This study's proposal was to verify the social representations of the depression's symptoms in adolescents in high school context from public and private schools, in João Pessoa city, PB. Sixty adolescents with depression's symptoms from both genders (54% female and 46% male), whose ages were around 16, have participated in this study. It was utilized the Children Depression Inventory as the screening instrument, as well as semi-structured interviews, which were applied individually. The interviews were analyzed according to the thematic content technique. The results pointed out the following empirical categories: conception/description, causes and treatment. These categories were further divided in subcategories that had mainly emphasized the affective, cognitive, psycho-socials and behavioral aspects. It was realized the groups not only construct their representations based on the erudite knowledge or the informal communications, but also based on the set of practical problems that they have faced in the socio-cultural scope, which are directly interrelated to the group identity and acceptance.
Adolescents; Depression; Social representations
