PHARMACOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

There are strong similarities between child and adolescent forms of de pressive and anxiety disorders and their adult counterparts. Neverthel ess, in contrast to the literature regarding adult depression, control led studies using modern methodologies to examine the efficacy of both pharmacological and psychosocial treatments of these disorders are re latively rare. Current clinical practice bases pharmacological treatme nt decisions on these few studies, open clinical data in children and adolescents, and extrapolation from controlled studies in adults. Give n the small research base for pharmacological approaches, clinical pra ctice frequently employs psychosocial treatments prior to pharmacologi cal ones.