Depressive symptoms and close relationships during the transition to adulthood: perspectives from dysphoric women, their best friends, and their romantic partners

Coping equally: Equity of dyadic coping and depressive symptoms among adolescent couples

INTRODUCTION

Many adolescents are in their first romantic relationship; at the same time, depressive symptoms generally increase during this developmental stage. In adults, equity of support in romantic relationships is associated with less depressive symptoms-especially in female partners, who are generally on "the losing side" of support transactions with male partners. This study examines whether equity of dyadic coping is associated with depressive symptoms in adolescent mixed-gender couples. We disentangle equity of positive and negative dyadic coping, as differential effects might arise.

METHODS

Self-report data on dyadic coping and depressive symptoms were gathered from 124 mixed-gender couples aged between 16 and 21 years living in Switzerland between 2011 and 2013. Equity of dyadic coping was quantified by calculating the difference between received dyadic coping and provided dyadic coping for each partner separately. These difference scores and the overall level of dyadic coping were used to predict depressive symptoms in both partners using an Actor-Partner-Interdependence Model.

RESULTS

For female adolescents, we found the expected curvilinear association between equity of negative dyadic coping behaviors and depressive symptoms (actor effect). Additionally, the female perception of equity of positive dyadic coping was correlated with less depressive symptoms in male partners (partner effect). For male adolescents, receiving more positive dyadic coping than they provided was associated with more depressive symptoms (actor effect).

DISCUSSION

In female partners, results resembled those in adult mixed-gender couples. In male partners, results changed depending on the direction of inequity-possibly due to gender role development.

Pathways from adolescent close friendship struggles to adult negative affectivity

This 19-year prospective study applied a social development lens to the challenge of identifying long-term predictors of adult negative affectivity. A diverse community sample of 169 individuals was repeatedly assessed from age 13 to age 32 using self-, parent-, and peer-reports. As hypothesized, lack of competence establishing and maintaining close friendships in adolescence had a substantial long-term predictive relation to negative affectivity at ages 27-32, even after accounting for prior depressive, anxious, and externalizing symptoms. Predictions also remained robust after accounting for concurrent levels of depressive symptoms, indicating that findings were not simply an artifact of previously established links between relationship quality and depressive symptoms. Predictions also emerged from poor peer relationships within young adulthood to future relative increases in negative affectivity by ages 27-32. Implications for early identification of risk as well as for potential preventive interventions are discussed.

Longitudinal Associations Between Depressive Symptoms and Quality of Romantic Relationships in Late Adolescence

While youth with higher levels of depressive symptoms appear to have lower quality romantic relationships, little is known about longitudinal associations for both men and women. Therefore, this study used longitudinal dyadic design to examine both concurrent and longitudinal associations between depressive symptoms and positive as well as negative aspects of romantic relationship quality across two waves one- or two-years apart. The sample consisted of 149 Dutch stable heterosexual couples (149 females and 142 males participated at T₁) in a stable romantic relationship in late adolescence with a mean age of 20.43 years old at the first wave. Actor-Partner Interdependence models were used to examine potential bidirectional associations over time between depressive symptoms and romantic relationship quality, above and beyond potential concurrent associations and stability of the constructs over time, from the perspective of both romantic partners. Results consistently indicated that men and women who reported higher levels of depressive symptoms perceived less positive aspects (intimacy and support) and more negative aspects (conflict) in their romantic relationship over time. In addition, unexpectedly, when men and women perceived more positive relationship aspects, their partners reported higher levels of depressive symptoms over time. These findings stress that depressive symptoms can interfere with the formation of high-quality romantic relationships.

Genetic and environmental pathways to suicidal behavior: Reflections of a genetic epidemiologist

This paper presents a tentative typology of genetic and environmental pathways to suicidal behavior. Ten pathways are proposed and briefly illustrated: (i) direct effects from psychiatric disorders; (ii) direct effects from personality; (iii) direct effects of early adversity; (iv) direct effects of current adversity; (v) indirect effects of genes on selection into adversity (gene–environment correlation); (vi) interactions between genetic risk and current adversity: gene–environment interaction; (vii) interactions between early and current adversity: environment–environment interaction; (viii) interactions between culture and genes; (ix) dynamic developmental pathways involving causal loops from genes to environment and back again; and (x) gene × environment × development interaction.

