Depressed Children Show Altered Stress Response
 (NY, Reuters Health, 12/16/03)

Dr. Joan L. Luby of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and team, tested levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, in the saliva of 117 children, 40 of whom had been diagnosed with severe depression. The scientists found that cortisol levels were initially high for all participants, but the levels fell for most subjects as they acclimated to the setting and rose again only when they faced stressful situations-like separation from their parents or the frustration of an impossible task. The cortisol levels of the depressed children, on the other hand, tended to remain elevated, leading the scientists to conclude that the stress hormone patterns of depressed preschoolers are similar to those of clinically depressed adults. In addition, the investigators noted that these children lacked pleasure in play, just as their adult counterparts tend to lose interest in things they should enjoy.