Protective Effects of Maternal and Peer Support on Depressive Symptoms during Adolescence

The current study examined the contributions of maternal and peer support to depressive symptoms in early to mid-adolescence and variation in these contributions across age, gender, and race. Five waves of data on maternal support, peer support, and depressive symptoms were collected on rural youth (N = 3,444) at 6 month intervals. Multilevel modeling was used to evaluate within and between-person effects of maternal and peer support on depressive symptoms. Within-person effects of peer support did not vary by age, gender, or race. At the between-person level, peer support predicted levels of depressive symptoms at age 12, but this effect became nonsignificant after controlling for maternal support. Within-person effects of maternal support did not vary with age but were qualified by gender and race. Between-person effects of maternal support on depressive symptom levels at age 12 and slopes varied across race and gender, respectively. Findings highlight the robustness of the protective effects of maternal and peer support during adolescence among girls and white youth.     

Gender differences and developmental change in externalizing disorders from late adolescence to early adulthood: A longitudinal twin study

Using data from over 1,000 male and female twins participating in the Minnesota Twin Family Study, the authors examined developmental change, gender differences, and genetic and environmental contributions to the symptom levels of four externalizing disorders (adult antisocial behavior, alcohol dependence, nicotine dependence, and drug dependence) from ages 17 to 24. Both men and women increased in symptoms for each externalizing disorder, with men increasing at a greater rate than women, such that a modest gender gap at age 17 widened to a large one at age 24. Additionally, a mean-level gender difference on a latent Externalizing factor could account for the mean-level gender differences for the individual disorders. Biometric analyses revealed increasing genetic variation and heritability for men but a trend toward decreasing genetic variation and increasing environmental effects for women. Results illustrate the importance of gender and developmental context for symptom expression and the utility of structural models to integrate general trends and disorder-specific characteristics.     

Conduct Problems, Depressive Symptomatology and Their Co-Occurring Presentation in Childhood as Predictors of Adjustment in Early Adolescence

The present study investigated patterns in the development of conduct problems (CP), depressive symptoms, and their co-occurrence, and relations to adjustment problems, over the transition from late childhood to early adolescence. Rates of depressive symptoms and CP during this developmental period vary by gender; yet, few studies involving non-clinical samples have examined co-occurring problems and adjustment outcomes across boys and girls. This study investigates the manifestation and change in CP and depressive symptom patterns in a large, multisite, gender-and ethnically-diverse sample of 431 youth from 5th to 7th grade. Indicators of CP, depressive symptoms, their co-occurrence, and adjustment outcomes were created from multiple reporters and measures. Hypotheses regarding gender differences were tested utilizing both categorical (i.e., elevated symptom groups) and continuous analyses (i.e., regressions predicting symptomatology and adjustment outcomes). Results were partially supportive of the dual failure model (Capaldi, 1991, 1992), with youth with co-occurring problems in 5th grade demonstrating significantly lower academic adjustment and social competence two years later. Both depressive symptoms and CP were risk factors for multiple negative adjustment outcomes. Co-occurring symptomatology and CP demonstrated more stability and was associated with more severe adjustment problems than depressive symptoms over time. Categorical analyses suggested that, in terms of adjustment problems, youth with co-occurring symptomatology were generally no worse off than those with CP-alone, and those with depressive symptoms-alone were similar over time to those showing no symptomatology at all. Few gender differences were noted in the relations among CP, depressive symptoms, and adjustment over time.     

Latent growth modeling of the relationship between depressive symptoms and substance use during adolescence.

To explicate the nature of the relationship between depressive symptoms and substance use, the authors conducted research that incorporated both individual and group approaches and utilized longitudinal data across development. Multiple-group latent growth curve models were used to assess specific dimensions (cross-sectional and longitudinal correlation, within-individual change, and movement off developmental trajectories) of the relationship between depressive symptoms and substance use during adolescence and how this relationship differs by gender. Annual survey data from 8th through 11th grade were provided by 441 girls and 510 boys in the Raising Healthy Children project (E. C. Brown, R. F. Catalano, C. B. Fleming, K. P. Haggerty, & R. D. Abbott, 2005). Levels of depressive symptoms and substance use in early adolescence were positively associated for alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette use for girls, but only for marijuana use for boys. Individual changes in depressive symptoms and substance use across adolescence were positively associated for each type of substance use. Evidence was also found for positive association between episodic expressions of depressive symptoms and alcohol use that fell outside developmental trajectories. Predictive relationships across constructs were not found, with the exception of higher level of depressive symptoms in early adolescence predicting less increase in alcohol use.     

