The Many Faces of Depression in Children and Adolescents

Topics addressed include diagnosis of unipolar and bipolar affective illness in childhood and adolescence; research evidence for the effectiveness of a range of psychotherapeutic interventions and pharmacotherapeutic treatments in depressed youth; current principles of medication management; and developments in youth suicide prevention.

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Although research on the diagnosis and treatment of depression in children and adolescents has lagged far behind that in adults, recent large-scale studies—armed with operationalized criteria and validated assessment instruments—have done much to close this gap. In The Many Faces of Depression in Children and Adolescents, Drs. Shaffer and Waslick lead a distinguished group of contributors in presenting an overview of the key findings and concepts emerging from recent empirical efforts to understand the cause of depressive illness in youth. Featured are the following:


• Current findings regarding the epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of depression in childhood and adolescence
• Results of major clinical trials evaluating outpatient psychotherapeutic interventions for depressed and suicidal children and adolescents (e.g., cognitive-behavior therapy and interpersonal psychotherapy for depressed children and adolescents; dialectical behavior therapy for suicidal youth)
• State-of-the-art principles of pharmacotherapy for acute, continuation, and maintenance treatment phases of major depressive disorder in children and adolescents
• Dilemmas and challenges related to the diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children
• Current knowledge regarding the epidemiology and clinical manifestations of—and the etiological risk factors for—suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and completed suicide
• Developments in the emerging field of youth suicide prevention


An invaluable compendium of current thought on a disorder whose potential consequences can be nothing short of devastating, this volume belongs on the bookshelf of every clinician who treats children and adolescents.