Adult psychosocial outcome of prepubertal major depressive disorder

Objective: To compare adult psychosocial functioning (PSF) of subjects with prepubertal major depressive disorder (PMDD) to a normal comparison (NC) g roup. Method: PSF of subjects with PMDD (n = 72) and of NC subjects (n = 28 ) was com pared after prospective follow-up to adulthood. These 100 subject s were 90.9% of the baseline 110 subjects who participated in the "Nortript yline in Childhood Depression: Follow-up Study" Research nurses who were bl ind to group status conducted telephone interviews using the Longitudinal I nterval Follow-up Evaluation (LIFE) to obtain PSF data. Results: At follow- up, the PMDD group was 20.7 +/- 2.0 and the NC subjects were 20.9 +/- 2.2 y ears old.The PMDD subjects were 10.3 +/- 1.5 years old at baseline. Time be tween baseline acid follow-up was 9.9 +/- 1.5 years. In the PMDD group, sub jects with MDD, bipolar disorder, or substance use disorders during the pre vious 5 years had significantly worse PSF than NC subjects. These PSF impai rments included significantly worse relationships with parents, siblings, a nd friends; significantly worse functioning in household, school, and work settings; and worse overall quality of life and global social adjustment. C onclusions: Although combined treatments for PMDD have little scientific ba sis, multimodality regimens seem prudent until definitive treatment data be come available.