A prospective study of the cognitive-stress model of depressive symptoms in adolescents

Three-variable systems: An integrative moderation and mediation framework for developmental psychopathology

In this article, we consider an often overlooked model that combines mediation and moderation to explain how a third variable can relate to a risk factor-psychopathology relationship. We refer to it as moderation and mediation in a three-variable system. We describe how this model is relevant to studying vulnerability factors and how it may advance developmental psychopathology research. To illustrate the value of this approach, we provide several examples where this model may be applicable, such as the relationships among parental externalizing pathology, harsh parenting, and offspring psychopathology as well as between neuroticism, stressful life events, and depression. We discuss possible reasons why this model has not gained traction and attempt to clarify and dispel those concerns. We provide guidance and recommendations for when to consider this model for a given data set and point toward existing resources for testing this model that have been developed by statisticians and other methodologists. Lastly, we describe important caveats, limitations, and considerations for making this approach most useful for developmental research. Overall, our goal in presenting this information to developmental psychopathology researchers is to encourage testing moderation and mediation in a three-variable system with the aim of advancing analytic strategies for studying vulnerability factors.

Neural substrates of rewarding and punishing self representations in depressed suicide-attempting adolescents

Adolescence is a period of plasticity in neural substrates underpinning self-processing. Such substrates are worth studying in depressed youth at risks for suicide because altered neurobiology of self-processing might partially explain differences between suicide attempting youth versus youth who contemplate but do not attempt suicide. Understanding altered substrates of self-processing among depressed adolescents with suicide attempts is critical for developing targeted prevention and treatment. Healthy youth (N = 40), youth with depression and low (N = 33) or high suicide ideation (N = 28), and youth with depression and past suicide attempt (N = 28) heard positive or negative self-descriptors during fMRI and evaluated them from their own, their mother's, classmates', and best friend's perspectives. Lower bilateral caudate activity during positive self-processing distinguished suicide attempting adolescents from all other youth. Higher bilateral caudate activity during negatively valenced self-processing tended to distinguish youth with depression. Blunted reward circuitry during positive vs. negative self-related material tended to distinguish suicide attempting youth, reflecting potentially enhanced behavioral preparedness for punishing vs. rewarding self-relevant cues.

Risk Factors for Depression in Adolescents With ADHD: The Impact of Cognitive Biases and Stress

Objective: Youth diagnosed with ADHD are at heightened risk of depression. However, many do not develop depression. Individuals with specific cognitive biases are more likely to develop depression yet it remains untested whether these vulnerability-stress models apply to depression risk in youth with ADHD. Method: We examined whether interpretation and attention biases moderated the relation between stressful life events and depressive symptoms in a sample of adolescents (M_age = 14.42) with ADHD (n = 59) and without ADHD (n = 36). Results: Youth with ADHD experienced more stressful life events compared with those without ADHD. Interpretation biases moderated the association between stress and depressive symptoms in youth with and without ADHD. Attention biases moderated the association between stress and depressive symptoms in the non-ADHD youth only. Conclusion: These results enhance our understanding of vulnerability for depression in adolescence with ADHD and inform targeted prevention and treatment models during this critical developmental juncture.

The Role of Military Training in Improving Psychological Resilience and Reducing Depression Among College Freshmen

Background: Military training plays an important protective role in enhancing mental health. However, the effects of military training on psychological resilience and depression among college freshmen in China remain unclear. The present study aimed to evaluate changes in psychological resilience and depression through military training among college freshmen, and to investigate associated psychosocial factors including childhood trauma that may influence its effects on psychological resilience. Methods: A prospective and self-comparison study design was employed. College freshmen who received 3 weeks of military training were recruited. Socio-demographic variables were collected and childhood trauma exposure was estimated by the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) were used to assess psychological resilience and depression before and after the military-style training. Results: The military training significantly increased the total and subscale scores of CD-RISC (p < 0.001), and decreased the PHQ-9 score (p < 0.001). The proportion of students with clinical depression reduced from 10.5% at baseline to 7.2% after the training (p < 0.001). Improvement of CD-RISC scores was positively affected by male gender and urban area, while negatively affected by older age, and higher baseline scores of PHQ-9 and CTQ. A significant correlation was found between changes in scores of CD-RISC and PHQ-9 through the training (r = -0.238, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Military training may have a positive effect on increasing psychological resilience and reducing depressive symptoms among college freshmen, especially in male students and those from an urban area, while older age, childhood trauma, higher depression levels, and resilience at baseline may weaken, or even mask its positive effect. Follow-up research should be considered for the long-term effects of military-style training.

Reciprocal effects of maternal and child internalizing symptoms before and after a natural disaster

After natural disasters, mothers and children are vulnerable to internalizing symptoms, such as depression and anxiety, and levels of mothers' and children's symptoms are significantly associated. However, the disaster literature has rarely examined reciprocal effects within families. The present study capitalizes on the occurrence of Hurricane Sandy during the course of an ongoing longitudinal study to address this gap. Three-hundred and 47 children (54.2% male, 84.7% Caucasian) and their mothers completed measures of internalizing symptoms when the children were 9-years-old. Hurricane Sandy occurred an average of 1 year later. Eight weeks after the hurricane, mothers and children completed the same measures again. Mothers also reported on their family's stress exposure from Hurricane Sandy. After controlling for predisaster symptoms, longitudinal actor-partner interdependence models indicated that mother's and children's internalizing symptoms were linked. Mothers' prehurricane depression symptoms also predicted increases in children's depression symptoms over time independent of hurricane-related stress. Children's prehurricane anxiety symptoms predicted increases in mothers' depression symptoms only at low levels of hurricane-related stress. Rather than the emergence of reciprocal effects, mother's depression symptoms and children's internalizing symptoms changed in tandem after Hurricane Sandy. High levels of Hurricane Sandy stress did not produce symptom spillover effects, but rather may have interrupted the unfolding of normative developmental parent-child reciprocal symptom processes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Children's self-blame appraisals about their mothers' depressive symptoms and risk for internalizing symptoms

Maternal depressive symptoms are a robust predictor of children's risk for internalizing symptoms, yet not all children are negatively affected by exposure to their mothers' symptoms. The present study tested children's self-blame appraisals as a moderator of the association between maternal depressive symptoms and children's internalizing symptoms, controlling for children's negative attributional style. We hypothesized that the relation between maternal depressive symptoms and children's internalizing symptoms would be stronger for children who blamed themselves more for their mothers' symptoms. Participants were 129 mother-child dyads (M child age = 13.63, SD = 2.2; 52.7% female; 38.8% White, 31% African American, 22.5% Latinx/Hispanic) recruited from the community. Results indicated that maternal depressive symptoms were associated with higher levels of children's internalizing symptoms for children who reported higher, but not lower, levels of self-blame appraisals. Results were consistent using mothers' or children's reports of their own and each other's symptoms. The findings highlight the importance of assessing children's appraisals about their mothers' depressive symptoms, and suggest that preventive interventions should target children who endorse higher levels of self-blame appraisals. Furthermore, children's self-blame appraisals about mothers' depressive symptoms should be considered as a target of treatment for child internalizing disorders. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Neurofeedback and neuroplasticity of visual self-processing in depressed and healthy adolescents: A preliminary study

Adolescence is a neuroplastic period for self-processing and emotion regulation transformations, that if derailed, are linked to persistent depression. Neural mechanisms of adolescent self-processing and emotion regulation ought to be targeted via new treatments, given moderate effectiveness of current interventions. Thus, we implemented a novel neurofeedback protocol in adolescents to test the engagement of circuits sub-serving self-processing and emotion regulation.

