Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Aug 18:15:199.
doi: 10.1186/s12888-015-0584-9.

Depression in late adolescence: a cross-sectional study in senior high schools in Greece

Konstantina Magklara  1 , Stefanos Bellos  2 , Dimitrios Niakas  3 , Stelios Stylianidis  4 , Gerasimos Kolaitis  5 , Venetsanos Mavreas  6 , Petros Skapinakis  7
Affiliations

Depression in late adolescence: a cross-sectional study in senior high schools in Greece

Konstantina Magklara et al. BMC Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: Depression is a common mental health problem in adolescents worldwide. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence, comorbidity and sociodemographic and socioeconomic associations of depression and depressive symptoms, as well as the relevant health services use in a sample of adolescents in Greece.

Methods: Five thousand six hundred fourteen adolescents aged 16-18 years old and attending 25 senior high schools were screened and a stratified random sample of 2,427 were selected for a detailed interview. Psychiatric morbidity was assessed with a fully structured psychiatric interview, the revised Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS-R). The use of substances, such as alcohol, nicotine and cannabis, and several sociodemographic and socioeconomic variables have been also assessed.

Results: In our sample the prevalence rates were 5.67 % for the depressive episode according to ICD-10 and 17.43 % for a broader definition of depressive symptoms. 49.38 % of the adolescents with depressive episode had at least one comorbid anxiety disorder [OR: 7.76 (5.52-10.92)]. Only 17.08 % of the adolescents with depression have visited a doctor due to a psychological problem during the previous year. Anxiety disorders, substance use, female gender, older age, having one sibling, and divorce or separation of the parents were all associated with depression. In addition, the presence of financial difficulties in the family was significantly associated with an increased prevalence of both depression and depressive symptoms.

Conclusions: Prevalence and comorbidity rates of depression among Greek adolescents are substantial. Only a small minority of depressed adolescents seek professional help. Significant associations with financial difficulties are reported.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Main reasons for being sad or depressed in 16–18 years old adolescents in Greece
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lopez AD, Mathers CD, Ezzati M, Jamison DT, Murray CJ. Global and regional burden of disease and risk factors, 2001: systematic analysis of population health data. Lancet. 2006;367(9524):1747–1757. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(06)68770-9. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hawton K, van Heeringen K. Suicide. Lancet. 2009;373:1372–81. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60372-X. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Fletcher JM. Adolescent depression and educational attainment: results using sibling fixed effects. Health Econ. 2008;17:1215–35. doi: 10.1002/hec.1319. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Keenan-Miller D, Hammen CL, Brennan PA. Health outcomes related to early adolescent depression. J Adolesc Health. 2007;41:256–62. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.03.015. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Thapar A, Collishaw S, Pine DS, Thapar AK. Depression in adolescence. Lancet. 2012;379(9820):1056–1067. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60871-4. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types