Supervisors info:
Κυρίτση Ελένη, Ομότιμη Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Νοσηλευτικής, Πανεπιστήμιο Δυτικής Αττικής
Ευαγγέλου Ελένη, Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Νοσηλευτικής, Πανεπιστήμιο Δυτικής Αττικής
Τζουμάκα-Μπακούλα Χρυσάνθη, Ομότιμη Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Ιατρικής, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
Introduction: Depression in adolescence and in the emerging adulthood is common, affecting up to 20% of that population. It represents a significant concern for the public health and is associated with a serious hardship and a functional disorder. Adolescent depression tends to be a particularly malignant and enduring state, which increases the probability of relapse and chronic illness through adulthood.
Purpose: The purpose of this systematic review is to detect, select and assess the proper investigative researches which pertain to depression in adolescence while, at the same time, record and analyse their findings.
Material and Method: All the articles were recovered through electronic databases, in particular, PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar. The keywords
used were : ‘depression and adolescence’, ‘depression in adolescence’, ‘alcohol, depression and adolescence’, ‘gender, depression and adolescence’, ‘social support, depression and adolescence’. The sample for this study consists of 60 out of 80 related studies which have been carried out since 2002. After having assessed the quality of these studies, the appropriate ones were selected and a critical analysis of their findings has been conducted.
Results: Some long-running studies have established the differences regarding the gender in the diagnosis of depression and the symptoms from childhood throughout adolescence, primarily in the female sex.
The intercellular orbital cortex plays a critical role in the prognosis of the oncoming emotional states and reactions. Thus, the structural abnormalities of this region could contribute to the onset of depression, interrupting the neural processing of the reward. According to this statement, the irregular structure and the function of the cortex is one of the most frequently mentioned findings in the studies of neuroimaging, which has been perceived as a major symptom of depression.
Obesity could lead to depression through the stigma of the weight, low self esteem and/or functional deficiency. Depression may lead to obesity with the development of symptoms of depression, side effects of antidepressant medication, or efforts to self-medicate feelings of depression by consuming unhealthy foods.
Alcohol consumption can also lead to surrounding stress factors, which, in turn, can lead to depression. Moreover, alcohol consumption may lead to biological changes such as increased susceptibility to depression.
Social support is an important variable which affects the depressive symptomology. Higher levels of depressive symptoms are related to lower levels of social support.
Conclusions: Depression in adolescence is associated with biological, demographic and social factors. Early diagnosis and appropriate intervention
contribute positively to the treatment of the disorder.
