincat, M., Tapp, A., Appleby, L., Versi, E., Fenwick, P. B. C., & Studd, J. W. W. (1987). Effect of oestrogen and testosterone implants on psychological disorders in the climacteric. Lancet, 7, 297–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nottelmann, E. D., Inoff-Germain, G., Susman, E. J., & Chrousos, G. P. (1990). Hormones and behavior at puberty. In Bancroft, J. & Reinisch, J. M. (Eds.), Adolescence and puberty (pp. 88–123). New York: Oxford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nottelmann, E. D., Susman, E. J., Dorn, L. D., Inoff-Germain, G., Loriaux, D. L., Cutler, G. B., & Chrousos, G. P. (1987). Developmental processes in early adolescence: Relations among chronologic age, pubertal stage, height, weight, and serum levels of gonadotropins, sex steroids, and adrenal androgens. Journal of Adolescent Health Care, 8, 246–260.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nottelmann, E. D., Susman, E. J., Inoff-Germain, G., Cutler, G. B., Loriaux, D. L., & Chrousos, G. P. (1987b). Developmental processes in early adolescence: Relationships between adolescent adjustment problems and chronologic age, pubertal stage, and puberty-related serum hormone levels. The Journal of Pediatrics, 110(3), 473–480.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Offer, D., Ostrov, E., & Howard, K. I. (1977). The Offer Self-image Questionnaire for Adolescents: A manual. Chicago: Michael Reese Hospital.Google Scholar
Orvaschel, H., Walsh-Allis, G., & Ye, W. (1988). Psychopathology in children of parents with recurrent depression. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 16, 17–28.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pearce, J. (1977). Depressive disorder in childhood. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 18, 79–82.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Poznanski, E. O. (1982). The clinical phenomenology of childhood depression. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 52, 308–313.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rehm, L. P., & Carter, A. S. (1990). Cognitive components of depression. In Lewis, M. & Miller, S. M. (Eds.), Handbook of developmental psychopathology (pp. 341–351). New York: Plenum.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutter, M. (1990). Age changes in depressive disorders: Some developmental considerations. In Garber, J. & Dodge, K. A. (Eds.), The development of emotion regulation and dysregulation (pp. 273–300). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Rutter, M., Angold, A., Harrington, R., Nicholls, J., & Taylor, E. (1989, 05). Age trends in patterns of psychopathology in child psychiatric clinic attenders. Presented at the Annual Conference of the Society for Research in Child Development,Seattle, WA.Google Scholar
Rutter, M., Graham, P., Chadwick, O. F. D., & Yule, W. (1976). Adolescent turmoil: Fact or fiction? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 17, 35–56.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rutter, M., Tizard, J., & Whitmore, K. (1970). Education, health and behavior. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Sroufe, L. A., & Rutter, M. (1984). The domain of developmental psychopathology. Child Development, 55, 17–29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stattin, H., & Magnusson, D. (1990). Paths through life– Vol. 2: Pubertal maturation in female development. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Susman, E. J., Inoff-Germain, G., Nottelmann, E. D., Loriaux, D. L., Cutler, G. B., & Chrousos, G. (1987). Hormones, emotional dispositions and aggressive attributes in young adolescents. Child Development, 58, 1114–1134.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Susman, E. J., Nottelmann, E. D., Inoff-Germain, G., Dorn, L. D., & Chrousos, G. (1987). Hormonal influences on aspects of psychological development during adolescence. Journal of Adolescent Health Care, 8, 492–504.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thorley, G. (1987). Factor study of a psychiatric child rating scale bases on ratings made by clinicians on child and adolescent clinic attenders. British Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 49–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tolis, G., & Stefanis, C. (1983). Depression: Biological and neuroendocrine aspects. Biomedicine and Pharmacotherapy, 37, 316–322.Google ScholarPubMed
Velez, C. N., Johnson, J., & Cohen, P. (1989). A longitudinal analysis of selected risk factors for childhood psychopathology. Journal of the American A cademy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 28, 861–864.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weinberg, W. A., Rutman, J., Sullivan, L., Penick, E. C., & Dietz, S. (1973). Depression in children referred to an educational diagnostic center: Diagnosis and treatment. Behavioral Pediatrics, 83, 1065–1072.Google Scholar
Weissman, M. M., Gammon, G. D., John, K., Merikangas, K. R., Warner, V., Prusoff, B. A., & Sholomskas, D. (1987). Children of depressed parents: Increased psychopathology and early onset of major depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 44, 847–853.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed