Objective: In adolescents and young adults, depressive symptoms are highly prevalent and dynamic. For clinicians, it is difficult to determine whether a young person reporting depressive symptoms is at risk of developing ongoing mood difficulties or whether symptoms form part of a transient maturational process. Trajectory analyses of longitudinally assessed symptoms in large cohorts have the potential to untangle clinical heterogeneity by determining subgroups or classes of symptom course and their risk factors, by interrogating the impact of known or suspected risk factors on trajectory slope and intercept and by tracing the interrelation between depressive symptoms and other clinical outcomes over time.
Method: We conducted a systematic review of trajectory studies conducted in cohorts including people aged between 15 and 25 years.
Results: We retrieved 47 relevant articles. These studies suggest that young people fall into common mood trajectory classes and that class membership and symptom course are mediated by biological and environmental risk factors. Furthermore, studies provide evidence that high and persistent depressive symptoms are associated with a range of concurrent health and behavioral outcomes.
Conclusion: Findings could assist in the formulation of novel concepts of depressive disorders in young people and inform preventive strategies and predictive models for clinical practice.
Keywords: Depressive symptoms; adolescents; trajectory; young people; youth mental health.