Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T22:28:49.378Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Long-term sequelae of subclinical depressive symptoms in early adolescence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2014

Joseph P. Allen ,
Joanna Chango ,
David Szwedo  and
Megan Schad
Joseph P. Allen*
Affiliation:
University of Virginia
Joanna Chango
Affiliation:
University of Virginia
David Szwedo
Affiliation:
University of Virginia
Megan Schad
Affiliation:
University of Virginia
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Joseph P. Allen, Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Box 400400, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4400; Email: allen@virginia.edu.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The long-term sequelae of adolescent depressive symptoms were examined in a multimethod, multireporter study of a diverse community sample of 179 adolescents followed from age 14 to 24. Mild to moderate levels of early adolescent depressive symptoms were found to predict lower maternal relationship quality, less positive interactions with romantic partners, and greater loneliness in adulthood even after accounting for prior levels of social functioning and for concurrent levels of adult depressive symptoms. Predictions were partially mediated via late adolescent avoidance of social interactions and poor maternal relationship quality. Results are interpreted as suggesting the potential impact of depressive symptoms on adolescent social development and the need to consider treatment for even mild symptoms and their social concomitants.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , February 2014 , pp. 171 - 180
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, J. P., Hauser, S. T., Bell, K. L., & O'Connor, T. G. (1994). Longitudinal assessment of autonomy and relatedness in adolescent–family interactions as predictors of adolescent ego development and self-esteem. Child Development, 65, 179–194.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Allen, J. P., Porter, M. R., & McFarland, C. F. (2001). The Autonomy and Relatedness Coding System for Peer Interactions. University of Virginia, Charlottesville.Google Scholar
Allen, J. P., Porter, M. R., McFarland, F. C., McElhaney, K. B., & Marsh, P. A. (2007). The relation of attachment security to adolescents' paternal and peer relationships, depression, and externalizing behavior. Child Development, 78, 1222–1239.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Alpert, J. E., Uebelacker, L. A., McLean, N. E., & Nierenberg, A. A. (1997). Social phobia, avoidant personality disorder and atypical depression: Co-occurrence and clinical implications. Psychological Medicine, 27, 627–633.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Aquilino, W. S. (2006). Family relationships and support systems in emerging adulthood. In Arnett, J. J. & Tanner, J. L. (Eds.), Emerging adults in America: Coming of age in the 21st century (pp. 193–217). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Armsden, G. C., & Greenberg, M. T. (1987). The Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment: Individual differences and their relationship to psychological well-being in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 16, 427–454.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beck, A. T., & Steer, R. A. (1987). Beck Depression Inventory manual. New York: Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Blakemore, S. J., & Choudhury, S. (2006). Development of the adolescent brain: Implications for executive function and social cognition. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 47, 296–312. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01611.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bowlby, J. (1969/1982). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Caspi, A., Bem, D. J., & Elder, G. H. (1989). Continuities and consequences of interactional styles across the life course. Journal of Personality, 57, 375–406.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cicchetti, D., & Toth, S. L. (1998). The development of depression in children and adolescents. American Psychologist, 53, 221–241.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cicchetti, D. V., & Sparrow, S. A. (1981). Developing criteria for establishing interrater reliability of specific items: Applications to assessment of adaptive behavior. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 86, 127–137.Google ScholarPubMed
Collins, W. A. (2003). More than myth: The developmental significance of romantic relationships during adolescence. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 13, 1–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collins, W. A., & Laursen, B. (2004). Changing relationships, changing youth: Interpersonal contexts of adolescent development. Journal of Early Adolescence, 24, 55–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connolly, J., Geller, S., Marton, P., & Kutcher, S. (1992). Peer responses to social interaction with depressed adolescents. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 21, 365–370.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coyne, J. C. (1976). Toward an interactional description of depression. Psychiatry: Journal for the Study of Interpersonal Processes, 39, 28–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Daley, S. E., & Hammen, C. (2002). Depressive symptoms and close relationships during the transition to adulthood: Perspectives from dysphoric women, their best friends, and their romantic partners. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70, 129–141.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fergusson, D. M., Boden, J. M., & Horwood, L. J. (2007). Recurrence of major depression in adolescence and early adulthood, and later mental health, educational and economic outcomes. British Journal of Psychiatry, 191, 335–342.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Furman, W. (1998). The measurement of friendship perceptions: Conceptual and methodological issues. In Bukowski, W. M., Newcomb, A. F., & Hartup, W. W. (Eds.), The company they keep: Friendship in childhood and adolescence (pp. 41–65). New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Furman, W., & Buhrmester, D. (1985). Childrens' perceptions of the personal relationships in their social networks. Developmental Psychology, 21, 1016–1024.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goswick, R. A., & Jones, W. H. (1982). Components of loneliness during adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 11, 373.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gotlib, I. H., Lewinsohn, P. M., & Seeley, J. R. (1995). Symptoms versus a diagnosis of depression: Differences in psychosocial functioning. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63, 90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gotlib, I. H., Lewinsohn, P. M., & Seeley, J. R. (1998). Consequences of depression during adolescence: Marital status and marital functioning in early adulthood. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 107, 686–690.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hammen, C. (2000). Interpersonal factors in an emerging developmental model of depression. In Johnson, S. L., Hayes, A. M., Field, T. M., Schneiderman, N., & McCabe, P. M. (Eds.), Stress, coping, and depression (pp. 71–88). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Hankin, B. L., Abramson, L. Y., Moffitt, T. E., Silva, P. A., McGee, R., & Angell, K. E. (1998). Development of depression from preadolescence to young adulthood: Emerging gender differences in a 10-year longitudinal study. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 107, 128–140. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.107.1.128CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawkley, L. C., Burleson, M. H., Berntson, G. G., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2003). Loneliness in everyday life: Cardiovascular activity, psychosocial context, and health behaviors. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 105.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hawkley, L. C., Masi, C. M., Berry, J. D., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2006). Loneliness is a unique predictor of age-related differences in systolic blood pressure. Psychology and Aging, 21, 152.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holt-Lunstad, J., Birmingham, W., & Jones, B. Q. (2008). Is there something unique about marriage? The relative impact of marital status, relationship quality, and network social support on ambulatory blood pressure and mental health. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 35, 239–244. doi:10.1007/s12160-008-9018-yCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T. B., & Layton, J. B. (2010). Social relationships and mortality risk: A meta-analysis. PLoS Medicine, 7, 1–20. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joiner, T. E. Jr. (2002). Depression in its interpersonal context. In Gotlib, I. H. & Hammen, C. L. (Eds.), Handbook of depression (pp. 295–313). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Joiner, T. E. Jr. (2000). Depression's vicious scree: Self-propagating and erosive processes in depression chronicity. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 7, 203–218.Google Scholar
Kasen, S., Cohen, P., Skodol, A. E., Johnson, J. G., Smailes, E., & Brook, J. S. (2001). Childhood depression and adult personality disorder: Alternative pathways of continuity. Archives of General Psychiatry, 58, 231–236. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.58.3.231CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kazdin, A. E. (1990). Childhood depression. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 31, 121–160.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kobak, R. R., & Sceery, A. (1988). Attachment in late adolescence: Working models, affect regulation, and representations of self and others. Child Development, 59, 135–146.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kovacs, M. (1992). Children's Depression Inventory manual. New York: Multi-Health Systems.Google Scholar
Kovacs, M., & Beck, A. T. (1977). An empirical clinical approach toward a definition of childhood depression. New York: Raven Press.Google Scholar
