11.16 Prevalence of Depression Among U.S. Children and Adolescents Aged 3 to 17 Years Across Four Nationally Representative Data Systems

The objectives of this presentation are to describe 4 national population-based surveillance systems that include indicators of depression among children and adolescents and to compare prevalence estimates of depression across the 4 systems. Data from the 2016-2019 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH; n = 114,476 children and adolescents aged 3-17 years), 2018-2019 National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH; n = 33,678 adolescents aged 12-17 years), 2013-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES; n = 2771 adolescents aged 12-17 years), and 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS; n = 13,677 high school students aged ∼14-18 years) were analyzed to produce weighted, nationally representative prevalence estimates and 95% CI for indicators of depression. Parent-report of a healthcare provider diagnosis of depression on NSCH showed 4.4% (95% CI, 4.2-4.7) of children aged 3 to 17 years ever had depression; the estimate was 8.6% (8.1-9.1) among adolescents aged 12 to 17 years. The corresponding estimates for current depression were 3.4% (3.2-3.6) and 6.5% (6.1-6.9). Based on self-report of symptoms on the NSDUH, 20.9% (20.4-21.6) of adolescents ever had major depressive episode (MDE), and 15.1% (14.6-15.6) had past-year MDE. Self-report of current depression on the Patient Health Questionnaire for NHANES identified 5.8% (4.6-7.4) of adolescents. For YRBS, 36.7% (35.1-38.3) of students reported persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness during the previous year. Estimates of depression increased with age on NSCH and were higher among females compared to males across all data systems. Estimates by race/ethnicity varied across data systems. The current data systems provide useful information to describe depression among children and adolescents. Substantial numbers of youth have depression symptoms or a diagnosis. Survey methodology, including indicators of depression, vary across data systems, with corresponding estimates of depression varying widely. Only NSCH allows for estimates of depression among children younger than 12 years. Given the serious health risks associated with depression, these data highlight the importance of continued surveillance of children’s mental health to support population-based intervention and prevention activities.