PS276 Lecture 1: PS 276 Lesson 1 Ch.1
Document Summary
Research in many developed countries has shown that there are sharp increases at adolescence in the diagnosis of depression and in the incidence of depressive feelings and symptoms (e. g. , wichstrom, 1999). This increase is evident in early adolescence (age 13-14) and is primarily due to increases in depressive mood for girls; adolescent boys show very small differences from preadolescence to adolescence in the extent of depressed mood. Thus, females are much more likely than males to show depression in adolescence and adulthood, though this is not true in childhood (nolen-hoeksema, 1990). The severity of depressive symptoms and problems varies, and it is important to be clear about these differences: least severe are reports of depressive symptoms, feelings of sadness and discouragement which many people experience at some point. More serious would be a depressive syndrome, a set of negative symptoms that fit together.
