Depression as a disorder in childhood began to be increasingly recognised in the 1970s. Epidemiologic community and clinic-based studies have characterised the prevalence, clinical course, and complications of this illness throughout childhood and adolescence into adulthood. This paper reviews two instruments for assessing depression in prepubertal children - the Dominic Interactive and The Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment. Both instruments are useful in screening for psychiatric disorders and reliably identifying the presence of depressive symptoms in young children.
Keywords: Depression; Dominic Interactive; PAPA; assessment; childhood.