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The Validity of the Diagnosis of Major Depression in Childhood and Adolescence

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Handbook of Depression in Children and Adolescents

Part of the book series: Issues in Clinical Child Psychology ((ICCP))

Abstract

This chapter concerns the question of whether, in children and adolescents, major depression can be discriminated from other forms of misery. Beginning with a description of the historical evolution of the question, it sets out the criteria by which a categorical depressive disorder could be validated and analyzes the empirical evidence for and against the hypothesis that there is indeed a distinct depressive disorder in childhood and adolescence. The chapter ends with a consideration of “dysthymia,” a classificatory wasteland into which many problems have been dumped.

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  1. Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, 37212, USA

    Barry Nurcombe

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  1. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    William M. Reynolds

  2. University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, Canada

    Hugh F. Johnston

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© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Nurcombe, B. (1994). The Validity of the Diagnosis of Major Depression in Childhood and Adolescence. In: Reynolds, W.M., Johnston, H.F. (eds) Handbook of Depression in Children and Adolescents. Issues in Clinical Child Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1510-8_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1510-8_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-1512-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-1510-8

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