Sex differences in adolescent depression: stress exposure and reactivity models

Stress exposure and reactivity models were examined as explanations for why girls exhibit greater levels of depressive symptoms than boys. In a multiwave, longitudinal design, adolescents' depressive symptoms, alcohol usage, and occurrence of stressors were assessed at baseline, 6, and 12 months later (N=538; 54.5% female; ages 13-18, average 14.9). Daily stressors were coded into developmentally salient domains using a modified contextual-threat approach. Girls reported more depressive symptoms and stressors in certain contexts (e.g., interpersonal) than boys. Sex differences in depression were partially explained by girls reporting more stressors, especially peer events. The longitudinal direction of effects between depression and stressors varied depending on the stressor domain. Girls reacted more strongly to stressors in the form of depression.     

Child and adolescent abuse and subsequent victimization: a prospective study

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the possible reciprocal relationship between victimization experiences and psychological functioning by assessing abuse experiences in childhood, adolescence, and during a 2-month follow-up period. METHOD: At the beginning of the study (Time 1), abuse histories, trauma and depressive symptoms, and interpersonal functioning were assessed in 551 college women. Subsequent victimization experiences and psychological outcomes were assessed at the follow-up (Time 2). RESULTS: Path analyses indicated that verbal abuse by the mother and father were predictive of various psychological outcomes as measured at Time 1 and emerged as the only significant predictors of adolescent dating violence. Adolescent dating violence subsequently predicted the experience of dating violence during the 2-month follow-up period. Paternal physical abuse predicted adolescent sexual victimization which subsequently predicted all symptom measures at Time 1. Conversely, the experience of adolescent physical dating violence was not predictive of any of the symptom measures at Time 1. For those women who experienced dating violence during the follow-up, however, the severity of their abusive experiences was related to both depression and interpersonal problems assessed at Time 2. In comparison, for those women who experienced sexual victimization during the follow-up period, the severity of their abusive experiences was related to trauma symptoms. Interpersonal problems emerged as both an aftereffect of adolescent sexual victimization experience and a predictor of a subsequent sexual victimization experience during the follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Given that emotional abuse emerged as a predictor of adolescent dating violence and psychological outcomes, researchers and clinicians need to continue to explore this problem. Further, it is important to assess how interpersonal problems contribute to the risk of subsequent sexual victimization and to try to break the cycle between adolescent abuse experiences and subsequent physical and sexual assaults.     

Unemployment and Work Interruption among African American Single Mothers: Effects on Parenting and Adolescent Socioemotional Functioning

Using interview data from a sample of 241 single African American mothers and their seventh- and eighth-grade children, this study tests a model of how 2 economic stressors, maternal unemployment and work interruption, influence adolescent socioemotional functioning. In general, these economic stressors affected adolescent socioemotional functioning indirectly, rather than directly, through their impact on mothers' psychological functioning and, in turn, parenting behavior and mother-child relations. Current unemployment, but not past work interruption, had a direct effect on depressive symptomatology in mothers. As expected, depressive symptomatology in mothers predicted more frequent maternal punishment of adolescents, and this relation was fully mediated by mothers' negative perceptions of the maternal role. More frequent maternal punishment was associated with increased cognitive distress and depressive symptoms in adolescents, and consistent with predictions, these relations were partially mediated by adolescents' perceptions of the quality of relations with their mothers. Increased availability of instrumental support, as perceived by mothers, predicted fewer depressive symptoms in mothers, less punishment of adolescents, and less negativity about the maternal role. Both economic stressors were associated with higher levels of perceived financial strain in mothers, which in turn predicted adolescents' perceptions of economic hardship. Adolescents who perceived their families as experiencing more severe economic hardship reported higher anxiety, more cognitive distress, and lower self-esteem.     

THE EFFECTS OF MIDDLE SCHOOL BULLYING AND VICTIMIZATION ON ADJUSTMENT THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL: GROWTH MODELING OF ACHIEVEMENT,SCHOOL ATTENDANCE,AND DISCIPLINARY TRAJECTORIES

The current 5‐year longitudinal study examined the effects of middle school bullying and victimization on adolescent academic achievement, disciplinary referrals, and school attendance through high school (N = 2030; 1016 both boys and girls). Greater engagement in bullying behaviors was concurrently associated with lower achievement and school attendance for girls and higher levels of disciplinary problems, and, for girls, predicted increases in disciplinary referrals through high school. Victimization was unrelated to school adjustment difficulties when controlling for bullying. Moreover, academic achievement was longitudinally associated with disciplinary referrals and school attendance. These findings outline concurrent school adjustment difficulties associated with engagement in bullying behavior, the longer‐term behavioral ramifications for girls, and the relations of behavioral and academic development from middle school to high school.     

Witnessing intimate partner violence as a child: How boys and girls model their parents’ behaviors in adolescence

Childhood witnesses of adult violence at home are at risk for future violence. It is unclear how gender of the child and adult perpetrator are related to adolescent relationship violence. We explore how childhood witnessing of same-gender, opposite-gender, and bidirectional violence perpetrated by adults is associated with adolescent relationship violence victimization only, perpetration only, and combined victimization/perpetration for male and female undergraduates. We gathered cross-sectional data from 907 undergraduates attending 67 randomly-selected classes at three distinct East-Coast colleges using pencil-and-paper surveys administered at the end of class time. Multiple imputation with chained equations was used to impute missing data. Multinomial regression models controlling for gender, age, race, school, and community violence predicted adolescent outcomes for each witnessing exposure; relative risk ratios and average adjusted probabilities with 95% confidence intervals are presented. Adolescent relationship violence outcomes vary based on gender of the child witness and adult perpetrator. Witnessing adult males perpetrate is associated with higher perpetration for boys and higher combined victimization/perpetration for girls. Witnessing adult females perpetrate – either as the sole perpetrator or in a mutually violent relationship with an adult male – increases risk for combined victimization/perpetration for boys and girls during adolescence.     

Course of depression and anxiety symptoms during the transition to parenthood for female adolescents with histories of victimization

The aim of the current study was to increase understanding of how victimization history impacts the longitudinal course of depression and anxiety in a sample of 55 adolescents emerging into parenthood. Adolescents were interviewed about their victimization experiences during their second trimester of pregnancy, and interviews were subsequently classified according the Maltreatment Classification Scale (Barnett, Manly, & Cicchetti, 1993). Adolescents reported on their symptoms of depression and anxiety prenatally and 6 and 12 months postpartum. Growth curve modeling revealed that, on average, there was a steady linear decline in depression and anxiety symptoms across the transition to parenthood, with a rate of change of 25% and 20%, respectively, from the prenatal assessment to 12 months postpartum. Sexual abuse history attenuated the likelihood of a decrease in depressive symptoms over time. Neglect history was associated with higher prenatal levels of anxiety, as well as a steeper decline in anxiety symptoms over time. Future research is needed to determine the role of poly-victimization in predicting the onset and change of depression and anxiety symptoms. Findings from the current study have the potential to aid in the design of preventative and intervention efforts to reduce risks of mental health difficulties in adolescent parents.     

The dynamics of life stressors and depressive symptoms in early adolescence: a test of six theoretical models

Structural equation modeling was used to compare 6 competing theoretically based psychosocial models of the longitudinal association between life stressors and depressive symptoms in a sample of early adolescents ( N = 907; 40% Hispanic, 32% Black, and 19% White; mean age at Time 1 = 11.4 years). Only two models fit the data, both of which included paths modeling the effect of depressive symptoms on stressors recall: The mood-congruent cognitive bias model included only depressive symptoms to life stressors paths (DS→S), whereas the fully transactional model included paths representing both the DS→S and stressors to depressive symptoms (S→DS) effects. Social causation models and the stress generation model did not fit the data. Findings demonstrate the importance of accounting for mood-congruent cognitive bias in stressors–depressive symptoms investigations.     

Adolescent Gender-Role Identity and Mental Health: Gender Intensification Revisited

Gender intensification, an increased pressure for adolescents to conform to culturally sanctioned gender roles, has been posited as an explanation for the emergence of the gender difference in depression. This longitudinal study assessed whether 410 individuals became more stereotypical in their gender-role identity across adolescence and whether such patterns predicted depressive symptoms. Girls reported higher femininity than boys at ages 11, 13, and 15, but girls and boys did not differ in masculinity. Contrary to prevailing views, there was not evidence of intensification in femininity or masculinity. Positive trajectories in masculinity for both girls and boys predicted fewer depressive symptoms, particularly at moderate levels of stress. Findings suggest a need to reconceptualize gender intensification in ways that characterize contemporary adolescence.     

