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Etiologic Perspectives on Depression in Childhood

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Abstract

What makes children depressed? Although there is evidence that bipolar depression is strongly influenced by genetic factors (e.g., Meyersberg & Post, 1979), the evidence is far less clear for unipolar depression. A number of theories have been postulated to account for the development of depression (see Chapter 23 in this volume). In this chapter, we focus primarily on unipolar depression in children and attempt to identify and evaluate those factors that may contribute to its onset.

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© 1990 Plenum Press, New York

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Miller, S.M., Birnbaum, A., Durbin, D. (1990). Etiologic Perspectives on Depression in Childhood. In: Lewis, M., Miller, S.M. (eds) Handbook of Developmental Psychopathology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7142-1_24

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7142-1_24

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4615-7144-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-7142-1

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