OBJECTIVE: This study examined differences in co-occurring symptoms, psychosocial correlates, health care utilization and functional impairment in youth who screened positive for depression, stratified by whether or not they also self-reported externalizing problems. METHODS: The AdoleSCent Health Study examined a random sample of youth ages 13-17 enrolled in a health care system. A total of 2291 youth (60.7% of the eligible sample) completed a brief depression screen: the two-item Patient Health Questionnaire. The current analyses focus on a subset of youth (n=113) who had a follow-up interview and screened positive for possible depression on the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 using a cutoff score of 11 or higher [1]. Youth were categorized as having externalizing behavior if their score was ≥ 7 on the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) externalizing scale [2,3]. χ(2) tests and Wilcoxon rank sum tests were used to compare groups. RESULTS: Differences between groups included that youth with depression and externalizing symptoms had a higher rate of obesity and had higher self-reported functional impairment than youth with depression symptoms alone. CONCLUSIONS: Adding screening for externalizing problems to existing recommendations for depression screening may help primary care providers to identify a high-risk depressed group of youth for referral to mental health services.
OBJECTIVE: This study examined differences in co-occurring symptoms, psychosocial correlates, health care utilization and functional impairment in youth who screened positive for depression, stratified by whether or not they also self-reported externalizing problems. METHODS: The AdoleSCent Health Study examined a random sample of youth ages 13-17 enrolled in a health care system. A total of 2291 youth (60.7% of the eligible sample) completed a brief depression screen: the two-item Patient Health Questionnaire. The current analyses focus on a subset of youth (n=113) who had a follow-up interview and screened positive for possible depression on the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 using a cutoff score of 11 or higher [1]. Youth were categorized as having externalizing behavior if their score was ≥ 7 on the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) externalizing scale [2,3]. χ(2) tests and Wilcoxon rank sum tests were used to compare groups. RESULTS: Differences between groups included that youth with depression and externalizing symptoms had a higher rate of obesity and had higher self-reported functional impairment than youth with depression symptoms alone. CONCLUSIONS: Adding screening for externalizing problems to existing recommendations for depression screening may help primary care providers to identify a high-risk depressed group of youth for referral to mental health services.
Authors: B Birmaher; N D Ryan; D E Williamson; D A Brent; J Kaufman; R E Dahl; J Perel; B Nelson Journal: J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry Date: 1996-11 Impact factor: 8.829
Authors: Sarah Mustillo; Carol Worthman; Alaattin Erkanli; Gordon Keeler; Adrian Angold; E Jane Costello Journal: Pediatrics Date: 2003-04 Impact factor: 7.124
Authors: R J Kuczmarski; C L Ogden; L M Grummer-Strawn; K M Flegal; S S Guo; R Wei; Z Mei; L R Curtin; A F Roche; C L Johnson Journal: Adv Data Date: 2000-06-08