Pathways from maternal depressive symptoms to children’s academic performance in adolescence: A 13-year prospective-longitudinal study

The pathways through which exposure to maternal depressive symptoms in early childhood are linked to academic performance during adolescence are poorly understood. This study tested pathways from maternal depressive symptoms (age 2–5) to adolescent academic performance (age 15) through cumulative parenting risk (age 7) and subsequent child functioning (age 10), using multi-informant data from a prospective longitudinal community study spanning 13 years (N = 389, 47% male, 68% White). Structural equation models testing indirect effects revealed small associations between maternal depressive symptoms and increased cumulative parenting risk and poorer child functioning, and, via these pathways, with poorer academic performance. Thus, childhood exposure to maternal depressive symptoms may be associated with pathways of risk that could limit children's educational opportunities.     

Dorsomedial Prefrontal Activity to Sadness Predicts Later Emotion Suppression and Depression Severity in Adolescent Girls

The present study used cross‐lagged panel analyses to test longitudinal associations among emotion regulation, prefrontal cortex (PFC) function, and depression severity in adolescent girls. The ventromedial and dorsomedial PFC (vmPFC and dmPFC) were regions of interest given their roles in depression pathophysiology, self‐referential processing, and emotion regulation. At ages 16 and 17, seventy‐eight girls completed a neuroimaging scan to assess changes in vmPFC and dmPFC activation to sad faces, and measures of depressive symptom severity and emotion regulation. The 1‐year cross‐lagged effects of dmPFC activity at age 16 on expressive suppression at age 17 and depressive symptomatology at age 17 were significant, demonstrating a predictive relation between dmPFC activity and both suppression and depressive severity.     

A monozygotic twin difference study of friends' aggression and children's adjustment problems

This study used the monozygotic (MZ) twin difference method to examine whether differences in friends' aggression increased the differences in MZ twins' aggression and depressive symptoms from kindergarten to Grade 1 and whether perceived victimization by the friend played a mediating role in this context. Participants were 223 MZ twin pairs. Results showed that differences in kindergarten friends' aggression significantly predicted an increased difference in MZ twins' aggression from kindergarten (mean age = 6.7 years) to Grade 1 (mean age = 7.5 years) for both boys and girls. Differences in perceived victimization by the friend mediated this association, albeit only in boys. Differences in perceived victimization by the friend also predicted an increase in MZ twins' differences in depressive symptoms. These results support the importance of friendship experiences during early childhood.     

Childhood psychological maltreatment subtypes and adolescent depressive symptoms

The aim of this study was to understand how subtypes and the timing of psychological maltreatment contribute to adolescent depressive symptoms at age 14. The sample included 638 youth from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN). At age 12, youth reported experiences of psychological maltreatment (degradation, isolating, and terrorizing), physical abuse (endangerment and physical injury), and sexual abuse that occurred before and during elementary school/last year. Multivariable regression models were conducted separately for females and males at each of the two time periods and accounted for demographics, primary caregiver depressive symptoms, other maltreatment subtypes, and youth-reported age 12 depressive symptoms. For girls, caregiver degradation was the only maltreatment subtype that contributed unique variance to depressive symptoms. Degradation before elementary school and chronic degradation had a stronger impact on depression symptoms. Only caregiver isolating behaviors during elementary school/last year and chronic isolation predicted depressive symptoms in boys. These results suggest that childhood psychological maltreatment is multi-dimensional and is implicated in the etiology of adolescent depressive symptoms. Future prevention efforts should consider parental psychological maltreatment in reducing risk for adolescent depression.     

