Daily emotional dynamics in depressed youth: a cell phone ecological momentary assessment study

This study used a new cell phone ecological momentary assessment approach to investigate daily emotional dynamics in 47 youths with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 32 no-psychopathology controls (CON) (ages 7-17 years). Information about emotional experience in the natural environment was obtained using answer-only cell phones, while MDD youths received an 8-week course of cognitive behavioral therapy and/or psychopharmacological treatment. Compared with CON youths, MDD youths reported more intense and labile global negative affect; greater sadness, anger, and nervousness; and a lower ratio of positive to negative affect. These differences increased with pubertal maturation. MDD youths spent more time alone and less time with their families than CON youths. Although differences in emotional experiences were found across social contexts, MDD youths were more negative than CON youths in all contexts examined. As the MDD participants progressed through treatment, diagnostic group differences in the intensity and lability of negative affect decreased, but there were no changes in the ratio of positive to negative affect or in measures of social context. We discuss methodological innovations and advantages of this approach, including improved ecological validity and access to information about variability in emotions, change in emotions over time, the balance of positive and negative emotions, and the social context of emotional experience.     

When Mothers’ Work Matters for Youths’ Daily Time Use: Implications of Evening and Weekend Shifts

Drawing upon the work-home resources model, this study examined the implications of mothers’ evening and weekend shifts for youths’ time with mother, alone, and hanging out with peers unsupervised, with attention to both the amount and day-to-day consistency of time use. Data came from 173 mothers who worked in the long-term care industry and their youths who provided daily diaries. Multilevel modeling revealed that youths whose mothers worked more evening shifts on average spent less time with their mothers compared to youths whose mothers worked fewer evening shifts. Youths whose mothers worked more weekend shifts, however, spent more time with their mothers and exhibited less consistency in their time in all three activity domains compared to youths whose mothers worked fewer weekend shifts. Girls, not boys, spent less time alone on days when mothers worked weekend shifts than on days with standard shifts. Older but not younger adolescents spent more time hanging out with friends on evening and weekend shift days, and their unsupervised peer time was less consistent across days when mothers worked more evening shifts. These effects adjusted for sociodemographic and day characteristics, including school day, number of children in the household, mothers’ marital status and work hours, and time with fathers. Our results illuminate the importance of the timing and day of mothers’ work for youths’ daily activities. Future interventions should consider how to increase mothers’ resources to deal with constraints on parenting due to their work during nonstandard hours, with attention to child gender and age.     

Social anxiety and the experience of positive emotion and anger in everyday life: an ecological momentary assessment approach

Abstract

A few recent studies have found evidence showing that social anxiety is associated with diminished positive affect and elevated anger. However, prior work has relied on trait self-report measures of global positive mood or anger. In this preliminary study, we examined how trait social anxiety relates to moment-to-moment positive and angry emotional states as people navigate through their natural environment in a given day. Of additional interest was whether any associations were limited to social situations or were evident more broadly in non-social situations as well. For 14 days, 38 non-clinical community adults carried electronic diaries to assess their experience of positive emotions, anger, and their current social context and activity. Participants were randomly prompted up to four times per day, leading to 1702 observations. Results showed that social anxiety was associated with less time spent feeling happy and relaxed and more time spent feeling angry throughout the day. In general, people felt happier when they were with other people compared to being alone. Interestingly, people with relatively higher levels of social anxiety reported fewer and less intense positive emotions and greater anger episodes across social and non-social situations.     

The social behavior of depressed children: An observational study

Few investigations have examined directly the psychosocial functioning of depressed children. In the present study, 20 depressed and 20 nondepressed fourth-and fifth-grade children were observed in free play during their recess period at school, and their self-perceptions were assessed in subsequent individual sessions. The 10 boys and 10 girls in each group were selected according to their scores on both the Child Depression Inventory and the Peer Nomination Inventory of Depression. Analyses conducted on the eight categories of behavioral observations revealed significant differences between the social behavior of the depressed and the nondepressed children. Although the depressed children made more overtures for social contact than did the nondepressed children and were approached by other children more frequently, they spent more time alone and engaged in a higher frequency of negative interactions with their peers. Consistent with these results, the depressed children's responses to the Self-Perception Profile for Children indicated that they experienced themselves as less socially competent in general, as well as less competent across several specific domains of functioning. These findings are discussed as they relate to developmental processes, theories of adult depression, and recent studies on socially isolated children, and directions for future research in this area are offered.This research was supported in part by Grants MA-8574 from the Medical Research Council of Canada and OMHF No. 923-85/87 from the Ontario Mental health Foundation to the second author.     