Attachment styles, social behavior, and personality functioning in romantic relationships

Personality disorders (PDs) are commonly associated with romantic relationship disturbance. However, research has seldom evaluated who people with high PD severity partner with, and what explains the link between PD severity and romantic relationship disturbance. First, we examined the degree to which people match with partners with similar levels of personality and interpersonal problems. Second, we evaluated whether the relationship between PD severity and romantic relationship satisfaction would be explained by attachment styles and demand/withdraw behavior. Couples selected for high PD severity (n = 130; 260 participants) engaged in a conflict task, were assessed for PDs and attachment using semi-structured interviews, and self-reported their relationship satisfaction. Dyad members were not similar in terms of PD severity but evidenced a small degree of similarity on specific attachment styles and were moderately similar on attachment insecurity and interpersonal problems. PD severity also moderated the degree to which one person's attachment anxiety was associated with their partner's attachment avoidance. In addition, using a dyadic analytic approach, we found attachment anxiety and actor and partner withdrawal explained some of the relationship between PD severity and relationship satisfaction. Our results indicate people often have romantic partners with similar levels of attachment disturbance and interpersonal problems and that attachment styles and related behavior explains some of the association between PD severity and relationship satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: Adolescent Depression and Long-Term Psychosocial Outcomes

OBJECTIVE

Experiencing depression in adolescence can disrupt important developmental processes, which can have longstanding effects on socioeconomic status and relationships. The objective of this article was to systematically review the evidence examining associations between adolescent depression and adult psychosocial outcomes.

METHOD

Five databases (MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and ERIC) were searched for articles published from 1980 through March 2017. Eligible articles were peer reviewed, published in English, had prospective cohort study designs, and contrasted adult psychosocial outcomes in those with versus without adolescent depression. Outcomes with sufficient data were pooled using random-effects meta-analyses, with summary measures reported as odds ratios (ORs). A protocol for this review was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42017059662).

RESULTS

Of the 4,988 references screened for inclusion, 31 articles comprising 136 analyses were included for review. Twenty-four cohorts were represented. Seventy-seven analyses across 10 outcomes were meta-analyzed, with remaining analyses summarized narratively. Meta-analyses suggested that adolescent depression was associated with outcomes including, but not limited to, failure to complete secondary school (OR 1.76, 95% CI 1.29-2.39), unemployment (OR 1.66, 95% CI 1.29-2.14), and pregnancy/parenthood (OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.06-1.81).

CONCLUSION

This review demonstrates that adolescent depression is associated with a myriad of adult psychosocial outcomes. Many are linked and can lead to the propagation of difficulties across the lifespan. These findings can have important implications for encouraging the provision of targeted mental health care early in development to improve life chances.

Is Social Support a Cause or Consequence of Depression? A Longitudinal Study of Adolescents

A large body of literature has examined the relations between social support and depression. However, the exact nature and direction of these relations are not well understood. This study explored the relations between specific types of social support (peer support and teacher support) and depression. Adolescents (ages 11 to 17) for the first time (N = 2453) participated in a two-wave, 6-month longitudinal study. Structural equation modeling was used to test a social causation model (deficits in social support increase the likelihood of depression), interpersonal theories of depression (depression leads to social erosion), and a reciprocal influence model. Depression influenced peer support significantly and negatively. By contrast, the social causation model was not supported. These results held for males and females. Findings suggested that depression resulted in social support erosion. However, the effect was specific to perceived peer support but not to perceived teacher support.

A Daily Diary Investigation of the Influence of Early Family Adversity on Social Functioning during the Transition to Adulthood

Early life stressors are associated with maladaptive social functioning in childhood and adolescence, but it is unclear whether and how the negative interpersonal effects of stress persist into adulthood. Daily diary surveys were used to examine young adults' social behavior and mood reactivity to social stressors as a function of experiences of early family adversity. Stressful early family environments predicted more daily reassurance seeking, but not aggression, withdrawal, or positive social behavior. Early family adversity also moderated the within-person effects of social stressors on next-day mood, such that individuals with high levels of adversity had elevated next-day negative affect in response to higher than average social stress. Findings highlight the enduring impact of early adversity on social development, with implications for developing targeted policies and interventions.

Are friends and romantic partners the “best medicine”? How the quality of other close relations mediates the impact of changing family relationships on adjustment

In this longitudinal study, the link between changing relationships between adolescents and their parents and the mediating role of friendships and support from romantic partners on internalizing and externalizing symptoms were analyzed. Based on data on parent—child relationships obtained in 228 adolescents (ages 14 to 17) and their fathers and mothers, three different developmental trajectories were found which were differently linked with internalizing and externalizing symptomatology at ages 17 and 21. The quality of relationships with friends and romantic partners mediated the links between earlier parent—adolescent relationships and later problem behavior. The impact of close relationships with friends and romantic partners as a mediating process between family development trajectories and adaptation was more prominent for females than for males, highlighting the darker side of females' close relationships.

Relationships with intimate partner, best friend, and parents in adolescence and early adulthood: A study of the saliency of the intimate partnership

We studied the psychological importance of best friend and intimate partner in the personal network of adolescents and early adults, and links between relationships and emotional problems as well as links between relationships themselves. A series of hypotheses derived from the “intimate partner (IP) general saliency perspective” and “the intimate partner (IP) early adult saliency perspective” was tested. The IP general saliency perspective predicts that the relationship with intimate partner is psychologically more meaningful than the relationship with best friend in adolescence and early adulthood. The IP early adult saliency perspective predicts that the relationship with intimate partner does not have superior psychological value in adolescence and acquires it in early adulthood. Data of Waves 1 and 3 of a six-year longitudinal study of 1041 adolescents and early adults, aged 12—23 at Wave 1, were used. Results showed that when early adults and adolescents make the shift from best friend to intimate partner, relational commitment becomes stronger and emotional problems become smaller, supporting the IP general saliency perspective. Results also showed that only in early adulthood was a stronger commitment to intimate partner related to less emotional problems, and more parental support was linked to stronger relational commitment to intimate partner. These findings clearly support the IP early adult saliency perspective. In sum, when adolescents and early adults make the transition to the intimate partnership they enter a psychologically more meaningful relationship. When individuals enter early adulthood the psychological value of the intimate partner relationship becomes more salient: the quality of the intimate relationship becomes more stable and linked to emotional adjustment.

Social Neuroscience: Progress and Implications for Mental Health

Social neuroscience is a new, interdisciplinary field devoted to understanding how biological systems implement social processes and behavior. Social neuroscience capitalizes on biological concepts and methods to inform and refine theories of social behavior, and it uses social and behavioral constructs and data to inform and refine theories of neural organization and function. We focus here on the progress and potential of social neuroscience in the area of mental health. Research in social neuroscience has grown dramatically in recent years. Among the most active areas of research we found are brain-imaging studies in normal children and adults; animal models of social behavior; studies of stroke patients; imaging studies of psychiatric patients; and research on social determinants of peripheral neural, neuroendocrine, and immunological processes. We also found that these areas of research are proceeding along largely independent trajectories. Our goals in this article are to review the development of this field, examine some currently promising approaches, identify obstacles and opportunities for future advances and integration, and consider how this research can inform work on the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders.

Exiting and Returning to the Parental Home for Boomerang Kids

Young adults commonly exit from and return to the parental home, yet few studies have examined the motivation behind these exits and returns using a life course framework. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, the authors examined associations between mental health problems and economic characteristics and exits from (n = 8,162), and returns to (n = 6,530), the parental home during the transition to adulthood. The average age of the respondents was 24 years. The authors found evidence that mental health and economic characteristics were related to home leaving and returning. Emotional distress was associated with earlier exits from, and returns to, the parental home; alcohol problems were associated with earlier returns to the parental home. The findings regarding economic resources were unexpectedly mixed. Greater economic resources were linked to delayed exits from, and earlier returns to, the parental home. The implications of these findings for young adults are discussed.

The development of adolescent generalized anxiety and depressive symptoms in the context of adolescent mood variability and parent-adolescent negative interactions

This study explored the influence of adolescent mood variability on the symptom development of generalized anxiety and depression in the context of parent-adolescent negative interactions. Participants were 456 adolescents (55.7 % male) from a community sample, who were followed from age 13 to 16 years. During 4 annual assessments, adolescents reported on their generalized anxiety and depressive symptoms, and both parents and adolescents on levels of negative interactions with each other. Within each study year, adolescents rated their daily mood states during 5 consecutive days for 3 times per year (total of 9 weeks). The absolute differences between mood states on consecutive days were summed to construct a mood variability score. Results showed that high levels of adolescent mood variability predicted increases in generalized anxiety and depressive symptoms across the studied period. No influence of negative interactions on anxiety and depression development was found, but positive predictive links from mood variability to negative interactions at age 14 and 15 appeared. The study underscores the role of adolescent mood variability in the development of symptoms of generalized anxiety and depression during adolescence, but found little evidence for an influence of parent-adolescent negative interactions on internalizing problem development.

Long-term sequelae of subclinical depressive symptoms in early adolescence

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.

