A longitudinal latent variable analysis of reciprocal relations between depressive symptoms and delinquency during adolescence

In this longitudinal study, reciprocal relations between depressive symptoms and delinquent behavior were examined for a sample of 1,218 male and female adolescents (mean age, 15.51 years at Time 1). Associations were examined within a latent variable approach, controlling for indicator-specific tendencies, students' age and parental education, time-specific 3rd-variable influences, level of prior problem behavior, and measurement error. Findings thus provided relatively unbiased estimates of existing plausible causal relations. Analyses revealed a relatively small unidirectional effect of delinquency on depression for boys (at 1 of 3 time points), and bidirectional effects of comparable size for girls. The circular process for the girls was explained drawing on gender socialization theory and theories of offending behavior. Implications for preventive interventions are also discussed.     

Self-control,parenting, and problem behavior in early childhood: A multi-method,multi-informant study

BackgroundEarly childhood self-control and parenting are suggested to play key roles in the development of child problem behavior. The current study aims to 1) replicate earlier work by examining the unique and combined effects of child self-control and parenting on child problem behavior and 2) extend earlier work by including both mother and father reports.MethodsData were used from 107 Dutch families: mothers, fathers, and their two-year old child. Child self-control was measured using both father’s and mother’s reports of effortful control and with an observed behavioral task (i.e., gift-in-bag task). Similarly, parenting (i.e., emotional availability and discipline) and child problem behavior (i.e., externalizing and internalizing problems) were measured by using both father’s and mother’s reports.ResultsChild self-control reported by fathers and mothers, but not observed self-control, was related to fewer externalizing and (mother-reported) internalizing problems. Paternal emotional availability showed a modest association with fewer child externalizing problems, maternal emotional availability was related to fewer internalizing problems. Finally, there was an interaction between father- (but not mother) reported self-control and paternal emotional availability in the prediction of child internalizing problems. No main or interaction effect was revealed for discipline.ConclusionFindings confirm prior work on self-control, parenting, and child problem behavior. Most importantly however, the current study adds to the literature by highlighting the need for additional research including maternal as well as paternal data. Specifically, insight in the unique role of fathers may shed light on aspects of child adjustment not covered by mother reports alone.     

A multi-informant longitudinal study on the relationship between aggression, peer victimization, and dating status in adolescence

Adolescent peer-aggression has recently been considered from the evolutionary perspective of intrasexual competition for mates. We tested the hypothesis that peer-nominated physical aggression, indirect aggression, along with self-reported bullying behaviors at Time 1 would predict Time 2 dating status (one year later), and that Time 1 peer- and self-reported peer victimization would negatively predict Time 2 dating status. Participants were 310 adolescents who were in grades 6 through 9 (ages 11-14) at Time 1. Results showed that for both boys and girls, peer-nominated indirect aggression was predictive of dating one year later even when controlling for age, peer-rated attractiveness, and peer-perceived popularity, as well as initial dating status. For both sexes, self-reported peer victimization was negatively related to having a dating partner at Time 2. Findings are discussed within the framework of intrasexual competition.     

The association between high status positions and aggressive behavior in early adolescence

The present study examined the association between high status social positions in early adolescence and both overt and relational aggression. A sample of 234 sixth graders (132 girls, 102 boys) completed peer nominations assessing aggression, social centrality, and coolness. Data analyses were based on all sixth graders who received peer nominations, for a total sample size of 417 students (224 girls, 193 boys). Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine both within-peer group differences and between-peer group differences. Results indicated relational aggression was related to higher overall social centrality and being nominated as cool even when controlling for overt aggression. Overt aggression appeared to be related to higher overall social centrality and being nominated as cool, but this relationship was much weaker when relational aggression was controlled. Although girls used relational aggression more often and boys used overt aggression more often, the use of relational aggression by either gender was related to membership in high status peer groups and high status within the peer group. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

