Acceso usuarios
Jeannette Rosselló, Zilkia Mara Rivera Orraca
Depression in teenagers is a serious mental health problem. The literature points out that affective disorders in this population and more frequent that was previously thought, which has led to more systematic studies on that topic. Epidemiological research in Puerto Rico has established the prevalence rates to be 5.9% for this population. Although it is the third most frequent condition in Puerto Rican youngsters, research is almost nonexistent. The objective of this descriptive and qualitative investigation was to explore from an interpersonal perspective the area(s) that young people identify as precipitators of depressive symptomatology. Sixty-seven therapeutic records of adolescents with depression were reviewed to identify the presenting problems(s). The results indicate that adolescents are able to identify the precipitating factors that permited an interpersonal interpretation. The lack of interpersonal skills, followed by interpersonal disputes or conflicts were the most frequent problems. The implications of these results for the treatment and prevention of juvenile depression are discussed.