Adolescent Internet use: What we expect, what teens report

As adolescent Internet use grew exponentially in the last decade, with it emerged a number of correspondent expectations. Among them were the following: (1) that gender predicts usage, i.e., that boys spend more time online, surfing the web and playing violent games, while girls chat or shop online; (2) that Internet use causes social isolation and depression, especially for teens; and (3) that adolescents use the Internet for anonymous identity experimentation. These expectations were based on research with earlier technologies when the Internet was less diffused in the adolescent population. By means of highly detailed daily reports of adolescents' home Internet usage and peer-related adjustment, the present research sought to compare these expectations with the actual experiences of early and mid-adolescents in 2000 and 2001. Participants were 261 7th and 10th graders from suburban California public schools who completed four consecutive end-of-day reports on their school-based adjustment and Internet activity (including detailed logs of instant messages). Results challenge prevailing expectations regarding gender, well-being, and identity play. For the most part, adolescent boys' and girls' online activities have become more similar than different. On average, boys and girls alike described their online social interaction as (1) occurring in private settings such as e-mail and instant messages, (2) with friends who are also part of their daily, offline lives, and (3) devoted to fairly ordinary yet intimate topics (e.g., friends, gossip). No associations were found between Internet usage and well-being. Online pretending was reported to be motivated by a desire to play a joke on friends more often than to explore a desired or future identity, but participants reported a range of pretending content, contexts, and motives.     

COOPERATION,COMPETITION, INDIVIDUALISM AND INTERPERSONALISM IN JAPANESE FIFTH AND EIGHTH GRADE BOYS*

The study compared the expression of cooperation, competition, individualism and interpersonalism in Japanese youth. Forty-two 5th grade boys and 42 8th grade boys first completed two questionnaires about cooperation/competition and group/individualized activities. Their group structure was then coded (as working in trios, in duos, or separately) as trios of boys built houses with playing cards. The experimental design crossed instructions (1) to work individually or in a group and (2) compete or do one's own best. Subjects were questioned about their awareness of, liking for and preferences for the cooperative, individualistic, and group-centered aspects of the experimental tasks. On orientation scales, 8th graders chose equal numbers of individualistic and group-centered activities, while 5th graders chose more group activities. Both age groups strongly favored cooperative over competitive items. In group trials of the experiment, 8th graders tended to work alone for greater proportions of time than did 5th graders. Questionnaire data indicated that (1) 8th graders reported greater enjoyment of the individualistic aspect of the task than did 5th graders, (2) both age groups evidenced a strong sense of interpersonalism, and (3) cooperation was rated more positively than competition at both ages. The study was discussed in relation to recent studies on Japanes school socialization and cooperation/competition.     

Time use of Hellene 3rd and 4th graders during a school day

Using data from the time diaries of 164 Hellene 3rd and 4th graders interviewed in their homes in March 2007, individual differences in time-use patterns were investigated. The participants rested for 9 hours 10 minutes, and spent 57.0%, 21.7%, and 5.0% of their waking time on school-related activities (attending school, learning languages, doing homework), leisure activities (such as playing and watching TV), and other activities, respectively. Pupils from rural areas rested longer; more boys engaged in play and sports; more girls and more pupils from higher SES families engaged in dance. Overall, the time spent on school-related activities is higher than the times spent on other activities. Regarding leisure, girls spent the most time watching TV, while boys spent the most time watching TV and playing. In line with previous literature, the time schedule of Hellene pupils is directed towards knowledge acquisition, rather than cognitive or socio-emotional development.     

Adolescent depression and risk factors

Seventy-nine high school seniors were administered the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), as well as a questionnaire on parent relationships, peer relationships, positive and negative feelings including suicidal thoughts, and lifestyle variables including academic performance, exercise, and drug use. The group of adolescents who scored above the clinical cutoff for depression on the CES-D (n = 29) had poorer relations with parents. Further, the incidence of paternal depression in that group was greater. The depressed adolescents also had less optimal peer relationships, fewer friends, and were less popular. They experienced less happiness and more frequent suicidal thoughts. They spent less time doing homework, had a lower grade point average, and spent less time exercising. The depressed group also reported more use of marijuana and cocaine. A stepwise regression indicated that physical affection with parents, homework, well-being, exercise, happiness, and parent relations explained 55% of the variance.     

Self-efficacy pathways to childhood depression

This prospective research analyzed how different facets of perceived self-efficacy operate in concert within a network of sociocognitive influences in childhood depression. Perceived social and academic inefficacy contributed to concurrent and subsequent depression both directly and through their impact on academic achievement, prosocialness, and problem behaviors. In the shorter run, children were depressed over beliefs in their academic inefficacy rather than over their actual academic performances. In the longer run, the impact of a low sense of academic efficacy on depression was mediated through academic achievement, problem behavior, and prior depression. Perceived social inefficacy had a heavier impact on depression in girls than in boys in the longer term. Depression was also more strongly linked over time for girls than for boys.     

