Trends in depressive symptoms,anxiety symptoms and visits to healthcare specialists: A national study among Icelandic adolescents

Abstract

Aims: The aim of the study was to examine trends in adolescent depression and anxiety symptoms from 1997 to 2006, using four time-points (1997, 2000, 2003, and 2006), and adolescent mental health service use in the same period, using three time-points (1997, 2000, and 2006). Methods: Four cross-sectional population-based samples of 14- and 15-year-old students, attending the compulsory 9th and 10th grades of the Icelandic secondary school system, completed questionnaires relating to mental health. In total, 21,245 students participated in the four studies. Results: Anxiety symptoms increased significantly for both boys and girls, throughout the period from 1997 to 2006. Depressive symptoms increased significantly for girls, while there were no significant changes in depression among boys. During the same time period, the proportion of adolescents who visited healthcare specialists, i.e. psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers, increased significantly. The results revealed that regular visits (six times or more during 1 year) to psychiatrists and psychologists increased significantly over the same period among girls but not among boys. Conclusions: The findings show that symptoms of depression and anxiety have increased among adolescents in Iceland. Future work would benefit from further research into the trends in risk and protective factors associated with these outcomes. The findings call particular attention to the increasing risk for depression and anxiety symptoms among girls.

Keywords

Anxiety symptoms depressive symptoms gender health service use mental health

References

Helgason T. , Tómasson K. , Sigfusson E. , Zoëga T. Skimun fyrir algengi geðraskana 1984 og 2002 og ávísanir geðlyfja 1984 og 2001 [Screening for mental disorders in the community 1984 and 2002 and prescriptions for psychopharmaca in 1984 and 2001]. Læknabladid 2004;90:553-9.

Lewinsohn PM , Hops H. , Roberts RE Adolescent psychopathology: prevalence and incidence of depression and other DSM-III-R disorders in high-school students . J Abnorm Psychol 1993;102:133-44.

Klerman GL , Weissman MM Increasing rates of depression . JAMA 1989;261:2229-35.

Wittchen HU , Knauper B. , Kessler RC Lifetime risk of depression . Br J Psychiatry 1994;165:16-22.

Simon GE , Vonkorff M. Re-evaluation of secular trends in depression rates. Am J Epidemiol 1992;135:1411-22.

Weissman MM Clinical guide to depression in children and adolescents. Am J Psychiatry 1992;149:1110-11.

Weissman MM , Wickramaratne P. , Greenwald S. , Hsu HY , Oullette R. , Robins LN The changing rate of major depression - cross national comparisons. JAMA 1992;268: 3098-105.

Collishaw S. , Maughan B. , Goodman R. , Pickles A. Time trends in adolescent mental health. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2004;45:1350-62.

Twenge JM The age of anxiety? Birth cohort change in anxiety and neuroticism, 1952-1993 . J Personality Soc Psychol 2000 ;79:1007-21.

10.

- Ferri E. , Bynner J. , Wadsworth LJ Changing Britain. Changing lives. Three generations at the turn of the century . London: Institute of Education Publication; 2003.

11.

West P. , Sweeting H. Fifteen, female and stressed: changing patterns of psychological distress over time. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2003 ;44:399-411.

12.

Costello EJ , Erkanli A. , Angold A. Is there an epidemic of child and adolescent depression? J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2006;47:1263-71.

13.

Rutter M. , Smith DS Psychosocial disorders in young people: time trends and their causes . London: Wiley; 1995.

14.

Maughan B. , Iervolino AC , Collishaw S. Time trends in child and adolescent mental disorders. Curr Opin Psychiatry 2005;18:381-5.

15.

Sourander A. , Santalahti P. , Haavisto A. , Piha J. , Ikaheimo K. , Helenius H. Have there been changes in children's psychiatric symptoms and mental health service use? J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2004;43:1134-45.

16.

Burns BJ Mental-health service use by adolescents in the 1970s and 1980s. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 1991;30:144-50.

17.

Power TJ , Eiraldi B. , Clarke AT , Mazzuca LB Improving mental health service utilization for children and adolescents . School Psychol Q 2005;20:187-205.

18.

Derogatis LR , Lipman RS , Covi L. , Rickels K. Neurotic symptoms dimensions: as perceived by psychiatrists and patients of various social classes . Arch Gen Psychiatry 1971;24:454-64.

19.

Sigfusdottir ID , Farkas G. , Silver E. The role of depressed mood and anger in the relationship between family conflict and delinquent behaviour. J Youth Adolesc 2004;33:509-22.

20.

Nolen-Hoeksema S. Gender differences in depression. Curr Directions Psychol Sci 2001;10:173-6.

21.

Siegel MJ , Aneshensel CS , Taub B. , Cantwell DP , Driscoll AK Adolescent depressed mood in a multiethnic sample. J Youth Adolesc 1998;27:413-27.

22.

Lewinsohn PM , Gotlib IH , Seeley JR Depression-related psychosocial variables: are they specific to depression in adolescents? J Abnorm Psychology 1997;106:365-75.

23.

Fombonne E. , Wostear G. , Cooper V. , Harrington R. , Rutter M. The Maudsley long-term follow-up of child and adolescent depression. 2. Suicidality, criminality and social dysfunction in adulthood. Br J Psychiatry 2001;179: 218-23.

24.

Fombonne E. , Wostear G. , Cooper V. , Harrington R. , Rutter M. The Maudsley long-term follow-up of child and adolescent depression. 1. Psychiatric outcomes in adulthood. Br J Psychiatry 2001;179:210-17.

25.

Bramesfeld A. , Platt L. , Schwartz FW Possibilities for intervention in adolescents' and young adults' depression from a public health perspective . Health Policy 2006;79:121-31.

26.

Angold A. , Costello EJ Epidemiology of depression in children and adolescents. In: Goodyer I , editor. The depressed child and adolescent. 2nd edn, Cambridge : Cambridge University Press; 2001 . p 143-78.