Effects of depressive disorders on quality of life perceptions among adolescents

Objective: In our study, the perception of quality of life in the adolescents diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) was assessed by using multiple instruments to determine how their parents and adolescents were affected by depression in their own perspective, and the findings were compared with healthy control group. Thus, it is aimed to investigate the complementary nature of different types of instruments used in MDD during evaluation process by examining the relationship between depressive symptoms and quality of life. Methods: In our study, 38 adolescents diagnosed with MDD by using DSM-IV-TR criteria between 13 and 18 years old were recruited who admitted to or were already followed in Dokuz Eylul University (DEU) Child and Adolescents Psychiatry Department Outpatient Unit. Thirty-eight healthy controls between same age ranges with MDD adolescents were chosen from DEU’s catchment area. Both adolescents and their parents were asked to complete Turkish version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory. A self-report inventory called Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used to assess depressive symptoms and a child psychiatrist fulfilled Clinic Global Impression-severity (CGI-S) and Children’s Global Assessment Scale (CGAS) forms for each participant. Result: It has been shown that comparing with healthy controls, MDD diagnosed children’s PedsQL total points and subtotal points were found statistically significantly lower. Adolescents diagnosed with MDD’s both PedsQL total and subtotal points were positively correlated with their parents. There were moderate relationship between both adolescents and their parents PedsQL points, self-report inventory called BDI and clinician rated CGAS and CGI-severity. Discussion: Our findings pointed out that because its descriptive features of experiencing subjective and environmental difficulties in functionality areas, PedsQL is one of the important instruments that supports clinical evaluation of severity of and impairment caused by depressive disorder. [Anadolu Psikiyatri Derg 2017; 18(5.000): 468-477]