Public Release:  Many depressed preschoolers still suffer in later school years

Washington University School of Medicine


IMAGE: Using a two-way mirror, Washington University researchers observe children from preschool age through middle school. In a new study, they found that children who had depression as preschoolers were 2.5... view more

Credit: Luby Laboratory, Washington University



Their study is published in the July issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

"It's the same old bad news about depression; it is a chronic and recurrent disorder," said child psychiatrist Joan L. Luby, MD, who directs Washington University's Early Emotional Development Program. "But the good news is that if we can identify depression early, perhaps we have a window of opportunity to treat it more effectively and potentially change the trajectory of the illness so that it is less likely to be chronic and recurring."


As part of the evaluation, caregivers were interviewed about their children's expressions of sadness, irritability, guilt, sleep, appetite and decreased pleasure in activity and play. In addition, researchers used two-way mirrors to evaluate child-caregiver interactions because the team's earlier research had shown that a lack of parental nurturing is an important risk factor for recurrence of depression.





"Preschool depression predicted school-age depression over and above any of the other well-established risk factors," Luby explained. "Those children appear to be on a trajectory for depression that's independent of other psychosocial variables."


"The reason it hasn't yet become a huge call to action is because we don't yet have any proven, effective treatments for depressed preschoolers," she explained. "Pediatricians don't usually want to screen for a condition if they can't then refer patients to someone who can help."

Luby now is testing potential parent-child psychotherapies that appear promising for preschoolers with depression, but it's too early to determine whether they work. Her team also will continue following this group of children through puberty to determine whether depression during preschool remains a risk factor for depression during young adulthood.

