Depression recurs in almost half of the cases in children treated and those who have been completely cured at least once. Girls, teens with anxiety disorder have been found to be more affected than boys, a study said.

This new study is on the long term outcome of depression past the initial treatment. The study aids clinicians in treating this condition without any further relapses. 86 boys and 110 girls who were treated once with different drugs and/or cognitive behavioral therapy were studied over a period of 3 years. Recovery was directly related to their response to treatment but 47% of teens suffered a relapse irrespective of method of treatment employed within five years.

In general, girls are more prone to depression than boys because they are more anxious by nature. Anxiety disorders have the propensity to re-occur. Margaret Cutajar group of Monash University, in Victoria, Australia were able to find associations from police and medical records and psychiatric cases. This study of 3000 sexually abused girls was reported in the same issue. The risk of developing psychosis and schizophrenia was higher in victims who were penetrated between 12-16 years of age and abused by more than one person.

Research for current study was led by John Curry from Duke University and published in Nov. 1 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry. Keith Young, vice chair for research in the department of psychiatry and behavioral science at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine adds that this study is a solid support for clinicians unable to sustain patients towards a complete recovery. "It's like when you're taking an antibiotic, you have to take it all even if you [start] feeling better. The idea is to treat adolescent depression aggressively until all symptoms are gone and the person is better."