SynthesisCanadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie2017
Depression Screening and Health Outcomes in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Can the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale Be Used to Screen for Depression in Children and Adolescents? An Updated Systematic Review.Child psychiatry and human development · 2025Pooled it
- Screening for depression in children and adolescents in primary care or non-mental health settings: a systematic review update.Systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Did national implementation of interpersonal counseling improve adolescent depression treatment pathways in primary care? Protocol for a longitudinal cohort study.BMC public health · 2026Article
- 2025 update of the Greig Health Record: Part 2-what's controversial?Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2026Review
- Philippine Clinical Practice Guidelines for Periodic Health Examination: Screening for Mental Health and Addiction.Acta medica Philippina · 2026Article
- Cost-Effectiveness of Universal Routine Depression Screening for Adolescents in Primary Care.JAMA health forum · 2025Article
- Potential mental health-related harms associated with the universal screening of anxiety and depressive symptoms in Australian secondary schools.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2024Article
- Diagnoses and Treatment After Depression Screening in Primary Care Among Youth.American journal of preventive medicine · 2022Article
- Screening for depression in children and adolescents: a protocol for a systematic review update.Systematic reviews · 2021Article
- Secondary Prevention of Depressive Prodrome in Adolescents: Before and After Attending a Jogging Program on Campus.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Drivers of and Solutions for the Overuse of Antidepressant Medication in Pediatric Populations.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Article
- Anxiety and Depression in Adults with Congenital Heart Disease: When to Suspect and How to Refer.Current cardiology reports · 2019Review
- Hospitalization Costs and Financial Burden on Families with Children with Depression: A Cross-Section Study in Shandong Province, China.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
- Depression and Anxiety Disorders among Schoolgoing Adolescents in an Urban Area of South India.Indian journal of community medicine : official publication of Indian Association of Preventive & Social Medicine · 2018Article
- Featured Canadian Research on Child, Adolescent, and Young Adult Psychiatry.Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 7 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveDepression screening among children and adolescents is controversial. In 2009, the United States Preventive Services Task Force first recommended routine depression screening for adolescents, and this recommendation was reiterated in 2016. However, no randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of screening were identified in the original 2009 systematic review or in an updated review through February 2015. The objective of this systematic review was to provide a current evaluation to determine whether there is evidence from RCTs that depression screening in childhood and adolescence improves depression outcomes.
methodData sources included the MEDLINE, MEDLINE In-Process, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Cochrane CENTRAL and LILACS databases searched February 2, 2017. Eligible studies had to be RCTs that compared depression outcomes between children or adolescents aged 6 to 18 years who underwent depression screening and those who did not.
resultsOf 552 unique title/abstracts, none received full-text review. No RCTs that investigated the effects of screening on depression outcomes in children or adolescents were identified.
conclusionsThere is no direct RCT evidence that supports depression screening among children and adolescents. Groups that consider recommending screening should carefully consider potential harms, as well as the use of scarce health resources, that would occur with the implementation of screening programs.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.