ARE ADOLESCENTS CHANGED BY AN EPISODE OF MAJOR DEPRESSION

Objective: This study examined whether adolescents having a first onse t of major depression are changed by the experience (i.e., does having an episode of depression result in residual effects that did not exis t before the episode?). Method: Among 1,507 community adolescents asse ssed at two time points approximately 1 year apart, 45 experienced and recovered from a first episode of depression between the two assessme nts. These adolescents were contrasted with never-depressed control su bjects on an array of depression-related psychosocial variables before and after the episode. Results: Psychosocial scars (characteristics e vident after but not before the episode) include internalizing behavio r problems, stressful major life events, excessive emotional reliance on others, cigarette smoking, and subsyndromal depression symptoms. Bo th before and after the episode, the depressed adolescents reported an elevated level of physical health problems. Conclusions: More scars w ere found in the present study than in previous research with formerly depressed adults. This is consistent with the hypothesis that early-o nset depression is a more pernicious form of the disorder that may imp act adolescents more severely than adults.