Depressive disorders in young people: phenomenology, prognostic features, and clinical outcome

Depressive disorders with onset during adolescence and young adulthood are common, disabling, and often difficult to diagnose due to their heterogeneous and developmentally specific presentation. Compared with adult depression, young people more frequently display irritability, somatic complaints, and behavioural problems, which can obscure recognition and delay treatment. This narrative review aims to synthesize current evidence on depressive disorders in young people, while highlighting implications for treatment and prevention. The keywords (“youth” OR “adolescent” OR “childhood” OR “child” OR “young”) AND (“depression” OR “depressive symptoms” OR “mood disorder” OR “depressed mood”) were entered in the main databases and combined through Boolean operators. Findings confirm that youth depression presents with distinct clinical features and strong sociocultural influences, is frequently comorbid with other psychiatric disorders, and follows a recurrent and impairing course. Psychotherapy remains the most effective intervention, with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors indicated for moderate-to-severe cases. Preventive and school-based strategies show promising results but are unevenly implemented. In conclusion, depressive disorders in young people require early detection and developmentally sensitive, multimodal treatment strategies. Future work should prioritize scalable interventions that integrate psychosocial, pharmacological, and digital tools, with special attention to prevention and to the influence of cultural and contextual factors.