Social neuroscience and its potential contribution to psychiatry

Most mental disorders involve disruptions of normal social behavior. Social neuroscience is an interdisciplinary field devoted to understanding the biological systems underlying social processes and behavior, and the influence of the social environment on biological processes, health and well-being. Research in this field has grown dramatically in recent years. Active areas of research include brain imaging studies in normal children and adults, animal models of social behavior, studies of stroke patients, imaging studies of psychiatric patients, and research on social determinants of peripheral neural, neuroendocrine and immunological processes. Although research in these areas is proceeding along largely independent trajectories, there is increasing evidence for connections across these trajectories. We focus here on the progress and potential of social neuroscience in psychiatry, including illustrative evidence for a rapid growth of neuroimaging and genetic studies of mental disorders. We also argue that neuroimaging and genetic research focused on specific component processes underlying social living is needed.

Perceptions of friendship among youth with distressed friends

This cross-sectional study examined the relationship between a friend's level of internalizing distress and the focal child's perceptions of friendship amongst 5th, 8th, and 11th grade youth. Participants completed the Youth Self-Report to assess internalizing distress and measures assessing perceptions of friendship quality, social support, and self-disclosure within reciprocal, same-sex friendship dyads. Results indicated that youth with friends experiencing low levels of internalizing distress reported poorer friendship quality and decreased levels of social support and self-disclosure within the friendship compared to youth with friends experiencing average or high internalizing distress. In a second set of analyses controlling for the focal child's own internalizing symptoms, gender, and age, friend's level of internalizing distress remained a significant, unique predictor of target participants' self-disclosure about their own problems within the friendship. The findings suggest that a mild degree of internalizing distress may enhance, rather than harm, friendships amongst youth.

Indicators of Adolescent Depression and Relationship Progression in Emerging Adulthood

Adolescent depression may be associated with future relationship problems that have long-term consequences given the developmental importance and health benefits of forming committed unions in emerging adulthood. The authors examined associations between emotional and behavioral indicators of adolescent depression (depressive symptoms, alcohol problems, and suicidal ideation) and romantic relationship and union formation and dissolution in emerging adulthood (n = 14,146) using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Adolescent alcohol problems were associated with more romantic relationships in emerging adulthood. Emerging adults with depressive symptoms or alcohol problems in adolescence were significantly more likely to enter into a cohabiting union, and those with adolescent alcohol problems were less likely to marry. Cohabiting emerging adults with a history of adolescent depressive symptoms were less likely to marry, whereas suicidal ideation was associated with a decreased likelihood of cohabitation dissolution. Implications for future research are discussed.

Interpersonal competence in young adulthood and right laterality in white matter

The right hemisphere of the human brain is known to be involved in processes underlying emotion and social cognition. Clinical neuropsychology investigations and brain lesion studies have linked a number of personality and social disorders to abnormal white matter (WM) integrity in the right hemisphere. Here, we tested the hypothesis that interpersonal competencies are associated with integrity of WM tracts in the right hemisphere of healthy young adults. Thirty-one participants underwent diffusion tensor imaging scanning. Fractional anisotropy was used to quantify water diffusion. After the scanning session, participants completed the Adolescent Interpersonal Competence Questionnaire. Fractional anisotropy was subsequently correlated with Adolescent Interpersonal Competence Questionnaire scores using tract-based spatial statistics. Higher interpersonal competencies are related to higher WM integrity in several major tracts of the right hemisphere, in specific the uncinate fasciculus, the cingulum, the forceps minor, the infero-fronto occipital fasciculus, the inferior longitudinal fasciculus, and the superior longitudinal fasciculus. These results provide the first direct analysis of the neuroanatomical basis of interpersonal competencies and young adult self-reported skills in social contexts.

Alcohol and tobacco use disorder comorbidity in young adults and the influence of romantic partner environments

BACKGROUND

Although there is considerable evidence that the development of tobacco dependence (TD) and that of alcohol use disorder (AUD) are intertwined, less is known about the comorbid development of these disorders. The present study examines tobacco dependence and alcohol use disorder comorbidity in young adulthood within the context of romantic partner relationships.

METHODS

Data were drawn from the Seattle Social Development Project, a contemporary, ethnically diverse, and gender balanced longitudinal panel including 808 participants. A typological person-centered approach was used to assign participants to four outcome groups: no disorder, tobacco dependence (TD) only, alcohol use disorder (AUD) only, and comorbid (both). Multinomial logistic regression was used to determine the association between partner general and substance-specific environments and single or dual alcohol and tobacco use disorder diagnosis in young adulthood (ages 24-33, n=628). Previous heavy alcohol and tobacco use were controlled for, as were dispositional characteristics, gender, ethnicity, adult SES, and adult depression.

RESULTS

Greater partner conflict increased the likelihood of being comorbid compared to having TD only or AUD only. Having a smoking partner increased the likelihood of being comorbid compared to having AUD only, but having a drinking partner did not significantly distinguish being comorbid from having TD only.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings demonstrated the utility of a comorbidity-based, person-centered approach and the influence of general and tobacco-specific, but not alcohol-specific, partner environments on comorbid alcohol and tobacco use disorders in young adulthood.

Life stress, the dopamine receptor gene, and emerging adult drug use trajectories: a longitudinal, multilevel, mediated moderation analysis

This study was designed to examine the prospective relations of life stress and genetic status with increases in drug use. African Americans (N = 399) in rural Georgia (Wave 1 mean age = 17 years) provided three waves of data across 27.5 months and a saliva sample from which the dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) gene was genotyped. Multilevel growth curve modeling analysis indicated that emerging adults manifested the highest escalations in drug use when they reported high life stress and carried an allele of DRD4 with 7 or more repeats (7 + R allele). In addition, emerging adults who reported high life stress and carried the 7 + R allele evinced the largest increases in two proximal risk factors for drug use: affiliations with drug-using companions and drug use vulnerability cognitions. Furthermore, when the Gene × Environment interaction effects on the increases in affiliations with drug-using companions and vulnerability cognitions were entered into the model forecasting drug use, the Life Stress × DRD4 Status interaction on drug use became nonsignificant in the presence of the risk mechanisms. This finding provides an example of "second generation" Gene × Environment interaction research in which the interaction's effects on proximal risk mechanisms account for its effects on outcomes.

A longitudinal study of the associations among adolescent conflict resolution styles, depressive symptoms, and romantic relationship longevity

This study investigated whether adolescents' conflict resolution styles mediated between depressive symptoms and relationship longevity. Data were used from a sample of 80 couples aged 13-19 years old (Mage = 15.48, SD = 1.16). At Time 1 adolescents reported their depressive symptoms and conflict resolution styles. Additionally, time until break-up was assessed. Data were analyzed using actor-partner interdependence models. Results showed no support for conflict resolution styles as mediators. Girls' depressive symptoms were directly related to shorter relationships. Additionally, actor effects were found indicating that boys and girls with more depressive symptoms used negative resolution styles and were less likely to employ positive problems solving strategies. Finally, one partner effect was found: girls' depressive symptoms related to more positive problem solving in boys.

The impact of environmental experiences on symptoms of anxiety and depression across the life span

Symptoms of anxiety and depression are relatively stable over time. Can this stability be explained by genetic influences, or is it caused by the long-lasting effects of accumulating environmental experiences? To address this question, we analyzed longitudinally assessed symptoms of anxiety and depression in eight samples of monozygotic twins of widely varying ages. These samples were drawn from American and European population-based registries. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we examined individual differences and individual changes in the level of symptoms over time. This method enabled us to decompose the variance into the predictable variance shared by both members of each pair of twins, the differences between individuals within pairs, and the residual variance. We then modeled how these components of individual variation changed over time. Within pairs, the twins' predicted levels of symptoms increasingly diverged from childhood until late adulthood, at which point the divergence ceased. By middle adulthood, environmental experiences contributed substantially to stable and predictable interindividual differences in levels of anxiety and depression.

Intimate relationships and childbearing after adolescent depression: a population-based 15 year follow-up study

PURPOSE

Adolescent depression is associated with a range of interpersonal adversities. We hypothesized that depressed adolescents are at subsequent increased risk of problems related to intimate relationships and childbearing in adulthood, and used longitudinal data to examine this.

METHOD

A population-based investigation of depression in 16 to 17 year olds was followed up after 15 years, at around the age of 30 years. Comparisons were made between adolescents with depression (n = 361, 78% females) and non-depressed peers (n = 248, 77% females). Data from both national registers and personal interviews were used.

RESULTS

At follow-up, the former depressed and non-depressed adolescents had become parents to a similar extent. The former depressed females were more likely than the non-depressed females to report abortion, miscarriage, intimate partner violence and sexually transmitted disease. They also reported a higher number of intimate relationships and were more likely to have divorced and to be registered as single mothers. Depressed females with a comorbid disruptive disorder had a particularly poor outcome. In the depressed females without a disruptive disorder, only those who subsequently had recurrent depressions in adulthood were at increased risk of poor outcome. There was no indication that the formerly depressed males were at increased risk of subsequent problems related to intimate relationships.