How urban African American young adolescents spend their time: time budgets for locations, activities, and companionship

The time budgets of a population of youth provide important information about their daily experience and socialization. This study reports data on the time budgets of a sample of 253 urban African American poor to working- and middle-class 5th-8th graders in Chicago. These youth were found to spend less time in school than other postindustrial adolescent populations, but spent no less time doing homework than White suburban U.S. young adolescents. They spent large quantities of time at home and with their families--at rates comparable to rates for young adolescents in a society with collectivist values like India. Unlike with other populations, early adolescence was not associated with major age changes in time allocations. Amount of time in schoolwork did not differ by grade, and amount of time with family did not show the decline with age that has been found for European American suburban adolescents.     

Male and Female Victims of Male Bullies: Social Status Differences by Gender and Informant Source

We examine two sources of variation in victims’ social adjustment: (a) the informant who identifies a child as victim (i.e., peer, self, or both), and (b) victim gender. Peer and self nominations were provided by 508 fourth and fifth graders from the Midwest U.S. Girls were more likely than boys to be victimized, and victims were evenly distributed among informant source. Self-nominated female victims had lower social status and were involved in more antipathies than their peer-nominated counterparts. Among boys, self-and-peer reported victims had the lowest social status. Having friends was associated with positive social adjustment. Implications are discussed for at-risk victim subgroups: girls whose self-reports of victimization are not validated by others, and boys whose victimization is publicly acknowledged.     

Facilitating adaptive emotional analysis: distinguishing distanced-analysis of depressive experiences from immersed-analysis and distraction

Two studies examined the psychological processes that facilitate adaptive emotional analysis. In Study 1, participants recalled a depression experience and then analyzed their feelings from either a self-immersed (immersed-analysis) or self-distanced (distanced-analysis) perspective. Participants in the distanced-analysis group focused less on recounting their experience and more on reconstruing it, which in turn led to lower levels of depressed affect. Furthermore, comparisons to a distraction group indicated that distanced-analysis was as effective as distraction in reducing depressed affect relative to the immersed-analysis group. Study 2 replicated these findings and showed that both 1 day and 7 days after the experimental manipulations, participants in the distanced-analysis group remained buffered against depressed affect and reported experiencing fewer recurring thoughts about their depression experience over time compared to both the immersed-analysis and distraction groups.     

Family protective factors among urban African American youth.

Examined the relations among family protective factors, stressful events, and behavioral adjustment of 64 African American 6th graders. The youths reported on family stressors, father-figure involvement, and kin support. Their primary caregivers reported on parenting, father-figure involvement, and family stressors. Teachers reported on child social skill deficits, acting out, and shy or anxious behavior. Based on regression analyses, stress exposure associated positively with child social skill deficits, acting out, and shy or anxious behavior. Parental warmth was associated negatively with shy or anxious behavior. Parental use of corporal punishment was associated positively with child acting out. For youth exposed to high numbers of family stressors, parental demandingness was associated negatively with child acting out and kin support was associated negatively with acting out and shy or anxious behavior, suggesting that these family factors partially shield children from the negative effects of stress.     

The relationship of social support to depressive symptoms during the transition to high school

The transition to high school is studied as a time when students may experience disruptions in their social support systems. Peer support, family support, and school belonging were hypothesized to be associated with adolescent adjustment, specifically depressive symptoms. Participants included 104 eighth graders and 101 ninth graders from a middle- to high-income, predominantly white community in southern Rhode Island. In year 2, 60 of the original 8th graders were surveyed as 9th graders. Three hypotheses were examined: Social support declines from 8th to 9th grade; depressive symptoms increase from 8th to 9th grade; and social support is significantly associated with depressive symptoms. The hypotheses were tested using cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Results indicated that 9th graders experienced more depressive symptoms and lower levels of school belonging as compared to the 8th graders. Changes in parent support and peer support were significantly associated with depressive symptoms in the transition to high school. Implications for increasing school belonging in the 9th grade are discussed.     

Ambivalence and defense: effects of a repressive style on normal adolescents' and young adults' mixed feelings.

Ambivalence has been associated in theoretical works with psychopathology and with defenses against conflict. Ambivalence was operationalized as mixed feelings. Seventy-five 9th graders (27 boys and 48 girls), 50 12th graders (19 men and 31 women), and 80 Yale University undergraduates (38 men and 42 women) completed questionnaires assessing ambivalence, psychopathological symptoms, and repressive and nonrepressive styles. Compared with nonrepressive subjects, repressive subjects at all grade levels reported lower levels of mixed feelings and relatively less uncertainty about their feelings. Whereas the absence of felt anxiety was sufficient for lower self-reported psychopathological symptoms, a repressive style was necessary for lower self-reported ambivalence.     