Predictors of psychological distress and positive resources among Palestinian adolescents: trauma, child, and mothering characteristics

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to examine how traumatic and stressful events, responses to violence, child characteristics, and mothering quality, as measured in middle childhood predict psychological distress and positive resources in adolescence. METHOD: The participants were 65 Palestinian adolescents (17+/-.85 years; 52% girls), who had been studied during the First Intifada (T1), during the Palestinian Authority rule (T2) and before the Second Al Aqsa Intifada (T3) in Gaza. Psychological distress was indicated by PTSD, and depressive symptoms and positive resources by resilient attitudes and satisfaction with quality of life, all measured at T3. The predictors that were measured at T1 were exposure to military violence, active coping with violence and children's intelligence, cognitive capacity, and neuroticism. Mothering quality and stressful life-events were measured at T2, the former reported by both the mother and the child, and the latter by the mother. RESULTS: Adolescents' PTSD symptoms were most likely if they had been exposed to high levels of traumatic and stressful experiences and had poor cognitive capacity and high neuroticism in middle childhood. Only high levels of childhood military violence and stressful life-events predicted high depressive symptoms and low satisfaction with quality of life in adolescence. CONCLUSIONS: Military violence in childhood forms risks for both increased psychological distress and decreased positive resources. However, child characteristics such as cognitive capacity and personality are important determinants of psychological vulnerability in military trauma.     

Longitudinal associations among youth depressive symptoms, peer victimization, and low peer acceptance: an interpersonal process perspective

A longitudinal investigation was conducted to explicate the network of associations between depressive symptoms and peer difficulties among 486 fourth through sixth graders (M = 9.93 years). Parent and teacher reports of depressive symptoms; peer, self, and teacher reports of victimization; and peer reports of peer acceptance were obtained. A systematic examination of nested structural equation models provided support for a symptoms-driven model whereby depressive symptoms contributed to peer difficulties; no evidence was found for interpersonal risk or transactional models. Analyses further revealed that victimization mediated the association between prior depressive symptoms and subsequent peer acceptance. Results extend knowledge about the temporal ordering of depressive symptoms and peer difficulties and elucidate one process through which depressive symptoms disrupt peer relationships.     

Links Between Coping Strategies and Depressive Symptoms Among Girls and Boys During the Transition to Primary School

This longitudinal study examined the association between Chinese children’s coping strategies and depressive symptoms within the context of the transition from preschool to primary school in Hong Kong. Research Findings: Principal component analyses of children’s strategies for coping with stress during the transition to school revealed three factors: negative coping, positive coping, and distraction. Children’s strategies were moderately stable over time, but the relationship between coping and depressive symptoms differed for boys and girls. Girls’ positive coping strategies at Time 1 predicted fewer depressive symptoms at Time 2, whereas girls’ use of distraction positively predicted later depressive symptoms. Boys’ depressive symptoms at Time 1 predicted negative coping strategies at Time 2. The present findings show that distraction may not always be an effective way to help young children reduce depressive symptoms, and that coping strategies may have a greater impact on reducing later depression risk for girls than for boys. Practice or Policy: Implications for future studies and practices are discussed at the end of this paper. This study provides information for educators and government and non-government organizations in developing programs to help children with effective coping strategies during their first year at school.     

Why Does Classroom-Level Victimization Moderate the Association Between Victimization and Depressive Symptoms? The “Healthy Context Paradox” and Two Explanations

The present longitudinal study examined how and why classroom-level victimization moderates the prospective association between peer victimization and depressive symptoms with 2,643 third- and fourth-graders (M_age = 10.01 years) in China. Multilevel modeling revealed that peer victimization was more strongly associated with increasing depressive symptoms in classrooms with lower classroom-level victimization. Moreover, two mechanisms were identified to explain the moderating effect of classroom-level victimization. First, low classroom-level victimization reduced victimized children’s received friendship nominations from peers, thereby leading to increases in depressive affect. Second, low classroom-level victimization affected victimized children’s depressive symptoms through damage to their social self-concept. These findings provide support for the “healthy context paradox” in the Chinese culture, and highlight the mechanisms of this phenomenon.     