CONCLUSION

Females with adolescent depression subsequently have problems related to intimate relationships and childbearing. Disruptive disorders and recurrence of depression appear to be instrumental in this association. Attention should be given to intimate relationship problems and sexual and reproductive health issues in young women with depression.

Depressive symptoms and romantic relationship qualities from adolescence through emerging adulthood: a longitudinal examination of influences

Research has consistently demonstrated the negative consequences of depression on adolescents' functioning in peer and family relationships, but little work has examined how depressive symptoms affect the quality of adolescents' and emerging adults' romantic relationships. Five waves of data on depressive symptoms, romantic relationship conflict, and use of positive problem solving were collected from 188 boys and girls during middle adolescence to emerging adulthood. Latent growth curve models indicated that having more depressive symptoms when 15 years old was associated with both more increase in relationship conflict and less increase in positive problem solving as compared to adolescents with fewer depressive symptoms. These results suggest that depression in middle adolescence may impair subsequent romantic relationship qualities into late adolescence and emerging adulthood.

A cascade model connecting life stress to risk behavior among rural African American emerging adults

A three-wave cascade model linking life stress to increases in risk behavior was tested with 347 African American emerging adults living in the rural South. Data analyses using structural equation modeling and latent growth curve modeling demonstrated that life stress was linked to increases in risk behavior as African Americans transitioned out of secondary school. The cascade model indicated that life stress fostered increases in negative emotions. Negative emotions, in turn, were linked to increases in affiliations with deviant peers and romantic partners; this forecast increases in risk behavior. The findings supported a stress proliferation framework, in which primary stressors affect increases in secondary stressors that carry forward to influence changes in risk behaviors that can potentially compromise mental health.

Adolescent Depression: Stressful Interpersonal Contexts and Risk for Recurrence

High rates of diagnosable depression in adolescence, especially among young women, present challenging clinical and research issues. Depression not only portends current maladjustment but may also signal risk for recurrent or chronic depression and its associated impairment. Because depression is most often a response to stressful events and circumstances, it is important to understand the stress context itself. Individuals with depression histories are known to contribute to the occurrence of interpersonal and other stressors at a high rate, and for young women particularly, the occurrence of interpersonal stressors and conditions in turn predicts recurrences of depression, in a vicious cycle. Interpersonal dysfunction in early adolescence predicts the likelihood of continuing maladaptive functioning in peer, family, romantic, and parenting roles. The transmission of depression from one generation to the next involves not only heritable factors but also the likelihood that depressed youth become caught in life contexts of marital and parenting discord that portend dysfunction for their offspring and continuing depression for themselves.

Gaps between patients, media, and academic medicine in discourses on gender and depression: a metasynthesis

For reasons that are not yet fully understood, depression affects women twice as often as men. In this article we describe an investigation of how depression is understood in relation to men and women by the patients themselves, the media, and the medical research establishment. We do this by undertaking a metasynthesis of data from three different sources: interviews with depressed patients, media portrayals of depressed individuals in Sweden, and international medical articles about depression. The findings reveal that there are differences in (a) the recognition of depression, (b) the understanding of the reasons for depression, and (c) the contextualization of depression. Although women and men describe different symptoms and reasons for falling ill, these gendered expressions are not acknowledged in articles coming from Western medical settings. We discuss the implications of these findings and conclude that an integrated model for understanding biological, gender, and cultural aspects of depression has yet to be developed.

Psychiatric disorders during adolescence and relationships with peers from age 17 to age 27

OBJECTIVE

To investigate normative patterns of peer relationships from ages 17 to 27, and to examine the impact of adolescent psychiatric disorders on peer relationships.

METHOD

Psychiatric disorders were measured at a mean age 16 years. At mean age 29, 200 participants completed detailed narrative interviews about their transition to adulthood. Monthly contact and conflict with peers were described in narratives covering ages 17-27.

RESULTS

Adolescent psychiatric disorders did not predict the frequency of peer contact in the young adult period. However, adolescent disruptive disorders predicted greater peer conflict regardless of contact frequency. Adolescents with major depressive or substance abuse disorders and subsequent high frequency of peer contact reported elevated peer conflict during the transition to adulthood. In contrast, among study participants with frequent peer contact during this period, those with adolescent anxiety disorders reported less peer conflict than did those without such a diagnostic history.