Adaptive social reasoning in depressed mood and depressive vulnerability

In this study we evaluate the evolutionary hypothesis that depressed states are associated with more adaptive reasoning about social risks, such as defeat or rejection. A total of 78 women were administered one of two mood inductions (depressed vs. neutral), followed by four Wason selection reasoning tasks (truth-detection, cheater-detection, and two social risk tasks addressing attachment and social competition risks). Those in the depressed mood condition gave significantly more correct responses on a task requiring participants to reason about social competition. There were no significant differences on performance for the other reasoning tasks between the two mood induction conditions. Furthermore, measures of two dimensions of depression prone personality (sociotropy and autonomy) were associated with less adaptive reasoning about social risks. These results suggest that mildly depressed states may indeed facilitate adaptive reasoning within certain domains, whereas vulnerability to depression may be associated with a relative impairment in reasoning about social risks.     

Parent-adolescent relationships and social adjustment: the case of a collectivistic culture

This study examined how parent-adolescent relationships are related to adolescent loneliness, interpersonal difficulties and school adjustment among Israeli Arabs. Two hundred and thirty-one 11th graders (103 boys and 128 girls) and their homeroom teachers participated. Four groups of adolescents were identified according to parenting practice profiles: Adolescents in the harsh parenting group reported the highest levels of loneliness, those in the distant and mixed groups reported midway levels of loneliness, and those in the warm group showed the lowest degree of loneliness and the lowest levels of interpersonal problems. Overall, boys reported higher levels of peer-related loneliness and lower levels of affinity for aloneness than girls. Gender interacted significantly with parenting group, with girls in the harsh parenting group exhibiting greater parent-related loneliness and affinity for loneliness, while boys exhibited more peer-related loneliness. The important role that parents play in their children's social adjustment is discussed in relation to gender and culture.     

Social Comparison and Body Image: Attractiveness Comparisons to Models and Peers Among Adolescent Girls and Boys

Relations among body image satisfaction and social comparisons to either same-sex peers or media models were examined in 2 studies of adolescent boys and girls. In the first study, 9th and 10th graders described their conceptions of attractiveness for same- and opposite-sex adolescents. These attractiveness attributes were then used in Study 2 in which 7th- and 10th-grade boys and girls reported on social comparisons to models/celebrities and same-sex peers. Body dissatisfaction was also assessed. The results confirmed that both same-sex peers and models/celebrities were the targets of social comparisons for physical attributes, but comparisons on personal and social attributes were more likely directed toward same-sex peers. For boys and girls, weight comparisons to both peer and model targets were primary correlates of body dissatisfaction. In addition, shape comparisons reported by the girls and facial comparisons endorsed by the boys also related to body dissatisfaction. Gender differences in social comparison indicated that girls reported more social comparisons across targets and attributes. Results are discussed in terms of the role of social comparison and peer context for body image during adolescence.     

Perceptual asymmetry and youths’ responses to stress: Understanding vulnerability to depression

This research examined the hypothesis that reduced posterior right hemisphere activity interferes with the regulation of emotions and behaviour in response to stress, creating vulnerability to depression. Consistent with a diathesis–stress model, we predicted that youths with a reduced posterior right hemisphere bias in emotional processing would engage in less adaptive responses to stress, which would be associated with depressive symptoms in those who reported the recent experience of high, but not low, levels of stress. Participants were 510 4th through 8th graders who completed the Chimeric Faces Task and measures of responses to stress and depressive symptoms. Results supported the idea that responses to stress account for the association between reduced posterior right hemisphere activity and depressive symptoms in youths who report high, but not low, levels of stress. This study provides insight into one process through which reduced posterior right hemisphere activity may confer vulnerability to depressive symptoms, and implicates responses to stress as a target for intervention.     

Approval versus achievement motives in seventh-grade girls

Eighty seventh graders played a computer-programmed two-choice probability game in one of four conditions: with reinforcement for choosing the more probable response, with reinforcement for choosing the less probable response, with a silent experimenter, or alone. Children receiving reinforcement for the less probable response experienced a conflict between approval and achievement since choices which increased approval in this condition decreased success in the task. Across all conditions, girls chose the more probable response significantly more often than boys, indicating that girls did not sacrifice achievement for the sake of approval. Finally, girls did not reduce their efforts to achieve when working alone even though there was no opportunity for social approval, and did not express lower success expectancies than the boys even though these were measured anonymously.The authors wish to extend their appreciation to the teachers at Emerson School, Oak Park, Illinois, and to Ms. Glada O. Vaughn, principal, and Ms. Sandra Northrup Nowak, assistant principal, for their cooperation in carrying out this research.