La Greca, A. M., & Lopez, N. (1998). Social anxiety among adolescents: Linkages with peer relations and friendships. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 26, 83–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Larson, R. W., Moneta, G., Richards, M. H., & Wilson, S. (2003). Continuity, stability, and change in daily emotional experience across adolescence. Child Development, 73, 1151–1165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lerner, R. M., Lerner, J. V., von Eye, A., Ostrom, C. W., Nitz, K., Talwar-Soni, R., et al. (1996). Continuity and discontinuity across the transition of early adolescence: A developmental contextual perspective. In Graber, J. A., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Petersen, A. C. (Eds.), Transitions through adolescence: Interpersonal domains and context (pp. 3–22). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Lewinsohn, P. M., Petit, J. W., Joiner, T. E. Jr., & Seeley, J. R. (2003). The symptomatic expression of major depressive disorder in adolescents and young adults. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 112, 244–252.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lewinsohn, P. M., Rohde, P., Seeley, J. R., Klein, D. N., & Gotlib, I. H. (2000). Natural course of adolescent major depressive disorder in a community sample: Predictors of recurrence in young adults. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 1584–1591.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewinsohn, P. M., Solomon, A., Seeley, J. R., & Zeiss, A. (2000). Clinical implications of “subthreshold” depressive symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 109, 345–351.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MacKinnon, D. P., Lockwood, C. M., & Williams, J. (2004). Confidence limits for the indirect effect: Distribution of the product and resampling methods. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 39, 99–128. doi:10.1207/s15327906mbr3901_4CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moore, D., & Schultz, N. R. (1983). Loneliness at adolescence: Correlates, attributions, and coping. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 12, 95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mufson, L., Weissman, M. M., Moreau, D., & Garfinkel, R. (1999). Efficacy of interpersonal psychotherapy for depressed adolescents. Archives of General Psychiatry, 56, 573–579.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murray, C. J., & Lopez, A. D. (1996). Evidence-based health policy: Lessons from the Global Burden of Disease Study. Science, 274, 740–743.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2011). Mplus user's guide, version 6.11. Los Angeles: Author.Google Scholar
O'Reilly, P., & Emerson Thomas, H. (1989). Role of support networks in maintenance of improved cardiovascular health status. Social Science & Medicine, 28, 249–260.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pine, D. S., Cohen, E., Cohen, P., & Brook, J. (1999). Adolescent depressive symptoms as predictors of adult depression: Moodiness or mood disorder? American Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 133–135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Powers, S. I., Hauser, S. T., & Kilner, L. A. (1989). Adolescent mental health. American Psychologist, 44, 200–208.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40, 879–891.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rohde, P., Lewinsohn, P. M., & Seeley, J. R. (1994). Are adolescents changed by an episode of major depression? Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 33, 1289–1298.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roisman, G. I., Collins, W. A., Sroufe, L. A., & Egeland, B. (2007). Predictors of young adults' representations of and behavior in their current romantic relationship: Prospective tests of the prototype hypothesis. Attachment & Human Development, 7, 105–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roisman, G. I., Masten, A. S., Coatsworth, J. D., & Tellegen, A. (2004). Salient and emerging developmental tasks in the transition to adulthood. Child Development, 75, 123–133.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Russell, D., Peplau, L. A., & Cutrona, C. E. (1980). The revised UCLA Loneliness Scale: Concurrent and discriminant validity evidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 472–480.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sroufe, L. A., & Jacobvitz, D. (1989). Diverging pathways, developmental transformations, multiple etiologies and the problem of continuity in development. Human Development, 32, 196–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stice, E., Ragan, J., & Randall, P. (2004). Prospective relations between social support and depression: Differential direction of effects for parent and peer support? Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 113, 155–159.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Strodtbeck, F. (1951). Husband–wife interaction over revealed differences. American Sociology Review, 16, 463–473.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Twenge, J. M., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2002). Age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, and birth cohort difference on the children's depression inventory: A meta-analysis. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 111, 578–588.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wickrama, K. A. S., Conger, R. D., Lorenz, F. O., & Jung, T. (2008). Family antecedents and consequences of trajectories of depressive symptoms from adolescence to young adulthood: A life course investigation. Journal of Health and Human Behavior, 49, 468–483.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wickrama, T., & Wickrama, K. (2010). Heterogeneity in adolescent depressive symptom trajectories: Implications for young adults' risky lifestyle. Journal of Adolescent Health, 47, 407–413.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zeifman, D., & Hazan, C. (2008). Pair bonds as attachments: Reevaluating the evidence. In Cassidy, J. & Shaver, P. R. (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (2nd ed., pp. 436–455). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar