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The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends screening for major depressive disorders in adolescents, provided that mental health services are available for those who screen positive. Two studies demonstrate the feasibility of incorporating brief screening into primary care practices.
Investigators examined the validity of a two-item depression screening scale that has been validated in adults — the Patient Health Questionnaire 2 (PHQ-2) — in 4000 randomly selected adolescents (age range, 13–17 years) enrolled in an integrated healthcare system. The PHQ-2 asks respondents to rate how often during the past 2 weeks that they had depressed mood, lack of pleasure in usual activities, or both (on a Likert scale from 0=not at all to 3=nearly…