Methods

Depressed (n = 34) and healthy (n = 19) adolescents underwent neurofeedback training using a novel task. They saw their happy face as a cue to recall positive memories and increased displayed amygdala and hippocampus activity. The control condition was counting-backwards while viewing another happy face. A self vs. other face recognition task was administered before and after neurofeedback training.

Results

Adolescents showed higher frontotemporal activity during neurofeedback and higher amygdala and hippocampus and hippocampi activity in time series and region of interest analyses respectively. Before neurofeedback there was higher saliency network engagement for self-face recognition, but that network engagement was lower after neurofeedback. Depressed youth exhibited higher fusiform, inferior parietal lobule and cuneus activity during neurofeedback, but controls appeared to increase amygdala and hippocampus activity faster compared to depressed adolescents.

Conclusions

Neurofeedback recruited frontotemporal cortices that support social cognition and emotion regulation. Amygdala and hippocampus engagement via neurofeedback appears to change limbic-frontotemporal networks during self-face recognition. A placebo group or condition and contrasting amygdala and hippocampus, hippocampi or right amygdala versus frontal loci of neurofeedback, e.g. dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, with longer duration of neurofeedback training will elucidate dosage and loci of neurofeedback in adolescents.

Self-criticism and dependency in female adolescents: Prediction of first onsets and disentangling the relationships between personality, stressful life events, and internalizing psychopathology

There is substantial evidence that personality traits, such as self-criticism and dependency, predict the development of depression and anxiety symptoms, as well as depressive episodes. However, it is unknown whether self-criticism and dependency predict the first onset of depressive and anxiety disorders, and unclear how to characterize dynamic mechanisms by which these traits, stressful life events, and psychopathology influence one another over time. In this study, 550 female adolescents were assessed at baseline, 528 and 513 of whom were assessed again at Waves 2 and 3, respectively, over the course of 18 months. Self-criticism and dependency were assessed with self-report inventories, depressive and anxiety disorders were assessed with diagnostic interviews, and stressful life events were assessed via semistructured interview. Logistic regression analyses showed that self-criticism and dependency significantly predicted the first onset of nearly all depressive and anxiety disorders (significant polychoric rs ranged from .15-.42). Subsequent path analyses focused on prediction of depression, and supported several conceptual models of personality-stress-psychopathology relationships. In particular, Personality × Stress interactions were evident for both dependency and self-criticism. These interactions took the form of dual vulnerability, such that stressful life events predicted an increased probability of a later depressive disorder only at low levels of each trait. Results suggest the traits of self-criticism and dependency are important to consider in understanding who is at risk for depressive and anxiety disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record

Do cognitive distortions explain the longitudinal relationship between life adversity and emotional and behavioural problems in secondary school children?

Research has shown that children exposed to life adversity are at higher risk of negative developmental outcomes than those enduring lower stress levels. Life adversity can lead, among other things, to emotional and behavioural problems. Several factors have been studied to explain this relationship, with several investigators underlining the role of thought structures such as cognitive distortions, which refer to negatively biased information-processing of external events. This can help explain why some individuals characterised by adverse personal life stories interpret ambiguous events in a negatively biased way. This study was aimed at assessing the mediating role of cognitive distortions in the longitudinal relationship between life adversity and two dimensions of psychopathology, namely, emotional and behavioural problems in 247 secondary school children attending three state secondary schools in one county in the South East of England. An increase in life adversity was associated with an increase in cognitive distortions, which was in turn related to a higher number of symptoms reflecting behavioural issues. In terms of practical applications, an effort to protect children from further exposure to adverse life events could represent a step forward to prevent the development of future behavioural problems in at-risk children.

Experiential avoidance in the vulnerability to depression among adolescent females

BACKGROUND

Although various mechanisms in the maternal transmission of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) have been investigated, it is unknown whether experiential avoidance (EA) is a vulnerability factor in the development of depression or a consequence of the illness. The present study utilized a high-risk design to determine if EA indeed poses vulnerability to adolescent MDD. Secondly, we examined the means by which adolescent EA may come to pose vulnerability, namely that it explains the relation between maternal EA and adolescent depressive symptoms.

METHODS

One-hundred and forty-six biological mother/adolescent daughter dyads comprised three diagnostic groups: mothers with a history of MDD and their depressed daughters (MDD; n=21), mothers with a history of MDD and their never-depressed daughters (high-risk, HR; n=69), and healthy controls (HCs; n=56).

RESULTS

Groups differed on daughter EA such that the MDD group reported greater EA than the HR group, which in turn reported greater EA than HCs. Daughter EA mediated the relation between maternal EA and daughter depressive symptoms after controlling for maternal depressive symptoms.

LIMITATIONS

Strengths aside, this study included a relatively small group of depressed mother-daughter dyads and relied on cross-sectional self-report data.

CONCLUSIONS

EA appears to serve as a vulnerability factor for adolescent MDD, and the mechanistic role of daughter EA highlights the significance of intergenerational EA in the maternal transmission of depression. Therapeutic approaches may therefore consider reducing the transmission of EA from mothers to daughters.

Screening for rumination and brooding may be a feasible method of identifying adolescents at high risk for depression

The purpose of this study was to explore the usefulness of a standardized measure of rumination and brooding (Ruminative Response Scale [RRS]), to accurately identify adolescents at risk for depression. Participants (N=111; mean age=13.06 years) completed standardized measures in a cross-sectional study. ROC analyses yielded high area under the curve estimates for the RRS (.94, p<.001) and the brooding subscale (.91, p<.001), indicating both are excellent at discriminating between adolescents at high and low risk for depressive symptoms. Findings suggest depression prevention may benefit from screening for and targeting rumination or brooding with adolescence.

Cognitive and interpersonal vulnerability to suicidal ideation: a weakest link approach

In contrast with traditional models of risk for suicidal ideation that combine multiple vulnerability components into one composite measure, weakest link perspectives posit that individuals are as vulnerable as their most vulnerable component (or "weakest link"). Such a perspective has been applied to depression, but has not been evaluated with respect to suicidal ideation. Thus, the goal of the present study was to apply a weakest link perspective to the study of suicidal ideation. We hypothesized that an individual's "weakest link" among vulnerability components from the hopelessness theory (HT) and interpersonal psychological theory of suicide (IPTS) would interact with high levels of stress to predict increases in suicidal ideation over a 6-week period better than the traditional conceptualizations of HT or IPTS. Participants were 171 college students who completed measures of cognitive vulnerability, stress, and suicidal ideation twice over a period of 6 weeks. Bayesian regression analyses supported our hypotheses. The data fit the weakest link model using HT and IPTS components better than traditional conceptualizations of HT and IPTS. This study implies that weakest link models from depression may be useful in understanding which individuals are most vulnerable to experiencing suicidal ideation in the context of stress.

Prevention of depression and anxiety symptoms in adolescents: 42 and 54 months follow-up of the Aussie Optimism Program-Positive Thinking Skills

Anxiety and depression are the most commonly reported mental health problems amongst Australian children and adolescents. The Aussie Optimism: Program-Positive Thinking Skills (AOP-PTS) is a universal intervention program based on cognitive and behavioral strategies and aimed to prevent anxiety and depression in the middle primary school children aged 9–10 years old. 370 students randomly assigned to the intervention and control condition participated in the 42 and 54 months follow-up study. The intervention group received the AOP-PTS 10-week program and the control group received the regular health education curriculum. Students were assessed on anxiety, depression and attribution style at school whilst parents reported on their child’s externalizing and internalizing problems at home. Results showed there were no significant reductions across groups in the depressive and anxiety symptoms, and attribution style at either 42 or 54 months follow-up. These findings suggest that AOP-PTS has short and medium term effects but were not sustained in longer term period. Future strategies to achieve the desirable outcomes in a longitudinal study are discussed.

Understanding Familial Risk for Depression

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is among the most prevalent, debilitating, and costly of all illnesses worldwide. Investigators have made considerable progress in elucidating psychological and biological correlates of MDD; however, far less is known about factors that are implicated in risk for depression. Given the high risk for MDD associated with a family history of depression, investigators have worked to understand both the effects of parental depression on offspring and the mechanisms that might underlie familial risk for MDD. In this article, we describe the evolution of investigators’ understanding of the psychobiological functioning of children of depressed parents, and we present recent findings concerning cognitive and neural aspects of risk for MDD using our high-risk sample as a context and foundation for this discussion. We integrate these data in a conceptualization of mechanisms underlying risk for depression, focusing on the constructs of emotion dysregulation and stress reactivity. Recognizing the 25-year anniversary of the Association for Psychological Science, we place this presentation in the context of the past 25 years of research on depression. We conclude by discussing the significance of emotion dysregulation and stress reactivity for studying risk for depression, for developing approaches to prevent MDD, and for moving theory and research in this field forward.

[Vulnerability factors for school stress among junior high school students: over-adaptation and evaluation of emotion]

This study investigated the role of over-adaptation and evaluation of emotion as stress vulnerability factors among Japanese junior high school students. Based upon the diathesis-stress model, 720 students (348 boys and 372 girls) completed questionnaires about stress responses, over-adaptation, and evaluation of emotion. Two weeks later, they completed the questionnaire about stress responses along a questionnaire about school stressors. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that boys with high over-adaptation tendencies reported a greater stress responses following the occurrence of negative school stressors than non-over-adaptive students. In addition, evaluation of emotion was found to interact with stressors to predict stress responses in boys. These results were not found in girls.

Problem-solving orientation and attributional style as predictors of depressive symptoms in Egyptian adolescents with visual impairment

The association between attributional style (AS), problem-solving orientation (PSO), and gender on depressive symptoms was investigated in Egyptian adolescents with visual impairment (VI). After being written in Braille, measures of AS, PSO, and depression were administered to 110 adolescents with VI, ages 12–17 years, from a residential school for pupils with VI. Regression analyses showed that gender, negative general (NG) attributions, and negative problem-solving orientation (NPSO) were the strongest predictors of depressive symptoms in adolescents with VI, whereas negative internal (NI) attributions and avoidant problem-solving orientation (APSO) were weak predictors. The findings are discussed in relation to different perspectives and models of depression, particularly the stress-diathesis model. The theory that these cognitive variables are core constituents of a cognitive diathesis model of depression in individuals with VI is not supported by this study.

Development and validation of a postpartum depression risk score in delivered women, Iran

BACKGROUND

Investigators describe a dramatic increase in the incidence of mood disorder after childbirth, with the largest risk in the 90 days after delivery. This study is designed to develop a relatively simple screening tool and validate it from the significant variables associated with postpartum depression (PPD) to detect delivered women at high risk of having PPD.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In the cross-sectional study, 6,627 from a total of 7,300 delivered women, 2-12 months after delivery were recruited and screened for PPD. Split-half validation was used to develop the risk score. The training data set was used to develop the model, and the validation data set was used to validate the developed the risk factors of postpartum depression risk score using multiple logistic regression analysis to compute the β coefficients and odds ratio (OR) for the dependent variables associated with possible PPD in this study. Calibration was checked using the Hosmer and Lemeshow test. A score for independent variables contributing to PPD was calculated. Cutoff points using a trade-off between the sensitivity and specificity of risk scores derived from PPD model using the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve.

RESULTS

The predicted and observed PPD were not different (P value = 0.885). The aROC with area under the curve (S.E.) of 0.611 (0.008) for predicting PPD using the suggested cut-off point of -0.702, the proportion of participants screening positive for PPD was 70.9% (sensitivity) (CI 95%; 69.5, 72.3) while the proportion screening negative was 60.1% (specificity) (CI 95%; 58.2, 62.1).