Symptom endorsement differences on the Children's Depression Inventory with children and adolescents on an inpatient unit

Responses to the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI; Kovacs, 1992), administered during intake, were collected from 521 children and adolescents (aged 7 to 17) at an inpatient crisis stabilization unit. Participants were grouped into 1 of 3 diagnostic groups: solely depressive, solely aggressive, or both depressive and aggressive. Self-report of symptoms for each diagnostic group, age and gender differences, and racial and ethnic differences in symptoms were examined in this study. There was a significant difference between the endorsement pattern of solely depressive and solely aggressive participants, whereas those categorized as both depressive and aggressive displayed an endorsement pattern similar to those who were solely aggressive. There was a significant gender difference in overall symptom report, with girls showing higher overall symptom levels than boys. This gender difference was significant for both the younger and the older age groups. These results held true even when gender was covaried out of the diagnostic group analyses and when diagnostic group was covaried out of the gender analyses. Symptom endorsement did not differ based on race and ethnicity. The primary contribution of this study centers around the findings from the item analyses of the CDI. These results are discussed in relation to the discriminant validity of the CDI and the need for additional research into comorbidity.     

Self-Competence and Depressive Symptom Trajectories during Adolescence

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between self-competence and subsequent depressive symptom trajectories, by gender, in a community sample of adolescents (N = 753; 53% female; 65% non-Hispanic White). Data were collected annually for three years beginning when adolescents were in the 10th and 11th grades (Age: M = 16.09, SD = 0.72 years). Adolescents provided self-reports of self-competence at baseline and depressive symptoms every year. In latent growth curve models examining the overall trajectory of depressive symptoms, higher global self-worth and self-competence in close friendships were significantly associated with greater decreases in depressive symptoms (ps < 0.05). In contrast, higher academic self-competence was associated with more attenuated decreases in depressive symptoms (p = 0.001). When examining subgroups of latent depressive symptom trajectories within the context of growth mixture modeling, higher self-competence in physical appearance was associated with a decreased likelihood of membership in trajectory classes characterized by high initial, then decreasing depressive symptoms or and low initial, then increasing depressive symptoms (ps < 0.01). Among girls, higher global self-worth and self-competence in close friendship and academic domains were associated with membership in a trajectory class distinguished by high stable depressive symptoms (ps < 0.01); these associations were not observed among boys (ps > 0.05). Findings suggest that the competence-based model of depression is valid and applicable during middle-to-late adolescence, and emphasize the importance of considering gender and individual differences in the developmental course of depressive symptoms to gain a more nuanced understanding of the role of self-competence in depressive symptom trajectories.     

Pubertal transition, stressful life events, and the emergence of gender differences in adolescent depressive symptoms

This study examined the role of both pubertal and social transitions in the emergence of gender differences in depressive symptoms during adolescence. This study generated the following findings: (a) Gender differences in depressive symptoms emerged during 8th grade and remained significant through 12th grade. (b) Pubertal status in 7th grade was related to adolescent depressive symptoms over time. (c) Early-maturing girls represented the group with the highest rate of depressive symptoms. (d) Depressive symptoms measured in 7th grade predicted subsequent symptom levels throughout the secondary school years. (e) Recent stressful life events were associated with increased depressive symptoms. (f) Early-maturing girls with higher levels of initial symptoms and more recent stressful life events were most likely to be depressed subsequently. The findings demonstrate the importance of the interaction between the pubertal transition and psychosocial factors in increasing adolescent vulnerability to depressive experiences.     

Relationship between age and aspects of depression: consistency and reliability across two longitudinal studies

In this study, the authors examined cross-sectional and longitudinal age and gender differences in each of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale's 4 subscales of depressive symptomatology. Two independent studies (Sample 1 = 2,076; Sample 2 = 943) were used for purposes of establishing stability of findings. Results indicate a reasonable degree of stability among adults under 70 years of age. However, there were significant age-related increases in somatic symptoms and lack of well-being after approximately 70 years of age, whereas symptoms related to depressed affect and interpersonal problems remained stable. Notably, depressive affect symptoms remained stable given significant age-related somatic changes. The addition of comorbid physical illness to the analysis did not reduce the association between age and depressive symptoms, indicating that part of the association was not substantially accounted for by physical health.     

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS

Large community studies of depressive symptomatology provide mixed evidence concerning gender differences. The present paper investigates the effect of the high skewness typically present in distributions of depressive symptom scores on findings of a gender difference in depression. Because of this skewness, a few extreme scores among women (or in any subgroup) can produce a significant between-groups difference in untransformed scores even when the two groups' distributions are otherwise similar. Data from a community survey ( n = 1316) are consistent with this hypothesis. The data also suggest that gender increases depression scores indirectly, rather than directly, for the few women scoring in the extreme upper tail of the distribution. It is concluded that the gender difference in depressive symptoms lacks robustness, and that when it does occur, the effect of gender on depression can be understood as ndirect, i.e., as mediated by gender differences in rate of employment, job status, education, and income.     

