Exploring the functioning trajectories and associated factors in adolescents with first-diagnosis major depressive disorder: Evidence from the sBEAD cohort.

Authors

Yutong Liu, Xiaofei Zhang, Jiaqi Sun, Weiming Li, Lei Chen, Siyu Wu, Xichao Wang, Xiaoqing Zhang, Xuanlin Zeng, Yimiao Mao, Yanwen Huang, Tao Lin, Liping Cao, Chanjuan Yang

Published in

Journal of affective disorders. Pages 122218. Jul 05, 2026. Epub Jul 05, 2026.

Abstract

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders among adolescents, significantly impairing psychosocial functioning. Early functional changes in adolescents with first-diagnosis MDD are poorly understood.
This prospective cohort study utilized data from the sBEAD cohort between 2020 and 2024, comprising 274 adolescents with first-diagnosis MDD. Participants were evaluated psychosocial functioning based on Children's Global Assessment Scale scores with assessments at baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, 3 months, and 12 months. Growth mixture models were applied to identify distinct trajectories of psychosocial functioning. Demographic and clinical data were collected, including household income, academic performance, age at illness onset, psychotic symptoms, and anxiety levels. A multinomial logistic regression model was used to identify factors significantly associated with functional trajectory membership.
Four distinct functional trajectories were identified including persistent impairment (19.7%), early improvement with decline (30.7%), gradual improvement (33.9%), and sustained good functioning (15.7%). Baseline key factors influencing trajectory membership included household income, academic performance, years of education, psychic anxiety, and psychotic symptoms. Higher education and better academic performance were linked to more favorable trajectories, whereas higher anxiety scores and psychotic symptoms were associated with poor outcomes.
This study identified heterogeneous functional trajectories among adolescents with first-diagnosis MDD and associated factors. The findings highlight the importance of early identification and targeted interventions for adolescents at risk of persistent functional impairment. Future research should focus on integrating biological markers and expanding follow-up duration to support more robust risk stratification and intervention strategies.

PMID:
42402292
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 06 Jul 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.