STABILITY OF SELF-REPORTED DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS IN A COMMUNITY SAMPLE OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Investigated the course, stability, and correlates of self-reported de pressive symptoms in a 2-year longitudinal study of a community sample of school-age children and adolescents (N = 435). At the initial asse ssment, 10% of the sample was at or above a suggested cutoff score on the Children's Depression Inventory for indicating clinically-signific ant levels of depressive symptoms. At 2-year follow-up, approximately one third of this group (32%) continued to report levels of depressive symptoms that were in the clinical range according to the same criter ion. Youths with stable elevations in depressive symptoms over the 2-y ear period exhibited a pattern of significantly greater impairment acr oss several areas of functioning including clinically significant leve ls of anxiety, markedly lower self-esteem, and higher levels of acting -out behavior as rated by teachers. Discussion of the findings address es the significance of identifying a subgroup of youths who experience chronic symptoms of depression and the relation of depressive symptom atology to co-occurring patterns of maladaptation in other domains.