Depressive Symptomatology and Child Abuse in Adolescents with Behavioral Problems

This study focused on the self-reported experience of depressive symptomatology and child abuse in a sample of adolescents with severe behavioral problems. The sample comprised 81 adolescents, from 11 to 18 years of age: 46 boys (56.8%) and 35 girls (43.2%), who at the time of the study were placed under supervision of a Family Supervision Agency or were receiving Youth After-Care and Resettlement Service. An anonymous questionnaire was used, measuring reports of experiences of child abuse (physical abuse, sexual abuse, low care), and reports of depressive symptoms, generally consistent with the criteria listed in the DSM IV for the diagnosis of a Major Depressive Episode (MDE). It was shown that a considerable proportion of the behavioral-problem adolescents reported depressive symptoms and/or had experienced child abuse. Furthermore it appeared that most of the experiences of child abuse in the group with depressive symptomatology referred to multiple forms of child abuse rather than to a single form of abuse. The results suggest that in the group of behavioral-problem adolescents a subgroup of youngsters exists that is characterized by concurrent depressive symptomatology, which can be clearly distinguished from those without concurrent depressive symptomatology, by their reports of child abuse. Implications for prevention and intervention for this subgroup of adolescents with multiple problems are discussed.