Prevalence of child depression in Medellin (Colombia)

Abstract

This study investigates the prevalence of depressive symptomatology among schooled children between 8 and 12 years of Medellin city for 2009, presents the socio-demographic characteristics and the main clinical features of depression for this population. Participants were 320 children who completed the Children Depression Inventory. Unvariate and bivariate analysis were calculated. A total of 26 children reported depressive symptoms, for a prevalence of 8.9 %. No statistically significant differences were found by gender or age. Anhedonia and Ineffectiveness showed to be the main clinical features for child depression in the children of Medellin.