MAJOR DEPRESSION IN CHILDHOOD: Why Don't We Know More?

The attempt to delineate childhood disturbances has been bogged down in disputes about the conceptual and clinical parameters of childhood depression. Recent efforts to establish behavioral criteria may help clinicians to focus on and identify instances of childhood depressive syndrome, but such symptom lists are limited in the extent to which they can assess the incidence or accuracy of the diagnosis. The need for diagnostic specificity is stressed, with particular emphasis on the importance of understanding childhood depression as an entity distinct from depression in adults.