Depressive symptoms in Swedish adolescents

This study examined the prevalence of self-reported depressive symptoms in a Swedish urban school sample (n=547) aged 13 to 18 years using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The data obtained were examined with respect to sex and age differences and compared with a clinical sample of adolescents hospitalized because of psychiatric disturbances. The results indicated a strong preponderance of depressive symptoms among girls in the school sample, in particular for the severe symptom level. Eight percent of subjects reported depressive symptoms sufficiently high to be classified as a moderate, and 2% as a severe, level of depression. Factor analysis yielded four factors representing dysphoric mood, social activity, relationship, and food-related dimensions. The BDI showed a high internal consistency, and test-retest reliability calculated for a 2-week and a 2-month interval revealed strong correlations. The means of total scores on the BDI for the clinical sample were significantly higher than for those in the school sample.     

Overanxious disorder: An examination of developmental differences

Differences between a clinical sample of younger (ages 5 to 11) and older (ages 12 to 19) children meeting DSM-III criteria for overanxious disorder (OAD) were examined. Younger and older children were compared in terms of (1) the rates of OAD diagnoses occurring in the two age groups, (2) sociodemographic characteristics, (3) symptom expression, (4) association with other forms of maladjustment, and (5) self-reported anxiety and depression. The prevalence of OAD diagnoses and sociodemographic characteristics did not differ. Although younger and older OAD children showed similar rates of most specific DSM-III OAD symptoms, older children presented with a higher total number of overanxious symptoms than younger children. Older children more frequently exhibited a concurrent major depression or simple phobia, whereas younger OAD children more commonly had coexisting separation anxiety or attention deficit disorders. Older OAD children reported significantly higher levels of anxiety and depression on self-report measures. Findings indicated that the expression of OAD varies by developmental level.     

Self-reported depression in younger and older pregnant inner-city adolescents

Younger (14- to 17-year-old) inner-city adolescent mothers have been reported by Colletta (1983) as being more depressed than older (18- to 19-year-old) inner-city adolescent mothers. To determine whether this finding applies to pregnant adolescents, the revised Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979; Beck & Steer, 1987) was administered to 175 (65.1%) Black, 64 (23.8%) Hispanic, and 30 (11.1%) White inner-city adolescents during their 28th week of pregnancy. The sample was divided into 129 (48.0%) younger (13- to 15-year-old) adolescents and 140 (52.0%) older (16- to 18-year-old) adolescents. The mean profiles of the 21 BDI symptoms were comparable for both age groups, and it was concluded that younger and older pregnant inner-city adolescents describe similar levels of self-reported depression.     

The development of change blindness: children's attentional priorities whilst viewing naturalistic scenes

Change blindness describes the surprising difficulty of detecting large changes in visual scenes when changes occur during a visual disruption. In order to study the developmental course of this phenomenon, a modified version of the flicker paradigm, based on Rensink, O’Regan & Clark (1997 ), was given to three groups of children aged 6–12 years and to a group of adults. This paradigm tested the ability to detect single colour, presence/absence and location changes of both high and low semantic importance in a complex scene. Semantically important changes were detected more quickly and accurately than less semantically important changes, by all age groups, indicating that children had the same attentional priorities as adults. Older children achieved more efficient and accurate detection of changes than younger children and reached almost adult level at 10–12 years old. These improvements parallel age‐related developments in attention and visual perception.     

Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder, Depression, and Self- and Other-Assessments of Social Competence: A Developmental Study