CONCLUSIONS

Adolescents with major depressive, disruptive, and substance abuse disorders may be at risk for long-term negative peer relationships, whereas those with anxiety disorders may subsequently avoid peer conflict.

Does successful attainment of developmental tasks lead to happiness and success in later developmental tasks? A test of Havighurst's (1948) theses

This study tested Havighurst's (1948) contention that successful attainment of age-specific developmental tasks leads to happiness and success in achieving subsequent tasks. A longitudinal study on 146 participants was carried out to investigate the links between developmental progression in adolescence and young adulthood and happiness, which was assessed by two indices: high self-esteem and low symptomatology. The importance individuals place on achieving normative developmental tasks and current developmental status was assessed six times during adolescence and young adulthood, self-esteem and symptomatology were assessed five times. Results revealed a shift in the time frames for accomplishing the stage-specific developmental tasks. Findings with respect to the interrelatedness and progressive attainment partially supported Havighurst's contentions. Although remarkable concurrent links between the two indices of happiness and developmental status were found, developmental outcomes were not predictive for later happiness.

Massage therapy reduces pain in pregnant women, alleviates prenatal depression in both parents and improves their relationships

Prenatally depressed women (N=47) were randomly assigned to a group that received massage twice weekly from their partners from 20 weeks gestation until the end of pregnancy or a control group. Self-reported leg pain, back pain, depression, anxiety and anger decreased more for the massaged pregnant women than for the control group women. In addition, the partners who massaged the pregnant women versus the control group partners reported less depressed mood, anxiety and anger across the course of the massage therapy period. Finally, scores on a relationship questionnaire improved more for both the women and the partners in the massage group. These data suggest that not only mood states but also relationships improve mutually when depressed pregnant women are massaged by their partners.

Personality and risk of physical illness

Several personality characteristics have been linked in multiple well-designed prospective studies to subsequent physical health outcomes, such as longevity and the development and course of cardiovascular disease. The evidence is strongest for negative affectivity/neuroticism, anger/hostility and related traits, and optimism. Models of mechanisms underlying these associations have emphasized physiological effects of stress, exposure to stressors, and health behavior. Preliminary evidence supports the viability of some mechanisms, but formal mediational tests are lacking. In addition to addressing limitations and inconsistencies in this literature, future research should address developmental aspects of these psychosocial risk factors, contextual moderators of their health effects, and intervention applications in the prevention and management of disease. In these efforts, greater incorporation of concepts and methods in the structural, social-cognitive, and interpersonal perspectives in the field of personality are needed.

Young women's social and occupational development and mental health in the aftermath of child sexual abuse

We examined social role functioning and depressive symptoms of young adults who were abused as children in data from a longitudinal community sample. Sexually abused women and men were more depressed during their senior year of high school, and this difference was more pronounced 2 years later. We then examined a mediational model to determine whether social functioning explained the course of depressive symptoms over this transitional period. Focusing only on young women, for whom the prevalence of abuse was much higher, results indicated that two-thirds of the effect of abuse on depressive symptoms was explained by experiences and choices in the domains of work, education and intimate relationships. Having less supportive intimate relationships and lower rates of attendance at 4-year colleges were particularly important. Findings reveal the key role played by early adult interpersonal and occupational development in perpetuating the mental health impact of childhood trauma.

Adolescent Cluster A personality disorder symptoms, role assumption in the transition to adulthood, and resolution or persistence of symptoms

Cluster A odd or eccentric personality disorder (PD) symptoms may reflect a schizophrenia spectrum biological vulnerability in at least some persons. Consequently, this symptom pattern may have particularly negative effects on the transition from adolescent to adult roles. A general population sample of 200 young adults was assessed on Cluster A PD at mean ages 17 and 22, and subsequently provided detailed narratives about their monthly experiences and behaviors between these two ages. Adolescent Cluster A PD was related to the developmental trajectories of residential, career, financial, romantic, and family formation roles during this period, and trajectories were related to a change in symptoms over this period. Symptoms were associated with early parenthood and less advanced education, but for other developmental outcomes tended to differ for men and women. These gender differences were attributable, in part, to the differential meaning and consequences of early parenthood for men and women.

Sex differences in stress generation: an examination of sociotropy/autonomy, stress, and depressive symptoms

Hammen (1991) proposed that both individual characteristics and depressive symptomatology may explain the stress generation process, in which individuals contribute, in part, to a more stressful environment for themselves. Nonetheless, research has not teased apart the impact of vulnerability factors and depressive symptomatology on this process. Ninety-nine college students, selected to be variable on personality vulnerabilities of sociotropy and autonomy, were followed for 6 weeks. Weekly depressive symptoms and stressful life events that were likely caused in part by the individual (dependent stress) were assessed. Multilevel modeling results indicated that prior-week depressive symptoms significantly predicted current-week dependent interpersonal stress levels. A significant sex-by-sociotropy effect emerged such that being female and scoring high on sociotropy predicted higher levels of dependent interpersonal stress. This interpersonal stress generation effect for women partially mediated the relationship between sociotropy and depressive symptoms.

A social-interactional model of the development of depressive symptoms in adolescence

This study used longitudinal, multimethod data to examine specific patterns of behavioral interaction with parents and peers that were hypothesized to predict increasing levels of depressive symptoms in early adolescence. Adolescents' struggles in establishing autonomy and relatedness in interactions with mothers, and a withdrawn, angry, or dependent pattern of behavior with a best friend, were assessed with observational and peer-report methods in a community sample of 143 adolescents, who were also assessed for levels of depressive symptoms at age 13 and with whom the authors followed up 1 year later. Study hypotheses were confirmed, with dysfunctional interaction patterns with parents and peers combining additively to account for substantial change variance in depressive symptoms over time. Results are interpreted as highlighting specific behavioral patterns that may be promising to address via psychosocial interventions targeting adolescent depression.

Reciprocal, longitudinal associations among adolescents' negative feedback-seeking, depressive symptoms, and peer relations

This study examined reciprocal associations among adolescents' negative feedback-seeking, depressive symptoms, perceptions of friendship quality, and peer-reported social preference over an 11-month period. A total of 478 adolescents in grades 6-8 completed measures of negative feedback-seeking, depressive symptoms, friendship quality, global-self-esteem, and social anxiety at two time points. Peer-reported measures of peer status were collected using a sociometric procedure. Consistent with hypotheses, path analyses results suggested that negative feedback-seeking was associated longitudinally with depressive symptoms and perceptions of friendship criticism in girls and with lower social preference scores in boys; however, depressive symptoms were not associated longitudinally with negative feedback-seeking. Implications for interpersonal models of adolescent depression are discussed.

Stability and change in attachment security across adolescence

This study examined both continuity and familial, intrapsychic, and environmental predictors of change in adolescent attachment security across a 2-year period from middle to late adolescence. Assessments included the Adult Attachment Interview, observed mother-adolescent interactions, test-based data, and adolescent self-reports obtained from an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of moderately at-risk adolescents interviewed at ages 16 and 18. Substantial stability in security was identified. Beyond this stability, however, relative declines in attachment security were predicted by adolescents' enmeshed, overpersonalizing behavior with their mothers; depressive symptoms; and poverty status. Results suggest that although security may trend upward for nonstressed adolescents, stressors that overwhelm the capacity for affect regulation and that are not easily assuaged by parents predict relative declines in security over time.

Adolescent Peer Relations, Friendships, and Romantic Relationships: Do They Predict Social Anxiety and Depression?

This study examined multiple levels of adolescents' interpersonal functioning, including general peer relations (peer crowd affiliations, peer victimization), and qualities of best friendships and romantic relationships as predictors of symptoms of depression and social anxiety. An ethnically diverse sample of 421 adolescents (57% girls; 14 to 19 years) completed measures of peer crowd affiliation, peer victimization, and qualities of best friendships and romantic relationships. Peer crowd affiliations (high and low status), positive qualities in best friendships, and the presence of a dating relationship protected adolescents against feelings of social anxiety, whereas relational victimization and negative interactions in best friendships predicted high social anxiety. In contrast, affiliation with a high-status peer crowd afforded some protection against depressive affect; however, relational victimization and negative qualities of best friendships and romantic relationships predicted depressive symptoms. Some moderating effects for ethnicity were observed. Findings indicate that multiple aspects of adolescents' social relations uniquely contribute to feelings of internal distress. Implications for research and preventive interventions are discussed.

Adolescent personality disorders and conflict with romantic partners during the transition to adulthood

Longitudinal data were used to investigate the association of adolescent personality disorders with conflict between romantic partners during the transition to adulthood (i.e., age 17 to 27). Findings indicated that adolescent personality disorders (PDs) assessed at mean age 16 were associated with subsequent elevated partner conflict. Cluster B PD was associated with sustained elevations in partner conflict throughout the transition to adulthood. Cluster A and C PDs were associated with elevated partner conflict before age 23. Paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal, borderline, narcissistic, and obsessive-compulsive PD symptoms were independently associated with sustained elevations in partner conflict.