Psychological depression during teen years is usually short-lived, but can be an enduring problem.

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Does depression during teen years lead to a lifetime of symptoms?

Teenage depression is indeed a widespread problem, and can become an illness that continues into adulthood. However, in a majority of cases, depression is a transitory condition, said UCLA psychology professor Constance Hammen.

"Adolescent depression can affect 20 percent or more of young people," said Hammen, who has studied depression for more than 30 years and is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. "While these numbers are alarming, and depression can be impairing, most of the depressions will be short-lived and these kids will not go on to have further depression.

"Many things can make teenagers depressed, but in about 60 percent of cases, the depression does not foretell future depression. However, of those who have adolescent depression, perhaps 40 percent will have recurring depression, and many of those will likely be life-long conditions."

Hammen, along with Patricia Brennan from Emory University in Atlanta, has been conducting a long-term study over the last 10 years of 800 families with children now in their 20s. The subjects are among 7,000 families in Australia who have been studied by researchers from the University of Queensland since the children were five years old.

About half of the children in the current study who showed depression by age 15 had recurring depression by age 20, and those who did have a distinctive profile, Hammen and Brennan found. Their preliminary analysis indicates the adolescents who showed depression by age 15, and again between 15 and 20, also had anxiety disorders and poor social relationships such as fewer friends or more conflict in their relationships.

"We have found that the risk for recurring depression occurs in the kids who had early depression and social difficulties," Hammen said. "Kids depressed by 15 who function normally in social relationships did not go on to have depression by 20. Poor social functioning by age 15, such as not having stable friendships, looks like a risk factor for recurring depression.'"

Parents commonly do not see depression in their children.

"Parents often don't pick up on inner despair or distress, and notice depression mainly as irritability or loss of enjoyment of activities their kids used to enjoy," Hammen said. "If it goes on for a month, I think the parent should pay more attention and not just dismiss the behavior as part of adolescence."

Major episodes of depression last for at least two weeks, with impairment in performing daily activities, and a combination of symptoms such as a depressed mood, loss of enjoyment in previously pleasurable activities, changes in appetite, changes in sleep patterns, loss of motivation and energy, difficulty concentrating, and negative thoughts about themselves and the future, including suicidal thoughts.

In addition to studying the realities of depression, Hammen has debunked myths about depression, including this one:

"A lot of people think depression stems from a weakness in character, and that you should just keep a stiff upper lip," Hammen said. "It's a myth. People cannot simply will depression away. It can be a serious impairment, and may require treatment. It's not a weakness of will."