A longitudinal analysis of anxiety and depressive symptoms

The authors modeled depressive and anxiety symptom data from 1,391 participants in a longitudinal study of middle-aged and older Swedish twins (M age = 60.9 years, SD = 13.3). Although anxiety and depression were highly correlated, a model with distinct Anxiety and Depression factors fit the data better than models with Positive and Negative Affect factors or a single Mental Health factor. Lack of well-being was associated with anxiety rather than depression. Over two 3-year intervals, anxiety symptoms led to depressive symptoms, but the relationship was not reciprocal. Anxiety symptoms were more stable than depression. These findings provide additional support for the idea that anxiety symptoms may reflect a personality trait such as neuroticism more than do depressive symptoms and suggest that low positive affect may not be as specific to depression among older adults as in younger people.     

Global self-evaluations and perceived instability of self in early adolescence: A cohort longitudinal study

A cohort longitudinal design with four adjacent cohorts of students ( n = 1689) followed over two years was used to study key issues identified in the research literature on the development of self-evaluations in early adolescence. There was no clear relationship between age/grade and self-evaluations. We found no support for a "stressful periods" hypothesis with respect to self: Possible changes were very gradual and quite small. However, there was a consistent "relative age" effect implying that younger students within a grade had more negative self-evaluations. There were small but consistent sex differences in self-evaluations in favor of the boys; more detailed analyses of very negative self-evaluations suggested that the early adolescent years are the period in which a sex difference in depression related symptomatology begins to emerge. Finally, the usefulness of some kind of effect size measure and advantages and problems associated with a cohort longitudinal design were discussed.     

Brooding as moderator of depressive symptoms after a work accident: A longitudinal study

This study analyzes the relationship between having experienced a work accident and developing depressive symptoms six months later, considering the subjective severity of accidents, the use of both positive and negative religious coping strategies, and brooding as predictors variables. Fifty seven women and 187 men were evaluated during the month following their accident (T1) and six months later (T2). The results show that after controlling for initial depressive symptoms, all predictors showed a statistically significant relationship with depression at six months, including the interaction between brooding and subjective severity of accident. Forty nine percent of resilient participants exhibited low symptoms at T1 and T2, 22% of recovered individuals showed high symptoms at T1 and low symptoms afterwards, 20% of depressive individuals had high symptoms at T1 and T2, and 8% exhibited high symptoms only at T2. High severity, brooding and religious coping at T1 differentiated those who exhibited stable symptoms from those who were resilient. Resilience was specifically predicted with a negative coefficient by the interaction of brooding with subjective severity of accident. We conclude that brooding is a variable that moderates the relationship between subjective severity of accident and the development and maintenance of depressive symptoms. Subjective severity of accident, brooding and negative religious coping are risk factors, while positive religious coping is not a sufficient protection factor.     

Maturation of EEG power spectra in early adolescence: a longitudinal study

This study investigated the fine-grained development of the EEG power spectra in early adolescence, and the extent to which it is reflected in changes in peak frequency. It also sought to determine whether sex differences in the EEG power spectra reflect differential patterns of maturation. A group of 56 adolescents were tested at age 10 years and then at two further time-points approximately 18 months apart. The EEG was recorded during both eyes-closed and eyes-open conditions and Fourier transformed to provide estimates of absolute and relative spectral power at 0.5 Hz intervals from 0.5 to 40 Hz. The peak alpha frequency for each individual at each time-point was also determined for relative spectral power. Partial Least Squares (PLS) analysis was used to determine the combination of electrodes and frequencies that showed developmental change, or differed between the sexes. As a function of age, absolute delta and theta frequencies power decreased, and relative alpha2 and beta frequencies increased, replicating the standard findings of a decrease in lower, and increase in higher, frequencies with age. A small but significant increase in peak alpha frequency with age was detected. Moreover PLS analysis performed with individual alpha frequencies aligned to 10 Hz suggested that the age-related increase seen in alpha2 relative power was driven by changes in the peak frequency. Although males demonstrated higher alpha power than females, there were no sex differences in peak frequency, suggesting that there may be more to sex differences in EEG power than simply different rates of maturation between the two sexes.     

