Subsequent higher education after adolescent depression: a 15-year follow-up register study

Background: Adolescent depression has been shown to have a range of adverse outcomes. We used longitudinal data to investigate subsequent higher education in former depressed adolescents.

Method: A Swedish population-based investigation of depression in 16-17-year-olds was followed up in national registers 15 years later. Adolescents with depression (n=361, 78% females) were compared to a group of non-depressed peers of the same age (n=248, 77% females). The main outcome was graduation from higher education by age 30.

Results: The adolescent with depression were less likely than their non-depressed peers to have graduated from higher education by age 30, both regarding females (27.7% vs. 36.4%, p<.05) and males (12.7% vs. 28.6%, p<.05). After adjustment for early school performance, socioeconomic status and maternal education, the decreased likelihood of subsequent graduation from higher education remained for depressed males (OR, 0.27; 95% CI, 0.08-0.93) but not for depressed females (OR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.58-1.49).

Conclusion: Contrary to what previous research has suggested, adolescent depression and its consequences might be particularly destructive to subsequent higher education in males.