Depression

The finding that depression can arise in childhood refuted theoretical speculation that children were too developmentally immature to experience depressive affects. A recent body of empirical work has shown that preschool-aged children can experience clinically significant depression characterized by age-adjusted manifestations of core depressive symptoms known in adults. Studies have also begun identifying neural correlates of preschool depression. Empirical studies of depressive symptoms remain lacking in infants and toddlers. Very early identification of depression may be important to the treatment of this disorder as earlier interventions may be more effective and reduce suffering sooner than treatment initiated later in life.