Depression

Depression is common in children and young people, particularly in adolescence and among girls. On average, an episode of depression lasts for about eight months and often occurs alongside non-depressive conditions such as ADHD.

  • teenage boy stood in room at home wear green hoodie

    Irritability and Later Depression and Self-Harm in Adolescence

    Irritability is common in early childhood and for many children, it reduces over time as they develop better frustration tolerance, language, emotional regulation, and social understanding. However, when irritability remains high across early childhood, it may signal increased vulnerability to later mental health difficulties.

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  • teen girl talking to psychologist

    Why Depression May Look Different in Young People with ADHD

    Depression commonly co-occurs with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). When this combination occurs is associated with greater clinical complexity and poorer outcomes. Yet depression in young people with ADHD may not always be straightforward to recognise, some symptoms of depression overlap with ADHD, some may be expressed through irritability, sleep problems, or behavioural difficulties, and young people with ADHD may not always report depressive symptoms in the same way as their parents.

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  • Professor Sinead Rhodes

    ADHD and Depression

    Join this ACAMH Expert Half-Day exploring the increasingly recognised link between ADHD and depression in children and young people. As demand on services grows and presentations become more complex, understanding how these conditions interact is becoming ever more important. Includes talks from Professor Sinead Rhodes, Dr. Olga Eyre, and Dr. Ramya Srinivasan.

    Event type
    Expert knowledge session
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  • 24

    Navigating Diagnostic Challenges in Pediatric Bipolar Disorder

    We’re delighted to offer you a chance to learn from the very best – Dr. Boris Birmaher. The goal of this presentation is to present the difficulties and differential diagnosis of pediatric Bipolar Disease and factors associated with its course.

    Event type
    Advanced session
    Location
    LIVE STREAM
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  • 22

    Prevention and treatment of depression in children and adolescents

    Emeritus Professor Pim Cuijpers – I will give an overview of the research on preventing the onset of major depression in youth and will show that prevention is indeed possible but also faces important challenges in terms of effectiveness and implementation.

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  • Bernadka Dubicka web

    Professor Bernadka Dubicka – Editor in Chief

    Editor in Chief, Bernadka qualified in medicine and psychology at the University of London, completing child psychiatry training and her thesis in adolescent depression at the University of Manchester. She is the chief investigator of the National Institute of Health Research multi-site BAY trial of web-based Behavioural Activation in young people with depression (2022-26).

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  • Dimitris Tsomokos

    Chronotype and Depression in Adolescence

    We know that there is a bidirectional association between sleep duration/quality and depressive symptoms in youth. In adult populations depressive symptoms and circadian rhythms (sleep chronotype) have also been linked. In this paper, we established an association between chronotype and depressive symptoms in middle adolescence, independently of poor sleep and prior mental health difficulties.

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  • Stephan Collishaw

    Professor Stephan Collishaw

    Professor Stephan Collishaw serves as co-director for the Wolfson Centre for Young People’s Mental Health and Professor in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Section in the Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences at Cardiff University.

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  • 21

    Mood Disorders in Children and Young People: What is new? – Emanuel Miller International Conference 2024

    ACAMH is delighted to have the privilege of introducing world-renowned researchers and clinicians, working in the field of mood disorders, for the 2024 Emanuel Miller International Conference. Following seminal studies and the publication of clinical guidelines, recognising and treating mood disorders in children and young people continues to improve. However both depressive disorders and bipolar […]

    Event type
    Emanuel Miller International Conference
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  • 28

    Stress and mental health presentations in secondary school-aged young people

    This webinar will be led by Dr. Ruth Blackburn and Sorcha Ní Chobhthaigh from UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health present research on mental health in secondary school-aged young people.

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