This study examined whether others (i.e., teachers and parents) and self-appraisals of social competence mediated the relationship between Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and depression. To determine whether age moderated the effects of the mediation, the total sample was divided into younger (under 9) and older (at or above 9 years) age levels. The total sample (age range 6.6 to 11.7 years) was primarily male (194 boys and 52 females) and consisted of 148 children diagnosed with ADHD and 98 community controls. Three central findings were derived from this study. First, there was a strong relationship between ADHD (with and without comorbid ODD/CD) and depression in both younger and older aged children. Among younger children with ADHD, there was no differential influence on the level of depression depending on whether or not ADHD was comorbid with ODD/CD; in contrast, with older children, comorbid ODD/CD had higher levels of depression than was the case for children with ADHD that did not display such comorbidity. Second, with younger children approximately half of the relationship between ADHD (with and without comorbid ODD/CD) and depression was exclusively mediated by others appraisal of social competence. Third, a more complex relationship between ADHD and depression emerged during the later part of the childhood years. As such, the relationship between ADHD, others appraisals of social competence, and depression was further mediated by self-appraisals of social competence. Findings are discussed in terms of developmental theory and theoretical models of childhood depression.Rick Ostrander and David S. Crystal contributed equally to this article, and the order of authorship was determined by a coin toss.     

The relationship of marital satisfaction and social support to depressive symptomatology

The relationship between depressive symptomatology, as measured by the short-form Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and two social support variables was assessed. Based on a sample of 131 married men and 136 married women, the results indicated that the quality of the marital relationship and the frequency of positive social contact with adults other than the spouse were significantly related to depressive symptomatology for both men and women. These two variables accounted for 16% of the variance in BDI scores. Further, analyses of risk for high BDI scores showed that individuals having the least support were 13 times more likely to be in the high-BDI group than individuals with the highest levels of social support. These results suggest that social isolation and marital discord are related to high BDI scores among married adults.     

Symptoms of depression in Swedish fathers in the postnatal period and development of a screening tool

Methods for detecting depression in fathers after the birth of their child are scarce. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), used to screen mothers for postpartum depression (PPD), lacks somatization and externalizing items. This potentially decreases its sensitivity in detecting depression in fathers, as many men actually express depression with somatization or externalizing symptoms. The present study assessed depressive symptoms in fathers of children 0–18 months old, and evaluated whether addressing both typical depression and externalizing, so‐called “depressive equivalent” symptoms, might be more suitable for such assessment. The Beck Depression Inventory‐II (BDI‐II), EPDS, and Gotland Male Depression Scale (GMDS) were responded to by 447 Swedish fathers online. Among participants, 27% reported depressive symptoms above the BDI‐II cut‐off suggestive of depression. Most fathers reported both traditional and depressive equivalent symptoms and a subgroup expressed exclusively depressive equivalent symptoms. Consistently, a scale combining items from the EPDS and GMDS showed higher sensitivity than the EPDS alone in identifying fathers with elevated depressive symptoms, at equal levels of specificity. Our findings suggest that a combination of EPDS and depressive equivalent symptom items results in a more suitable instrument for screening for depression in fathers during the postnatal period.     

Loneliness, depression, social support, and quality of life in older chronically ill Appalachians

This study's purpose was to describe loneliness and to examine the relationships between loneliness, depression, social support, and QOL in chronically ill, older Appalachians. In-person interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of 60 older, chronically ill, community-dwelling, and rural adults. Those with dementia or active grief were excluded. The UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russell, Peplau, & Cutrona, 1985), Geriatric Depression Scale (Shiekh & Yesavage, 1986), Katz ADL scale (Katz, Down, & Cash, 1970), MOS Social Support Scale (Sherbourne & Stewart, 1991), and a visual analog scale for Quality of Life (Spitzer et al., 1981) scale were used. Diagnoses were obtained through chart reviews. SPSS was used for data analyses. The majority of the 65% female sample (M age = 75 years) were married and impoverished. Participants' number of chronic illnesses averaged more than 3. Over 88% of participants reported at least 1 area of functional impairment. Loneliness was prevalent with UCLA loneliness scores indicating moderate to high loneliness, ranging from 39 to 62 (possible scores were 20-80). Higher loneliness scores correlated with depression, lower Qol, and lower social support, particularly lower emotional support. This study provides evidence that loneliness is a significant problem for older chronically ill Appalachian adults and that it may be related to low emotional support. Further, it provides evidence that this population may be significantly lonely and may not self-identify as lonely. Screening for loneliness and designing interventions that target the emotional aspects of loneliness could be important in this population.     

