Children and young people's conceptualizations of depression: a systematic review and narrative meta‐synthesis

Abstract

Young people's concepts of depression resemble aspects of adult conceptualizations, however are sometimes incomplete. Further research on younger children and clinical populations is needed. Research on young people's conceptualizations informs both clinical practice and mental health literacy interventions.

Children's concepts of childhood and adolescent depression

“…Children expect depression to be cured within 1–2 months, which is partly in line with previous research (Fox et al., ). In adolescent studies, participants choose a longer period between 1 and 6 months (Georgakakou‐Koutsonikou & Williams, ). This is an important finding for both mental health education and clinical practice; even though this short expected recovery time might reflect developmental differences in time perception (Chelonis, Flake, Baldwin, Blake, & Paule, ; Droit‐Volet & Zélanti, ), exploring children's duration‐related expectations and fostering realistic expectations is important.…”

“…It explores both a descriptive account of children's concepts of depression and factors related to children's concepts and thus includes both qualitative and quantitative analysis (Tashakkori & Creswell, 2007), adopting a structured individual interview approach using vignettes. The methodology resembles that used by Hennessy and Heary (2009) and allows an in-depth exploration of children's concepts, while quantifiable data allow group comparisons (Georgakakou-Koutsonikou & Williams, 2017).…”

“…Prevalence estimates in preadolescent children vary between <1% and 2% (Avenvoli, Knight, Kessler, & Merikangas, 2008;Polanczyk, Salum, Sugaya, Caye, & Rohde, 2015); however, little research on children's understanding of paediatric depression has been conducted to date. While adult (Prins, Verhaak, Bensing, & van der Meer, 2008) and adolescent depression concepts (Georgakakou-Koutsonikou & Williams, 2017) have been examined in more depth, there is a dearth of research in children's (under 12 years) beliefs (Georgakakou-Koutsonikou & Williams, 2017;Hennessy et al, 2008). Therefore, little is known about how children's mental health concepts develop, and which factors are associated with their understanding.…”

“…Coles et al, 2016). Among children, minimal differences are evident (Georgakakou-Koutsonikou & Williams, 2017). Finally, the potential role of experience and contact with people with mental health problems is under-examined (Hennessy et al, 2008) although there are indications that experience is associated with more sophisticated views (Georgakakou-Koutsonikou & Williams, 2017).…”

Internet Cognitive Behavioral Therapy With or Without Face-to-Face Psychotherapy: A 12-Weeks Clinical Trial of Patients With Depression

“…Depression is similarly prevalent in high-vs. middle-and low-income countries indicating that causes go far beyond modern lifestyle and poverty (2,7,8). Nevertheless, a remarkable number of patients remain undiagnosed (9)(10)(11), and almost half remain untreated (12,13). Reasons for not seeking professional help are unawareness with failure of recognizing depressive symptoms, the limited capacities of therapists, and the persisting tenacious stigma of mental disorders (10,(12)(13)(14).…”