CONCLUSION

Despite of the relatively low sensitivity and specificity in this study, it could be a simple, practical and useful screening tool to identify individual at high risk for PPD in the target population.

Testing a model of depression among Thai adolescents

PROBLEM

This predictive correlational study was designed to test a comprehensive model of depression for Thai adolescents.

METHODS

This sample included 800 high school students in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Data were collected using self-reported measures of depression, negative automatic thoughts, effective social problem solving, ineffective social problem solving, rumination, parental care, parental overprotection, and negative life events.

FINDINGS

Structural equation modeling revealed that negative automatic thoughts, effective and ineffective social problem solving mediated the effects of rumination, negative life events, and parental care and overprotection on adolescent depression.

CONCLUSION

These findings provide new knowledge about identified factors and the mechanisms of their influence on depression among Thai adolescents, which are appropriate for targeting preventive interventions.

Translating basic psychopathology research to preventive interventions: a tribute to john R. Z. Abela

This article highlights how the many important contributions of John R. Z. Abela's research program can inform the development and implementation of interventions for preventing depression in youth. Abela provided evidence of multiple vulnerabilities to depression including cognitive (e.g., inferential style, dysfunctional attitudes, ruminative response style), interpersonal (e.g., reassurance seeking, attachment, dependency), personality (e.g., neuroticism, self-criticism), and contextual (e.g., stress, parental depression). He introduced important methodological advances to the study of the hopelessness model of depression, especially in children, including the "weakest link" approach, cognitive priming, and idiographic measurement of stress. We briefly review what is currently known about the prevention of depression regarding intervention targets, content, outcomes, effect sizes, moderators, mediators, specificity, and durability. Next, we summarize several of Abela's contributions that are most relevant to the prevention of depression. We describe the implications of Abela's work for the development, implementation, and testing of programs aimed at preventing depression and discuss important challenges such as the transfer of training to and the personalization of interventions so as to capitalize on individuals' strengths versus compensate for their weaknesses.

Cognitive vulnerabilities and depression versus other psychopathology symptoms and diagnoses in early adolescence

We examined the concurrent associations between multiple cognitive vulnerabilities to depression featured in hopelessness theory, Beck's theory, and response styles theory and depressive symptoms and diagnoses in a sample of early adolescents. We also examined the specificity of these cognitive vulnerabilities to depression versus anxiety and externalizing psychopathology, controlling for co-occurring symptoms and diagnoses. Male and female, Caucasian and African American, 12- to 13-year-old adolescents were assessed in a cross-sectional design. Cognitive vulnerabilities of hopelessness, inferential style, rumination, and self-referent information processing were assessed with self-reports and behavioral tasks. Symptoms and diagnoses of depressive, anxiety, and externalizing disorders were assessed with self-report questionnaires and diagnostic interviews. Hopelessness exhibited the greatest specificity to depressive symptoms and diagnoses, whereas negative inferential styles, rumination, and negative self-referent information processing were associated with both depressive and anxiety symptoms and diagnoses and, in some cases, with externalizing disorders. Consistent with cognitive theories of depression, hopelessness, negative inferential styles, rumination, and negative self-referent information processing were associated with depressive symptoms and diagnoses. However, with the exception of hopelessness, most of the remaining cognitive vulnerabilities were not specific to depression. With further maturation of our sample, these cognitive vulnerabilities may become more specific to depression as cognitive styles further develop and consolidate, the rates of depression increase, and individuals' presentations of psychopathology become more differentiated.