Depressive‐symptom onset during toddlerhood in a sample of depressed preschoolers: Implications for future investigations of major depressive disorder in toddlers

This study investigated the occurrence of depressive symptoms prior to age 36 months as retrospectively reported by parents of preschoolers with clinical depression. The study provides some of the first empirical data on the manifestations of depressive symptoms during the toddler period, advancing existing theoretical and case‐report literature. A sample of 301 (depressed, disruptive, and healthy) children between the ages of 3.0 and 6.0 years were screened and oversampled for depressive symptoms from community sites. Primary caregivers (parents) were interviewed about their child's symptoms of depression (as well as other symptoms of mental disorders and developmental parameters), and age of first onset of depressive symptoms was ascertained. Findings suggest that clinical‐level symptoms of depression may arise as early as age 24 months. The domain of negative self‐concept during the toddler period evidenced by self‐deprecation and difficulty making choices emerged as the two strongest variables predictive of preschool depression. Our results suggest that prospective empirical studies of depressive symptoms in children younger than 3 years of age should now be undertaken.     

Personality Dysfunction, Coping Styles, and Clinical Symptoms in Younger and Older Adults

This study examined age-related differences in personality disorders, dispositional coping strategies, and clinical symptoms between younger (n = 79; age range = 18–29; M age = 21.2 years) and older (n = 79; age range = 55–89; M age = 65.5 years) persons (matched on gender and ethnicity). Participants completed the Coolidge Axis II Inventory (CATI), Coping Orientations to Problems Experienced Scale (COPE), and Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Personality results (t tests) based on the CATI revealed that older persons were significantly more obsessive–compulsive and schizoid than younger adults but significantly lower on 7 scales, including antisocial, borderline, histrionic, and sadistic. As assessed by the COPE, older adults reported lower levels of dysfunctional coping strategies than younger adults. Specifically, older persons were less likely to use mental disengagement, venting of emotions, and alcohol/drugs to cope with problems. BSI results for clinical symptoms revealed that younger adults were significantly higher on 5 of 9 scales, including anxiety, depression, and hostility. Results suggest that younger adults experience higher levels of personality and clinical symptoms and use more dysfunctional coping strategies than older adults, dispelling the myth that old age is associated with inevitable psychological impairment. Theoretical considerations, clinical implications, and future research ideas are discussed.     

The incidence,prevalence, and severity of behavior disorders among preschool-aged children in day care

This study examined the incidence, prevalence, and severity of 14 empirically derived externalizing (unsocialized aggressive) and internalizing (socially withdrawn) behaviors among 2- through 5-year-olds attending day care. Teacher ratings were obtained for 558 children in the incidence sample and 709 children in the expanded prevalence sample. Within each age, data were cross-tabulated by sex of child and severity of behavior, and chi-square analyses were computed. Results indicated that a substantial proportion of children in the normal preschool population exhibit relatively high severities of selected externalizing and internalizing behaviors; this proportion varied with the age of the child and the behavior rated. Preschool-aged boys were consistently rated as demonstrating greater frequencies of externalizing behaviors than preschool-aged girls. The diagnostic and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Hope and social support utilisation among different age groups of women with breast cancer and their spouses

Objective: Social support and hope are considered positive, important contributors to psychological well-being for women with breast cancer and their spouses. Few studies examine the role of age in relation to these variables. The current study compares the relationship between social support, hope and depression among different age groups of women with advanced breast cancer and their healthy spouses.

Design: Cross-sectional sample of 150 women with advanced breast cancer and their spouses.

Main outcome measures: Social support, hope, depression and socio-demographic data. Analysis included comparison of these variables between groups of older and younger patients and their spouses. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to examine hope as a mediator of the relationship between social support and depression within each group (older and younger patients and spouses).

Results: Older patients and spouses reported lower levels of depression than younger ones. SEM showed that social support related directly to depression among younger women and older spouses, while hope was directly related to depression among older women and younger spouses and acted as a mediator between social support and depression.

Conclusions: Theoretical, empirical and clinical implications regarding the understanding of the role of age in coping with cancer are discussed.     

Diagnosing depression in patients with physical diseases using the beck depression inventory (BDI)

Abstract

Four-hundred-and-forty-three patients with a physical illness (355 with coronary heart disease and 88 with chronic pain), 150 unemployed persons and 623 subjects from the normal population in Jämtland, Sweden were tested using the BDI (Beck Depression Inventory). The aim of the study was to investigate whether scores on both the physical and non-physical components of the BDI differed between the patients and the other groups, or whether only the physical component was significantly higher in the patient group, and in such a case whether this could be interpreted as symptomatic of physical disease and not of depression. A cutoff score of ≥ 10 to determine mild depression and two different alternative physical and non-physical components were used. Forty-three percent of the patients with coronary heart disease and 50% of patients with chronic pain were categorized as being at least mildly depressed. Factor analyses indicated that a physical component comprising five items was the most meaningful and could best discriminate the physical symptoms. The patients' scores were significantly higher than those of the other two groups on the physical component but only higher than the normal population sample on the nun-physical component. This supports the idea that the items for physical symptoms in the BDI might be confounding when determining depression in patients with physical diseases. The non-physical component seems to be the best indicator of depression and is recommended as a complement to the total BDI scale when determining the degree of depression in patients suffering from a physical disease.     

Validity of Functional Ambulation Performance Score for the evaluation of spatiotemporal parameters of children's gait

Gait characteristics of a healthy adult population have been used to develop the Functional Ambulation Profile (FAP) score to evaluate gait in patients with neuromuscular or musculoskeletal involvement (A. J. Nelson, 1974). Further technological progress allowed a more precise recording of walk parameters and propitiated the development of the Functional Ambulation Performance Score (FAPS). The authors aimed to explore the evolution of the FAPS in healthy children to determine what the lower limit of age would be to ensure reliability of this score. Participants were 32 children with normal development. A GAITRite? walkway was used to log the spatiotemporal parameters. Compared with values obtained in adults, the average FAPS was significantly lower for children under 12 years old. The interparticipant variability was particularly high for the younger children and decreased with age. Similar trends were observed regarding the intraparticipant variability. In conclusion, the authors observed that the FAPS is not suitable to compare the gait of different children younger than 12 years old. At least, the adult standards used to calculate FAPS would need to be modified if the score has to be applied to a pediatric population.     

A preliminary comparison of teacher ratings and child self-report of depression,anxiety, and aggression in inpatient and elementary school samples

Using equivalent scales, the differential utility of teachers' ratings of elementary school (n=142) and inpatient (n=83) 8 to 12yearold children was examined by comparing teachers' correspondence with the inpatient and elementary school children's selfreports of depression, anxiety, and aggression. Teacherchild correspondence was significant for all three traits in the elementary school sample, yet only significant for aggression in the inpatient sample. However, the level or severity of depression and anxiety symptoms that the teachers reported for the inpatient sample was similar to that reported by the children themselves. In contrast, elementary school children reported significantly more internalizing symptoms than their teachers. Inpatient children reported more depression, but not significantly more anxiety and aggression than elementary school children. For all traits, teachers reported significantly more symptoms for inpatient children, after controlling for child selfreport and socioeconomic status. The utility of teachers' ratings across samples, method variance and rater biases, and issues pertaining to selfreport are discussed.     

Problem‐Solving Appraisal and Depression: Evidence for a Recovery Model

The purpose of this study was to examine whether problem‐solving appraisal plays a role in recovery from depression in a university population. It was predicted that self‐appraised effective problem solvers would be more likely to recover from a depressive episode than self‐appraised ineffective problem solvers. Consistent with this hypothesis, there was a significant Time 1 problem‐solving appraisal x Time 1 depression interaction in predicting Time 2 depression scores. More specifically, by Time 2 the self‐appraised effective problem solvers reported only mild levels of depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory [BDI] = 12), whereas the self‐appraised ineffective problem solvers reported levels of depression that were moderate to severe (BDI = 20).     

