Aim. This study describes an attempt at finding out whether or not the adolescent depression image in the mid-adolescent phase is related to the social context of adolescence. Material and method. For the depression study, version IO B1 of the Krakow Depression Inventory (KID) was used. The subject group included 13-year-old seventh-form primary school students in 1984 and first-form junior high school students in 2001, selected using a two-stage draw. The analysis allowed for the outcomes of subjects with a screening diagnosis of depression. In 1984, the group comprised 150, and in 2001 - 388 students. Results. Statistical analysis revealed a significant increase in self-destructive symptoms in the 2001 population compared with the 1984 population (to a greater extent in girls than in boys). Girls in both populations displayed more intensified symptoms of mood disorder, anxiety and somatic symptoms, whereas in the boys' group, it was related to drive disorder symptoms. Conclusions. The changing social conditions affect the symptomatic depression image in adolescents. This change manifests itself in an externalization in self-destructive behaviours and an increase in depressive symptoms in the 2001 boys group.