This article discusses the issue of depression in adolescence based on the psychoanalytic aspects of attachment theory. Firstly, we highlight specificities of adolescence and its relationship to the onset of depression. Then, we discuss the concepts of reflective function and mentalization capacity, aiming think the depression in adolescence as an issue of bonds. We conclude that there is a significant correlation between the establishment of a pattern of insecure attachment in infancy and the development of depression in adolescence. The use of the concepts of reflective function and mentalization capacity for recognizing the importance of the representational dimension to this problem, providing a new perspective for understanding and therapeutic approach to depression in adolescence.
Adolescence; depression; Attachment theory; mentalizationurosis