Clinical review Efficacy and safety of antidepressants for children and adolescents

Antidepressants introduced since 1990, especially selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and venlafaxine, have been used increasingly as first line treatment for depression in children. 2 The safety of prescribing antidepressants to children (including adolescents) has been the subject of increasing concern in the community and the medical profession, leading to recommendations against their use from government and industry (box 1). In this paper, we review the published literature on the efficacy and safety of newer antidepressants in children.