The course of depressive symptoms in men from early adolescence to young adulthood: identifying latent trajectories and early predictors

Heterogeneity in the longitudinal course of depressive symptoms was studied through the use of general growth mixture modeling for young men in the Oregon Youth Study (N=206), who ranged in age from 15 to 24 years. Four trajectory classes were identified: the very-low, the moderate-decreasing, the high-decreasing, and the high-persistent classes. The 3 lowest classes differed primarily quantitatively with the initial level or mean level across time being the major determinant of class differences, whereas the high-persistent class appeared qualitatively different in terms of long-term developmental trends and variation. Findings from univariate and multivariate analyses revealed specific effects of childhood, parental, contextual, and individual risk factors on the class membership as well as on the growth within each trajectory class.     

Anxious and depressive avoidance behavior in post-loss psychopathology: a longitudinal study

Background: Avoidance behavior is a central component of cognitive behavioral theories of bereavement-related psychopathology. Yet, its role is still not well understood. This study examined associations of anxious and depressive avoidance behaviors with concurrently and prospectively assessed symptom-levels of prolonged grief disorder (PGD), depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Design and Methods: Two hundred and ninety-one individuals, confronted with loss maximally three years earlier, completed self-report measures of anxious and depressive avoidance and emotional distress and again completed distress measures one year later. Results: Anxious and depressive avoidance were concurrently associated with symptom-levels of PGD, depression, and PTSD, even when controlling for the shared variance between both forms of avoidance and relevant socio-demographic and loss-related variables. Prospective analyses showed that baseline anxious avoidance predicted increased symptom-levels of PGD, depression, and PTSD one year later, among participants who were in their first year of bereavement but not among those who were beyond this first year. Baseline depressive avoidance was significantly associated with elevated PTSD one year later, irrespective of time since loss. Conclusions: Both anxious and depressive avoidance are associated with different indices of poor long-term adjustment following loss. However, anxious avoidance seems primarily detrimental in the first year of bereavement.     

A longitudinal study on depressive symptoms and physical activity during the Spanish lockdown

Background/Objective: The aim was to evaluate the evolution of depressive symptoms and to explore the influence of physical activity (PA) practice during the home confinement due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Spain. Method: Information was collected from 595 confined participants who reported personal and contextual information, depressive symptoms and PA levels at four time points. Results: The changes in depressive symptoms were analyzed using a linear mixed model with cubic splines. Results showed a significant increase, with a significant rise between T1 and T2 (OR = 2.38, 95% CI = 1.83-3.10). It continued growing until T4 (OR = 2.93, 95% CI = 1.97-4.38). A negative relationship was observed between the increase in depressive symptoms and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) levels, with a significant slope up to 4 hours of MVPA per week (OR = 0.51, 95% CI = 0.29-0.90) that tended to increase until 16 hours per week of MVPA (OR = 0.41, 95% CI = 0.20-0.87). Conclusions: Results from a partition model showed that moderate intensity of PA could be enough to prevent an increase of depressive symptoms during home isolation.     

A longitudinal study of student-teacher relationship quality, difficult temperament, and risky behavior from childhood to early adolescence

This study examines the mediating role of student-teacher relationship quality (conflict and closeness) in grades 4, 5, and 6 on the relation between background characteristics, difficult temperament at age 4½ and risky behavior in 6th grade. The longitudinal sample of participants (N = 1156) was from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate paths from (a) background characteristics to student-teacher relationship quality and risky behavior, (b) temperament to student-teacher relationship quality and risky behavior, and (c) student-teacher relationship quality to risky behavior. Findings indicate that students' family income, gender, receipt of special services, and more difficult temperament were associated with risky behavior. In addition, student-teacher conflict was a mediator. Students with more difficult temperaments were more likely to report risky behavior and to have conflict in their relationships with teachers. More conflict predicted more risky behavior. Closer student-teacher relationships were associated with less risky behavior. Results suggest negative relationships, specifically student-teacher relationships, may increase the risk that certain adolescents will engage in risky behavior.     

