Gender and the course of major depressive disorder through adolescence in clinically referred youngsters

Objectives: To determine whether there are gender differences among psychia trically referred young patients in the presenting features and subsequent course of major depressive disorder (MDD) through adolescence. Method: The subjects were 92 participants in a longitudinal follow-up study that includ ed repeated standardized psychiatric evaluations. Gender effects were exami ned on features of MDD as patients progressed from late childhood (mean age 11 years) to late adolescence (mean age 17 years). Results: Salient featur es of MDD did riot differ for girls versus boys, including age at MDD onset , recovery from the index episode, risk of a new episode, and rates of vari ous comorbid disorders in the index and recurrent episodes. Rates of select ed symptoms and severity of the depressive syndrome also were comparable fo r boys and girls throughout their development. Conclusions: Gender differen ces have been documented in epidemiological and community samples with resp ect to rates and correlates of depressed mood and some features of depressi ve disorders. However, the study of gender differences among clinically ref erred depressed youths has only recently gained momentum. The present findi ngs complement existing reports suggesting a lack of compelling gender effe cts on salient presenting features and adolescent outcomes of MDD in clinic ally referred youths. Additional work is needed to determine whether gender effects are detectable on other clinical parameters of MDD during adolesce nce or further along in development.