PHARMACOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

There are strong similarities between child and adolescent forms of depressive and anxiety disorders and their adult counterparts. Nevertheless, in contrast to the literature regarding adult depression, controlled studies using modern methodologies to examine the efficacy of both pharmacological and psychosocial treatments of these disorders are relatively rare. Current clinical practice bases pharmacological treatment decisions on these few studies, open clinical data in children and adolescents, and extrapolation from controlled studies in adults. Given the small research base for pharmacological approaches, clinical practice frequently employs psychosocial treatments prior to pharmacological ones.