The symptomatic expression of major depressive disorder in adolescents and young adults

Data from the Oregon Adolescent Depression Project were used to examine the symptomatic expression of major depressive disorder (MDD) as a function of age and gender. The objective was to investigate the phenomenological nature of MDD among a cohort of adolescents as they progressed into early adulthood. The analyses were based on 564 participants who had experienced MDD in their lifetime. No systematic differences in the relative rate of occurrence of specific symptoms across episodes and only minor symptom differences between male and female participants were found. Age did not significantly influence the symptom picture. Stability of specific symptoms and episode severity across episodes was low. The results are discussed within the context of a stressor-symptom matching model.     

Parent and Adolescent Depressive Symptoms: The Role of Parental Attributions

This study examined whether negative parental attributions for adolescent behaviour mediate the association between parental and adolescent depressive symptoms, and whether this relationship is moderated by adolescent gender. Mothers and fathers and 124 adolescents (76 girls and 48 boys; ages 14 to 18) participated. Adolescents were primarily Caucasian, and varied in the level of depressive symptoms (with 27% of the sample meeting diagnostic criteria for a current unipolar depressive disorder). Parents and adolescents completed measures of depressive symptoms, and participated in a videotaped problem-solving discussion. After the discussion, each parent watched the videotape and, at 20 s intervals, offered attributions for their adolescent’s behaviour. Adolescent gender moderated the relation between parental attributions and adolescent depressive symptoms, with stronger associations for female adolescents. For both mothers and fathers, both parental depressive symptoms and negative attributions about the adolescent’s behaviour made unique contributions to the prediction of depressive symptoms in adolescent females. There also was evidence that negative attributions partially mediated the link between depressive symptoms in mothers and adolescent daughters. The results are interpreted as consistent with parenting as a partial mediator between parental and adolescent depressive symptoms, and suggest that adolescent girls may be particularly sensitive to parents’ negative interpretations of their behaviour.     

Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms and Externalizing Behaviors across Adolescence: Associations with Histories of Suicide Attempt and Ideation in Early Adulthood

We examined associations between adolescent problem trajectories and suicide risk outcomes in 361 community participants. Depressive symptoms (self‐report) and externalizing behaviors (parent report) were assessed six times from grades 5 to 10. Parallel process linear growth curves indicated that lifetime suicide attempt history assessed to age 25 was associated with higher intercept (grade 5) and slope (increases from grades 5 to 10) of depressive symptoms and higher slope of externalizing behaviors. Both problem intercepts predicted suicidal ideation at ages 18 to 25 years. Adolescent depressive and externalizing symptom trajectories showed independent associations with suicide risk. Preventive intervention that occurs prior to the developmental period in which suicidal thoughts and behaviors show peak prevalence is expected to prevent suicide.     

Gender and age differences in emotion regulation strategies and their relationship to depressive symptoms

We examined differences between men and women, and between young, middle and older age adults in emotion regulation strategies (rumination, suppression, reappraisal, problem-solving, acceptance, social support) and the relationships between these strategies and depressive symptoms. Women were more likely than men to report using several different emotion regulation strategies, and these gender differences were significant even after statistically controlling for gender differences in depressive symptoms. Use of most strategies decreased with age, with two exceptions: (1) use of suppression increased with age for women but not for men and (2) use of acceptance did not decrease with age for women. Use of maladaptive strategies was associated with more depressive symptoms in all age groups and both genders, yet, the use of adaptive strategies generally was not related to lower levels depressive symptoms across groups.     

Gender Differences in Self-Reports of Depression: The Response Bias Hypothesis Revisited

This study was designed to revisit the response bias hypothesis, which posits that gender differences in depression prevalence rates may reflect a tendency for men to underreport depressive symptoms. In this study, we examined aspects of gender role socialization (gender-related traits, socially desirable responding, beliefs about mental health and depression) that may contribute to a response bias in self-reports of depression. In addition, we investigated the impact of two contextual variables (i.e., cause of depression and level of intrusiveness of experimental follow-up) on self-reports of depressive symptoms. Results indicated that men, but not women, reported fewer depressive symptoms when consent forms indicated that a more involved follow-up might occur. Further, results indicated differential responding by men and women on measures of gender-related traits, mental health beliefs, and beliefs about depression and predictors of depressed mood. Together, our results support the assertion that, in specific contexts, a response bias explanation warrants further consideration in investigations of gender differences in rates of self-reported depression.     

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.     

