Symptoms of affective disorder in pre-adolescent vs. adolescent inpatients

This study is a comparison of symptoms between depressed inpatient pre-adolescents and adolescents. One hundred and eight hospital records were reviewed with a structured format and were assigned DSM-III-R (American Psychiatric Association, 1987) diagnoses. Twenty-two pre-adolescents and 34 adolescents had symptoms documented which satisfied criteria for major depression. These two groups were compared on demographic and symptom variables. The majority of variables studied did not differ between age groups. Of those which did, the most predictive of adolescence were melancholia, global improvement rating, and suicide attempts. Temper outbursts, distractibility, and irritability predicted the prepubertal age group.