Key characteristics of prospective cohort studies with assessments of depressive disorders both in childhood/adolescence and adulthood
| Cohort (country) | Recruitment | Total sample enrolled | Subjects with a child or adolescent depressive disorder | Length of follow-up (years) | Data collection | Mental health outcome data | General health outcome data | Social and functional outcome data |
| Oregon Adolescent Depression Project24 30–32
(USA) | Randomly selected from senior high schools | n=1710 (participation rate of 61%) | Ages 14–18: n=348 (n=441 with subthreshold depression) | 14 | Diagnostic interviews 1 year after first assessment, then at ages 24 and 30 | Mental (DSM) disorders Personality Suicidality Life dissatisfaction | Physical health Risky sexual behaviour | Years of education Unemployment weeks in the past year Annual household income Marital status Parental status Relationship quality Social adjustment Global functioning |
| Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study27 33–36
(New Zealand) | Birth cohort | n=1037 (of 1139 eligible subjects) | Age 11: n=14 Age 13: n=10 Age 15: n=40 Age 18: n=167 | 27 | Diagnostic interviews at ages 11, 13, 15, 18, 21, 26, 32 and 38; official record data | Mental (DSM) disorders Personality Suicidality Self-harm Neuropsychological assessment, IQ measurement and language tests Alcohol consumption, smoking and drug use Life satisfaction | Clinical examinations of health status Diet Fitness tests Adiposity and anthropometrics Biomarkers Risky sexual behaviour Informant reports of financial, social, physical and mental health, cognitive status and personality traits | Educational attainment Socioeconomic attainment Income, savings, assets, debts, etc. Family formation Relationship quality Intimate partner abuse Social support Criminality Home-visit parenting assessment of subjects having young children |
| Christchurch Health and Development Study29 37 38
(New Zealand) | Birth cohort | n=1265 (of 1310 eligible subjects) | Ages 15–16: n=135* (n=182* with subthreshold depression) Age 18: n=182* (n=73* with subthreshold depression) | 20 | Diagnostic interviews at ages 15, 16, 18, 21, 25, 30 and 35; official record data | Mental (DSM) disorders Suicidality Life satisfaction Self-esteem Alcohol consumption and smoking | Height and weight Adverse life events | Educational attainment Socioeconomic attainment Social welfare dependence Weekly income, savings and investments Family formation and unintended pregnancies Relationship quality Intimate partner violence and victimisation Criminality |
| Great Smoky Mountains Study19 28 39 40
(USA) | Household equal probability sample | n=1420 (participation rate of 80%) | Ages 9/11–16: n=101 (with major depression, dysthymia or minor depression)† | 17–21 | Diagnostic interviews annually until age 16, and then at ages 19, 21, 25 and 30; official record data | Mental (DSM) disorders Suicidality | Serious physical event Height and weight Biomarkers | Educational attainment Inability to keep job Residential instability Family formation and early parenthood Social support Criminality |
| National Population Health Survey26
(Canada) | Representative sample of the general population | n=1027 (initial survey participation rate of 83.6%) | Ages 12–17: n=71 | 10 | Diagnostic interviews every 2 years until ages 26–27 | Mental (DSM) disorders Antidepressant medication use Alcohol consumption and smoking Psychological distress Self-perceived stress | Health status Migraine headaches Physical activity level | Educational attainment Employment Income Social support Marital status |
| Uppsala Longitudinal Adolescent Depression Study22 25 41 42
(Sweden) | Screening of first-year students in upper-secondary schools | n=2300 participated in the screening (out of 2465 eligible); 631 (out of 710 invited) were assessed with diagnostic interviews | Ages 16–17: n=274 (n=76 with subthreshold depression) | 22–25 | Diagnostic interviews at ages 16–17 and 30–33; consecutive register-based data from 1993 onwards | Mental (DSM) disorders Personality Suicidality Alcohol consumption and drug use Prescribed psychotropic medication Recorded diagnoses of mental disorders | Specialised outpatient healthcare Specialised inpatient healthcare Prescription drugs of any kind Recorded diagnoses of any kind Sick leave days Height, weight and blood pressure Somatic symptoms Biomarkers | Grade point average University education Occupational status Unemployment days Individual and household income Social assistance Allowances/income support of any kind Marital status Divorce Childbearing Criminality |
*The numbers retained at subsequent follow-ups..29 37
†Based on the two youngest cohorts of the Great Smoky Mountains Study.39
DSM, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.