Observational measurement of symptoms responsive to treatment of major depressive disorder in children and adolescents.

Observational methods were used to determine whether depressive symptoms in 20 inpatients with major depressive disorder could be observed to change during the course of treatment with antidepressant medication. Four consecutive weekly observation sessions were done using the Emotional Disorders Rating Scale, which collects information about symptoms of depression, mania, anxiety, hostility, and irritability. Only those scales indexing depressive symptoms evidenced change. Significant change was observed between the third and fourth weeks of hospitalization, thereby replicating the findings reported in the adult literature regarding depressive symptoms' responsiveness to antidepressants.