Self-reported health in adolescent girls varies according to the season and its relation to medication and hormonal contraception--a descriptive study.

Objectives: To study seasonal variations in self-rated health and depressive symptoms in adolescent girls and possible differences in reported health with regard to use of medications.

Method: The SF-36 questionnaire was completed by 1250 girls with a mean age of 17 years, who visited a health centre in the course of one year. From January to July inclusive, depressive symptoms in 453 of the participants were also assessed using MADRS-S.

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of citalopram in adolescents with major depressive disorder.

In a European, multicenter, double-blind study, 244 adolescents, 13 to 18 years old, with major depression were randomized to treatment with citalopram (n = 124) or placebo (n = 120). One third of the patients in both groups withdrew from the study. No significant differences in improvement of scores from baseline to week 12 between citalopram and placebo were found.