Adolescents
Depressive symptoms were considered a normal part of adolescence. Mood swings, and irritability were seen as the consequence of development changes involved in the onset of puberty and adjusting to increasing independence and role changes.
The ability to communicate about experiences can vary widely between young people cognitive development influences the symptom profile. For example, feeling of guilt, existential thinking and morbid introspection are usually only described by older more mature adolescents. Younger adolescents may show more dependent behavior with parents than usual.
Children who develop major depression are more likely to have a family history of this disorder often a parent who suffered depression in adolescence. This is unlikely to be owing to genetic influence alone. Environmental and familial factors play a significant role in the etiology of adolescent depression. The social environment outside the family may also be influential on the development of depression in adolescent. Once a young person is depressed, environmental factors associated with development of the disorder such as family relationship problems or school failure may then escalate and impair chances of successful recovery.