Romantic involvement and depressive symptoms in early and late adolescence: The role of a preoccupied relational style

Two studies examined the association between depressive symptoms and romantic involvement in adolescence and tested the hypothesis that romantic involvement is associated more strongly with symptoms among adolescents who have a more preoccupied style of relating, compared to adolescents who have a less preoccupied style of relating. Study 1 (N = 96 early adolescent females) examined concurrent associations and Study 2 (N = 80 late adolescent males and females) examined longitudinal associations. In both age groups, romantic involvement was associated with greater depressive symptoms and this was most true among adolescents with a preoccupied style of relating. Implications for models of depression and adolescent romantic functioning are discussed.     

A longitudinal study of gender differences in depressive symptoms from age 50 to 80

The Obvious Depression Scale was administered to 739 community residents at ages 50, 60, and 80 years, with 151 present at all waves. Although selective attrition influenced the level of depressive symptoms in cross-sectional vs. longitudinal samples, both sets of analyses revealed higher scores in women than in men at ages 50 and 60, but not at age 80. Men showed increases in depressive symptoms from age 60 to 80, but women did not (interaction p < .002). This interaction was not present in somatic symptoms, which increased across time in both genders. Potential explanations include differential changes in social roles with aging.     

The relation between infant freezing and the development of internalizing symptoms in adolescence: A prospective longitudinal study

Given the long‐lasting detrimental effects of internalizing symptoms, there is great need for detecting early risk markers. One promising marker is freezing behavior. Whereas initial freezing reactions are essential for coping with threat, prolonged freezing has been associated with internalizing psychopathology. However, it remains unknown whether early life alterations in freezing reactions predict changes in internalizing symptoms during adolescent development. In a longitudinal study (N = 116), we tested prospectively whether observed freezing in infancy predicted the development of internalizing symptoms from childhood through late adolescence (until age 17). Both longer and absent infant freezing behavior during a standard challenge (robot‐confrontation task) were associated with internalizing symptoms in adolescence. Specifically, absent infant freezing predicted a relative increase in internalizing symptoms consistently across development from relatively low symptom levels in childhood to relatively high levels in late adolescence. Longer infant freezing also predicted a relative increase in internalizing symptoms, but only up until early adolescence. This latter effect was moderated by peer stress and was followed by a later decrease in internalizing symptoms. The findings suggest that early deviations in defensive freezing responses signal risk for internalizing symptoms and may constitute important markers in future stress vulnerability and resilience studies.     

Cigarette smoking and depressive symptoms: a longitudinal study of adolescents and young adults

Cigarette smoking and depressive symptoms have been shown to be related in previous research. This paper examined the relationship between cigarette smoking and depressive symptoms in a longitudinal sample of 688 adolescents and young adults through surveys conducted over 13 yr. The results indicate that a history of earlier cigarette smoking in adolescence predicts later depressive symptoms in the late twenties. The study also suggests that depressive symptoms during adolescence predict cigarette smoking in the late twenties but not above and beyond prior smoking. These results help clarify and expand current knowledge on the links between cigarette smoking and depression. The results point to several clinical implications for treatment of both cigarette smoking and depressive symptoms among both adolescents and young adults.     

A multimethod examination of the stability of depressive symptoms in childhood and adolescence

In an 8-wave, 2-cohort longitudinal study, children and adolescents were followed from the fall of 5th grade to the spring of 8th grade. Participants (N = 1,269), their parents, and peers completed reports of depressive symptoms at 6-month intervals. The use of a 2-group latent variable autoregressive model to examine the stability of depressive symptomatology revealed several trends. First, the 6-month stability of depressive symptoms was high for boys and girls. Second, the stability of depressive symptomatology was lower between the spring of 6th grade and the fall of 7th grade than during any other point in the study. Finally, the stability of depressive symptoms did not differ with respect to gender.