Depression is swelling among American teenagers, with teen girls displaying the highest vulnerability, a new study reveals. However, more teens are not receiving the right treatment for it.
"The 12-month prevalence of major depressive episodes increased from 8.7 percent in 2005 to 11.3 percent in 2014 in adolescents and from 8.8 % to 9.6 % in young adults," Dr. Ramin Mojtabai, professor in Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and co-author of the study, said in a report posted in American Academy of Pediatrics. He added that every year approximately one in 11 young adults and teens have a major depressive episode.
For the study, researchers examined data gathered from the year 2005 up to 2014 by the National Surveys on Drug Use and Health. Over 172,000 American teenagers aged 12 - 17 and almost 179,000 youngsters aged 18 - 25 were involved in the study.
After examining the data, researchers found out that among teenage girls, the occurrence of the main depressive incidents in one year period jumped from roughly 13 percent by 2005 up to approximately 17 percent by 2014. By contrasts, among teenage boys, the prevalence increased from 4 percent in 2005 to around 6 percent in 2014.
Researchers have speculated that adolescents might have been exposed to the higher degree of major depression risk elements compared with teenage boys. "For example, cyberbullying may have increased more dramatically among females than males," CBC News quoted the researchers as saying. They also noted that contrary texting experiences appear to be a lot more common among teenage girls than teenage boys, which have been associated with depressed mood.
However, the causes of the rise remain elusive. Researchers said more study is required to find the exact answer as to why depression increases quicker among teenage girls than boys.
Meanwhile, despite the rise of depression among teenagers, the study also discovered that the treatment of depression remained small changed. Meaning, there is a large digit of depressed teens who aren't getting proper treatment. "The other problem that of ever-increasing untreated youth depression concerns all of us at a time when suicide is now the second leading cause of death for adolescents aged 15 to 19 years," CNN quoted Dr. Anne Glowinski, a professor of child psychiatry at Washington University in St. Louis, as saying.
