Childhood depression: a systematic review

Abstract

As an important public health issue, childhood depression deserves special attention, considering the serious and lasting consequences of the disease to child development. Taking this into consideration, the present study was based on the following question: what practical contributions to clinicians and researchers does the current literature on childhood depression have to offer? The objective of the present study was to conduct a systematic review of articles regarding childhood depression. To accomplish this purpose, a systematic review of articles on childhood depression, published from January 1, 2010 to November 24, 2012, on MEDLINE and SciELO databases was carried out. Search terms were “depression” (medical subject headings [MeSH]), “child” (MeSH), and “childhood depression” (keyword). Of the 180 retrieved studies, 25 met the eligibility criteria. Retrieved studies covered a wide range of aspects regarding childhood depression, such as diagnosis, treatment, prevention and prognosis. Recent scientific literature regarding childhood depression converge to, directly or indirectly, highlight the negative impacts of depressive disorders to the children’s quality of life. Unfortunately, the retrieved studies show that childhood depression commonly grows in a background of vulnerability and poverty, where individual and familiar needs concerning childhood depression are not always taken into consideration. In this context, this review demonstrated that childhood-onset depression commonly leads to other psychiatric disorders and co-morbidities. Many of the retrieved studies also confirmed the hypothesis that human resources (eg, health care team in general) are not yet adequately trained to address childhood depression. Thus, further research on the development of programs to prepare health care professionals to deal with childhood depression is needed, as well as complementary studies, with larger and more homogeneous samples, centered on prevention and treatment of childhood depression.

Effect of shot peening on metastable austenitic stainless steels

“…ε-martensite has a hcp crystallographic structure, while α' has a bcc one [2]. The typical transformation sequence can be summarized as γ  ε  α', where the γ  ε transformation has been proposed for austenitic stainless steels deformed under tension, as well as by rolling [3,4].…”

Suicidal behaviour in adolescents: Characteristics and prevalence

“…The development of programmes to prepare health professionals to deal with topics related to suicidal behaviour is important in the fi eld of public health, because it helps to detect these prior behaviours, fostering appropriate follow-up, to stop the damaging effects of these behaviours that can lead to death 12 . It is concluded that one in 10 teenagers showed suicidal thinking and planning, and the proportion was less than one for suicide attempts.…”

“…For this reason, studies allowing the assessment of lifestyle factors for suicidal behaviours are needed in several localities of Brazil, a country with great cultural diversity 3 . Individuals affected by suicidal behaviour show different demographic characteristics: economic, social, cultural, and lifestyle 3,12 . The identifi cation of these characteristics in different places make it possible to identify the individuals at risk of being affected by suicidal behaviour, enabling the monitoring of them and also contributing to the reduction of this problem 1 .…”

Childhood Depression Can Impair Learning

“…One way to evaluate the child and his behaviors is to ask him to make some drawings, which allow the knowledge of his fantasies and his imaginative capacity, besides demonstrating his mood through the themes and colors chosen for the drawing. In psychiatric evaluations, qualified listening is important, in order to unite the information collected from the child, his parents and/or guardians, his school and all the social environment to which the child is inserted (Lima et al, 2013;Maughan et al, 2013;Mullen, 2018).…”