Abstract
Background/Aims
Depression is one of the most common mental disorders among adolescents and is associated with substantial impairment, such as difficulties in school, interpersonal relationships problems, substance abuse, and suicide attempt. Understanding the impact of depression in youth and the effectiveness of interventions for this population requires assessments that capture the multiple domains affected by this disorder. In particular, brief measures that are easy to use are critical for research and practice for depressed teens. Brief health-related quality of life (HRQL) measures, which cover multiple life domains, may be one approach valuable for this purpose. In addition, use of generic HRQL measures allows decision-makers to compare the impact of depression to the impact of other health conditions in this population. However, few studies have examined the validity and reliability of HRQL measures in youth with depression. This study examined the validity and reliability of common HRQL measures in teens with and without depression.
Methods
We interviewed 392 teens with and without depression using diagnostic instruments to determine depression status and seven common HRQL measures. We examined whether or not the HRQL instruments could distinguish between teens who were depressed and those who were not depressed, and whether they could distinguish different levels of severity of depression. We used multiple regression to control for demographic and other characteristics. In addition, interviewers provided qualitative assessment regarding whether or not the instruments seemed understandable and acceptable to teens.
Results
Preliminary results indicate that all of the HRQL instruments evaluated were able to distinguish between youth without depression and those with depression. Four of the seven HRQL instruments were also able to distinguish between differing levels of severity of depression.
Conclusions
This study provides one of the only reports of HRQL in teens with depression. Results of this study indicate that common, brief measures of HRQL do a good job distinguishing teens with and without depression. Results of this study can aid future research on HRQL in teens with depression by helping to guide which HRQL instruments are most useful in this population and the results also help to quantify the burden of depression in teens for policy
Keywords: Health related quality of life, Depression