Depression is rising among teen girls

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN

Updated 1:20 PM ET, Mon November 14, 2016 (CNN)There has been a significant climb in the prevalence of major depression among adolescents and young adults in recent years -- and the troubling trend may be strongest in teenage girls, according to a new study.

However, the number of adolescents receiving treatment does not appear to follow that same trend, suggests the study, published in the journal Pediatrics on Monday.

"Although a recent federal task force recommended screening for depression in young people 12 to 18 years of age, screening is far from universal," said Dr. Mark Olfson, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center and a co-author of the study. "The new study highlights that most adolescents with depression do not receive treatment for their symptoms and underscores the need for increased attention to this condition."

The national Preventive Services Task Force recommended in February that all primary care doctors, including pediatricians and family physicians, should routinely screen adolescents for depression.

All teens should be screened for depression, task force recommends

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The new study included data on major depressive episodes and depression treatment, from 2005 to 2014, among 172,495 adolescents and 178,755 young adults across the United States.

The adolescents were 12 to 17 years old and the young adults were 18 to 25 years old when the data were collected. The data came from the National Surveys on Drug Use and Health.

After analyzing the data, researchers discovered that the prevalence of major depressive episodes over a 12-month period increased among girls from about 13% in 2005 to about 17% in 2014. The increase was much lower among boys, rising from about 4% in 2005 to about 6% in 2014.

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