The purpose of this study was to describe the onset age distribution for first episodes of unipolar depression for men and women. From a total of 6,742 participants ranging in age from 18 to 88 years, 2,046 were selected for a diagnostic interview on the basis of elevated scores on a self-report depression inventory and were diagnosed as per the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia and Research Diagnostic Criteria procedures. Of those interviewed, 1,012 were diagnosed as having suffered from a previous episode of depression. The Life Table method was used to describe the risks associated with different ages for developing an initial episode of depression. The results indicate that the hazard rates are very low through age 14 years, increase during adolescence (15-19 years) and young adulthood (20-24 years), peak between 45 and 55 years, and then decrease with increasing age, becoming zero at 80 years or older. The hazard rates for men and women differed, with women between the ages of 9 and 69 years having higher hazard rates than men between the same ages. The average age at onset for first episodes of depression for men and women did not differ.The age at which disorders have their initial onset is important epidemiological information. The potential importance of age at onset is recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III; American Psychiatric Association, 1980), which devotes a section to this aspect for each disorder even though in most instances relatively few empirical data are available for estimating the age of first onset distributions for the various disorders.Many theoretical and practical issues can be addressed if the age at onset distribution for a disorder is known. Such knowledge would have important public policy and planning implications for directing services toward the vulnerable age groups. In addition, there is evidence that the age at first onset for a disorder can have etiological implications. For example, with affective disorders there appears to be a stronger genetic component in those individuals who develop the disorder earlier in life relative to those who develop the disorder later in life (Gershon,

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that the duration of episodes of unipolar depression increases with age at onset. On the basis of elevated scores on a self-report depression measure, 2,020 persons were selected from a larger community sample to be interviewed and diagnosed using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Research Diagnostic Criteria procedures. Of the 2,020 persons, 865 had a history of one or more episodes of unipolar depression. The potential effects of the following variables (singly and in interaction) on duration of episode were assessed by means of multiway frequency table analysis and chi-square: age at onset, sex of subject, interval since occurrence of the episode, and type of disorder (major vs. minor depressive disorder). The hypothesis that duration of episodes of depression increases with age at onset was not supported. Women were more likely to have multiple episodes, but did not have longer lasting episodes.

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