Prescription practices and empirical efficacy of psychopharmacologic treatments for pediatric major depressive disorder.

Problem: Limited research on pharmacologic treatments for pediatric major depressive disorder (MDD) exists.

Methods: Prescription practices data for MDD from 1,209 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry members collected in 1998 are compared to the current empirical support for this treatment approach.

Findings: Results indicated that psychiatrists have willingly used medication as a first-line treatment for MDD in children under age 7, despite a paucity of research support for this practice.

Conclusions: Recent warnings regarding the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors warrant the need to reexamine current prescription practices of psychiatric care providers for children diagnosed with MDD.