A study of the psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory‐II,the Montgomery and Åsberg Depression Rating Scale,and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in a sample from a healthy population

The objective of this study is to evaluate internal consistency and psychometric properties of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Beck Depression inventory‐II (BDI‐II) and the Montgomery and Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) for screening for major depressive episode (MDE) in a selected sample from a healthy population. Participants answered the BDI‐II and the HADS questionnaires and were interviewed with MADRS. The Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)‐IV Axis I Disorders‐Clinician Version (SCID‐CV) was used to diagnose MDE. Current MDE was diagnosed in 20 (6%) of the 357 participants. All three scales including the depression sub‐scale for HADS had high area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC) (AUC) (0.84–0.87), and internal consistency was also high for all scales (0.75–0.89). Optimal cut‐off for MDE was ≥ 12 for BDI‐II, MADRS ≥ 8, HADS total ≥ 9, and HADS‐D ≥ 4, which all resulted in sensitivities = 85% and specificities > 78%. Diagnostic accuracy was low on all depression scales (Cohen's kappa = 0.20–0.40). Reports of the properties of depression scales in a healthy population are limited. We found BDI‐II, HADS and MADRS to be acceptable as screening instruments for MDE in a selected sample from healthy population with recommend cut‐offs as mentioned above.     

Biased recollections in older adults: the role of implicit theories of aging.

This research explored how older adults recall the traits they possessed at an earlier age. It was hypothesized that older adults' recollections would be related to their theories about aging. In Study 1, a group of older Ss provided their theories concerning how various traits change with age. Another group of older Ss rated their current status on these traits and recalled the status they possessed at a younger age. In addition, a group of younger adults rated their current status on the same traits. On traits theorized to increase with age, older Ss recalled themselves as possessing lower levels at an earlier age than the younger group reported possessing. On traits theorized to decrease with age, older Ss recalled themselves as possessing higher levels at an earlier age than the younger group reported possessing. Study 2 indicated that this effect is obtained regardless of trait positivity.     

Investigating the link between liking versus wanting self-esteem and depression in a nationally representative sample of american adults

The self‐esteem movement has been around since the 1970s, and may have influenced how much value people place on self‐esteem. We predicted a negative relationship between age and the amount of value placed on self‐esteem boosts. We also investigated the correlates of liking versus wanting self‐esteem boosts (and other pleasant rewards) on depression. A nationally representative sample of American adults (N = 867) indicated how much they liked and wanted several pleasant rewards (i.e., sex, food, alcohol, money, friendship, self‐esteem boost). They also completed a standardized measure of depressive symptoms. As expected, there was a negative relationship between age and valuing self‐esteem boosts, sex, and alcohol. People with depressive symptoms wanted self‐esteem boosts, even though they did not like them very much. Similar effects were obtained for depressive symptoms and alcohol and friendship. This is the first research to show that self‐esteem boosts are more valued among a nationally representative sample of younger American adults. It also is the first research to explore the association between depression and the motivation to boost self‐esteem. People with depressive symptoms want self‐esteem, and may pursue it, but this pursuit may feel unrewarding because they do not derive pleasure from it.     

Happy as a lark: morning-type younger and older adults are higher in positive affect

A literature on young adults reports that morning-type individuals, or "larks," report higher levels of positive affect compared with evening-type individuals, or "owls" (Clark, Watson, & Leeka, 1989; Hasler et al., 2010). Morning types are relatively rare among young adults but frequent among older adults (May & Hasher, 1998; Mecacci et al., 1986), and here we report on the association between chronotype and affect in a large sample of healthy younger and older adults. Overall, older adults reported higher levels of positive affect than younger adults, with both younger and older morning types reporting higher levels of positive affect and subjective health than age mates who scored lower on morningness. Morningness partially mediated the association between age and positive affect, suggesting that greater morningness tendencies among older adults may contribute to their improved well-being relative to younger adults.