Sexual victimization and adolescent weight regulation practices: a test across three community based samples

OBJECTIVE: This study had four objectives: 1) to examine the association between sexual victimization and weight regulation across three samples of adolescent girls, 2) to assess whether sexual victimization is associated with more extreme forms of weight regulation in girls, 3) to discern whether sexual victimization has implications for the use of multiple forms of weight regulation, and 4) to address the role of physical victimization in explaining these relationships. METHOD: Data from three separate samples of 9th-12th graders were used to test these hypotheses. Girls from the upper Midwest responded to survey questions related to victimization and weight regulation in a largely urban sample (N = 2,086), a rural sample (N = 2,629), and a statewide sample (N = 966). RESULTS: Logistic regression revealed that sexual victimization was consistently associated with weight regulation in adolescent girls, independent of the effects of physical victimization. In the urban sample, being sexually victimized was associated with an increase in the probability of purging by 18% relative to not being sexually victimized. Sexual victimization was associated more strongly with extreme forms of weight regulation and significantly discriminated whether girls would choose multiple weight regulation forms. CONCLUSIONS: Sexual victimization contributes unique variance to the probability that girls will practice weight regulation techniques. Data from three independent samples confirms that being violated sexually places girls at risk for various health compromising eating behaviors.     

Relational and Overt Aggression in Disruptive Adolescents: Prediction from Early Social Representations and Links with Concurrent Problems

Children's representations of conflict and distress situations at 7 years were examined as developmental precursors to relational aggression, overt aggression, and psychiatric symptoms in early adolescence. Children were identified in early adolescence. Children were identified in preschool as normally developing or with behavior problems. Overt, but not relational, aggression, was correlated with concurrent disruptive symptoms in adolescence. Childhood predictors of adolescent aggression were found only for girls: Early hostile themes predicted more relational and overt aggression, while prosocial themes predicted less relational aggression. Also for girls only, early emotions foretold later functioning: Sadness predicted a higher ratio of relational to overt aggression, while inexpressiveness predicted disruptive, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. Relational and overt aggression are discussed with regard to sex differences in symptom changes over time.     

A pernicious cycle: Finding the pathways from child maltreatment to adolescent peer victimization

The purpose of this study was to identify the pathways from childhood physical and sexual abuse to adolescent physical and sexual victimization by assessing behavior symptoms (both internalizing and externalizing) and peer popularity as potential mediating variables. The data derive from Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN), which tracks the consequences of child abuse and neglect using five study sites across the US. Child physical and sexual abuse was measured at age 12 using self-reports of life-time maltreatment experiences. Internalizing and externalizing symptoms were assessed at age 12 using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Peer popularity was assessed at age 14 by teachers. Peer victimization was assessed at age 16 using the modified version of the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire. The results indicated that physical abuse had no direct effect on either physical or sexual peer victimization, whereas sexual abuse had significant direct effect on both physical and sexual victimization. Assessed at age 12, children who had been physically or sexually maltreated were found to have higher levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. These increased symptoms are associated with lower peer popularity at age 14, which in turn is associated with greater physical and sexual peer victimization at age 16. The findings suggest that multiple points for interventions may exist to disrupt the cycle of victimization. Early assessment and treatment for externalizing symptoms and for low peer popularity may be helpful in preventing physical peer victimization among adolescents who have been physically and/or sexually abused.     

Age and Gender as Determinants of Stress Exposure, Generation, and Reactions in Youngsters: A Transactional Perspective

The present study used a contextual and transactional approach to examine age and gender differences in the experience and consequences of life stress in clinic-referred preadolescents and adolescents. Eighty-eight youngsters and their parents completed the Child Episodic Life Stress Interview, a detailed semistructured interview assessing the occurrence of stressful events in multiple life domains. Interviews were coded using a contextual threat rating method to determine event stressfulness and dependence. Youngsters also completed the Children's Depression Inventory and the Revised Child Manifest Anxiety Scale to assess self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety. Consistent with predictions, age- and gender-related patterns of life stress varied across the type and context of stressors. Most notably, adolescent girls experienced the highest levels of interpersonal stress, especially stress and conflict that they generated within parent-child and peer relationships. Preadolescent girls experienced the highest levels of independent stress and conflict in the family context. Adolescent boys experienced the highest levels of noninterpersonal stress associated with self-generated events. Girls demonstrated particular vulnerability to depressive responses to dependent stress. The results build on and extend previous theory and research on age and gender differences in close relationships and stress, and illustrate the value of more refined conceptual models and more sophisticated methodologies in child life stress research.