Stress-reactive rumination, negative cognitive style, and stressors in relationship to depressive symptoms in non-clinical youth

The role of cognitive vulnerability in the development of depressive symptoms in youth might depend on age and gender. The current study examined cognitive vulnerability models in relationship to depressive symptoms from a developmental perspective. For that purpose, 805 youth (aged 10-18, 59.9% female) completed self-report measures. Stress-reactive rumination was strongly related to depressive symptoms. Negative cognitive style (i.e., tendency to make negative inferences) in the domains of achievement and appearance was more strongly and consistently related to depressive symptoms in girls compared to boys. Negative cognitive style in the interpersonal domain was positively related to depressive symptoms in both girls and boys, except in early adolescent girls reporting few stressors. To conclude, the cognitive vulnerability-stress interaction may be moderated by the combination of age and gender in youth, which may explain inconsistent findings so far. Current findings highlight the importance of taking into account domain specifity when examining models of depression in youth.

Coping, Negative Cognitive Style and Depressive Symptoms in Children of Depressed Parents

Coping and negative cognitive style were studied in relation to depressive symptoms in children at risk for depression. In a sample of 165 children (ages 9-15) of depressed parents, the main and interaction effects of coping and negative cognitive style were examined in association with children's depressive symptoms measured by parent and child report on questionnaires and diagnostic interviews. Negative cognitive style was related to three types of coping (primary control, secondary control, and disengagement). Furthermore, coping and negative cognitive style made independent contributions to depressive symptoms. Little support emerged for interactive effects on depressive symptoms. Implications for future research with this high-risk population of children are considered.

Effects of stress, attributional style and perceived parental support on depressive symptoms in early adolescence: a prospective analysis

This study prospectively examined the role of attributional style and perceived parental support as intrapersonal and interpersonal risk and resilience factors to increases in depressive symptoms in the face of stress with a sample of 497 middle school students. Results demonstrated that boys with a pessimistic attributional style and low or moderate levels of parental support had higher levels of depressive symptoms than boys with high levels of support under high levels of stress but not under low levels of stress. Girls with a pessimistic attributional style and low or moderate levels of perceived parental support had higher levels of depressive symptoms than those with an optimistic attributional style, regardless of the level of stress. These results highlight the need to consider more complex models with multiple moderators, such as cognitive styles and parental support, as well as gender differences, in understanding the development of depressive symptoms in early adolescence.

Cognitive vulnerability to depression: a comparison of the weakest link, keystone and additive models

Multiple theories of cognitive vulnerability to depression have been proposed, each focusing on different aspects of negative cognition and utilising different measures of risk. Various methods of integrating such multiple indices of risk have been examined in the literature, and each demonstrates some promise. Yet little is known about the interrelations among these methods, or their incremental validity in predicting changes in depression. The present study compared three integrative models of cognitive vulnerability: the additive, weakest link, and keystone models. Support was found for each model as predictive of depression over time, but only the weakest link model demonstrated incremental utility in predicting changes in depression over the other models. We also explore the correlation between these models and each model's unique contribution to predicting onset of depressive symptoms.

Cognitive control reduces sensitivity to relational aggression among adolescent girls

Relational aggression is a type of aggression that aims to hurt others through relationships and includes behaviors such as gossip and ostracism. This type of aggression is very common among adolescent girls, and in its more intense forms has been linked with poor psychosocial outcomes, including depression and suicide. In the present study we investigated whether individual differences in sensitivity to relational aggression among adolescent girls predicted recruitment of neural networks associated with executive function and cognitive control. Neural response was measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging during an affect recognition task that included unfamiliar peer faces. A finding of relatively fewer reports of being victimized by relational aggression was associated with increased recruitment of bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortices as well as anterior and posterior cingulate cortices in response to the affect recognition task, as well as with greater competence on behavioral measures of executive function. Our results suggest that girls who are able to recruit specific frontal networks to improve cognitive and executive control are less sensitive to relational aggression.