The relationship between spirituality and depressive symptom severity,psychosocial functioning impairment,and quality of life: examining the impact of age,gender, and ethnic differences

Research has documented the contribution of spirituality on overall health and mental health among college students. However, very few studies have explored the impact of cultural and ethnic differences on the effect of spirituality on mental health outcomes in this population. The aims of this study were to examine the relationships among spirituality, depressive symptom severity, psychosocial functioning impairment, and quality of life in a large multi-ethnic sample of college students and explore the impact of age, gender, and ethnicity on these relationships. The sample consisted of Latino, African-American, Caucasian, and Caribbean/West Indian college students. Findings indicated that spirituality, believing in God's presence, age, gender, and ethnicity were significantly related to depressive symptoms. These factors were also associated with impairment in psychosocial functioning and quality of life related to depression.     

Early Maladaptive Schemas as Moderators of the Impact of Stressful Events on Anxiety and Depression in University Students

The aim of this study was to test the effects of early maladaptive schemas (EMS) derived from the Schema Therapy model (Young 1999) according to the diathesis-stress paradigm. We expected that EMS would make students more vulnerable to symptoms of depression and anxiety in the presence of stressful events and that the effects of these schemas would be different for each symptom. In particular, it was hypothesised that abandonment, emotional deprivation, defectiveness, and failure schemas would interact with stressful events to predict depressive symptoms, whereas abandonment, vulnerability to harm, and dependence schemas were expected to moderate anxiety symptoms. Due to gender differences in EMS and depressive and anxiety symptoms, we also expected that sex would act as a moderator of the relationships between EMS and symptoms. A two-wave prospective study showed that the presence of EMS constitutes a vulnerability factor for both, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and this effect was also moderated by sex. Moreover, the EMS’s content specificity revealed which schemas were more relevant to each symptom, providing valuable information for prevention and intervention programmes.     

Self-Knowledge and Depressive Symptoms in Late Adolescence: A Study Using the Repertory Grid Technique

The goal of this study is to explore the relationship, suggested by recent developmental approaches, between several aspects of self-knowledge organization and depressive symptomatology in late adolescence, within the comprehensive framework of Kelly's personal construct psychology. The repertory grid technique was used to obtain six measures of self-knowledge organization: global differentiation; polarization; presence of conflicts; and discrepancies between actual self, ideal self, and others. Two inventories were used to create two samples of late adolescents according to their level of depressive symptoms. Results supported the expectations of greater global differentiation and actual–ideal self discrepancy (or lower self-esteem) for adolescents with depressive symptoms, as well as a higher likelihood of intrapersonal conflicts. However, discrepancies between self (actual or ideal) and others (identification, and perceived adequacy of others), and polarization showed no significant differences. Furthermore, the association of symptom severity with different grid measures was stronger for adolescents with depressive symptoms. Results and limitations of this study are discussed, and the potential of using personal construct theory and the repertory grid technique in studies of self-knowledge and psychological adjustment during adolescence is explored.     

Aphasia type and aging in Hindi-speaking stroke patients

In this study, the clinical profile of Hindi-speaking stroke patients with aphasia from northern India has been investigated. We examined the interactional effect between age and gender with aphasia type in 97 Hindi-speaking right-handed individuals, the majority of them with a confirmed diagnosis of a cerebrovascular accident. The subjects included in the study ranged from 3 weeks to two years post-onset with a diagnosis of a common classical aphasia (Broca's, Wernicke's, anomic, global, conduction, and transcortical) types involving both males and females. Also examined was the interaction between literacy and aphasia type since the subjects had varied exposures to education (total illiteracy to professional/university education). While the data reported here about Hindi-speaking aphasics are relatively in agreement with the age-aphasia type patterns discussed in western countries, nonetheless some differences were also observed. The mean age of Indian patients with aphasia was significantly lower. Also, in addition to some gender and literacy related differences, an outstanding difference was that many clinical symptoms that are known to co-occur with aphasia were not readily reported by subjects with stroke.     

Sex differences in ADHD trajectories across childhood and adolescence

Previous studies have hinted at sex differences in developmental trajectories in ADHD symptoms; however, little is known about the nature or cause of these differences and their implications for clinical practice. We used growth mixture modelling in a community‐ascertained cohort of n = 1,571 participants to study sex differences in ADHD symptom developmental trajectories across the elementary and secondary school years. Participants were measured at ages 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 15. We found that females were more likely to show large symptom increases in early adolescence while males were more likely to show elevated symptoms from childhood. For both males and females, early adolescence represented a period of vulnerability characterized by relatively sudden symptom increases. Females affected by hyperactivity/impulsivity may be more likely to be excluded from diagnosis due to current age of onset criteria. More attention should be paid to early adolescence as a period of risk for hyperactivity/impulsivity symptom onset or worsening.