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Background: For some phenomena the mean of population distributions predicts the proportion of people exceeding a threshold value.Aims: To investigate whether in depression, too, the population mean predicts the number of individuals at the extreme end of the distribution.Method: We used data from the European Outcome in Depression International Network (ODIN) study from populations in Finland, Norway and the UK to create models that predicted the prevalence of depression based on the mean Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) score. The models were tested on data from Ireland and Spain.Results: Mean BDI score correlated well with the prevalence of depression determined by clinical interviews. A model based on the beta distribution best fitted the BDI distribution. Both models predicted the depression prevalence in Ireland and Spain fairly well.Conclusions: The mean of a continuous population distribution of mood predicts the prevalence of depression. Characteristics of both individuals and populations determine depression rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: According to previous studies the prevalence of adolescent depression is 4–8% both in the USA and Europe. The aim of the current study was to investigate the prevalence of adolescent depression separately in several European countries. Method: Data were drawn from the Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe (SEYLE) study, which included 11 countries (Austria, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Israel, Romania, Slovenia and Spain) and Sweden served as the coordinating centre. Depression was measured by the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Adolescents with a score of 20 or greater on the BDI-II were defined as depressed. Multiple imputations were conducted to address missing data. Results: Out of 14,115 students who consented to participate, finally 12,395 adolescents (5,568 (44.92%) boys and 6,827 (55.08%) girls) were enrolled into the study. The mean age of the students was 14.81 years (SD=.83). Significant differences were detected in the ratio of non-depressed and depressed adolescents among countries (χ2(20)=385.352 p=.000). The prevalence of depressed adolescents ranged from 7.1% to 19.4%. The prevalence of depressed adolescents according to country in increasing order is: Hungary: 7.1%, Austria: 7.6%, Romania: 7.6%, Estonia: 7.9%, Ireland: 8.5%, Spain: 8.6%, Italy: 9.2%, Slovenia: 11.4%, Germany: 12.9%, France: 15.4%, Israel: 19.4%. Conclusion: Based on a screening tool our data underlines the importance of taking account country specific prevalence rates of adolescent depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]