The Role of Repetitive Negative Thoughts in the Vulnerability for Emotional Problems in Non-Clinical Children

The current study examined the role of repetitive negative thoughts in the vulnerability for emotional problems in non-clinical children aged 8-13 years (N = 158). Children completed self-report questionnaires for assessing (1) neuroticism and behavioral inhibition as indicators of general vulnerability (2) worry and rumination which are two important manifestations of repetitive negative thoughts, and (3) emotional problems (i.e., anxiety, depression, and sleep difficulties). Results demonstrated that there were positive correlations between measures of general vulnerability, repetitive negative thoughts, and emotional problems. Further, support was found for a model in which worry and rumination acted as partial mediators in the relation between neuroticism and symptoms of anxiety and depression. In the case of sleep difficulties, no evidence was obtained for such a mediation model. In fact, data suggested that sleeping difficulties are better conceived as an epiphenomenon of high symptom levels of anxiety and depression or as a risk factor for the development of other types of psychopathology. Finally, besides neuroticism, the temperamental trait of behavioral inhibition appeared to play a unique direct role in the model predicting anxiety symptoms but not in the models predicting depressive symptoms or sleep difficulties. To conclude, the current findings seem to indicate that worry and rumination contribute to children's vulnerability for anxiety and depression.

Seeing the silver lining: cognitive reappraisal ability moderates the relationship between stress and depressive symptoms

Individuals differ in their adjustment to stressful life events, with some exhibiting impaired functioning, including depression, while others exhibit impressive resilience. The present study examined the hypothesis that the ability to deploy a particularly adaptive type of emotion regulation-cognitive reappraisal-may be a protective factor. It expands upon existing research in three ways. First, participants' ability to use reappraisal (cognitive reappraisal ability: CRA) was measured by using a behavioral challenge that assessed changes in experiential and physiological domains, rather than questionnaires. Second, all participants had been exposed to one or more recent stressful life events, a context in which emotion regulation may be particularly important. Third, a community sample of 78 women aged 20 to 60 was recruited, as opposed to undergraduates. Results indicate that, at low levels of stress, participants' CRA was not associated with depressive symptoms. However, at high levels of stress, women with high CRA exhibited less depressive symptoms than those with low CRA, suggesting that CRA may be an important moderator of the link between stress and depressive symptoms.

Diverse Patterns in the Development of Depressive Symptoms Among Emerging Adults

This article examines depressive symptoms over a 4-year period in a racially diverse community sample of 1,143 18- to 22-year-old emerging adults using latent growth and mixture modeling and data collected at three time points. Participants were high school seniors randomly chosen from nine public schools in a metropolitan region in the Northeastern United States. Mixture analyses yielded four distinct groups: one large group with low, stable rates of depression, a smaller group who began with higher levels of depression that then declined steeply, a group who began with moderate levels that steeply increased, and a small group with high stable rates of depressive symptoms. We examined risks for depressive symptoms including poverty status, African American race, Hispanic ethnicity, gender, and trauma history, controlling for socioeconomic status (SES) as represented by maternal education. Some risks predicted membership in more than one symptom group, lending support to the idea that emerging adulthood is a period of diverse outcomes, in which previous circumstances may predict to multiple pathways, and established risk factors do not always lead to poor outcomes.

Temperamental emotionality in preschool-aged children and depressive disorders in parents: associations in a large community sample

Researchers and clinicians have long hypothesized that there are temperamental vulnerabilities to depressive disorders. Despite the fact that individual differences in temperament should be evident in early childhood, most studies have focused on older youth and adults. We hypothesized that if early childhood temperament is a risk factor for depressive disorders, it should be associated with better established risk markers, such parental depression. Hence, we examined the associations of laboratory-assessed positive emotionality (PE), negative emotionality (NE), and behavioral inhibition (BI) with semistructured interview-based diagnoses of parental depressive disorders in a community sample of 536 3-year old children. Children with higher levels of NE and BI had higher probabilities of having a depressed parent. However, both main effects were qualified by interactions with child PE. At high and moderate (but not low) levels of child PE, greater NE and BI were associated with higher rates of parental depression. Conversely, at low (but not high and moderate) levels of child NE, low PE was associated with higher rates of parental depression. Child temperament was not associated with parental anxiety and substance use disorders. These findings indicate that laboratory-assessed temperament in young children is associated with parental depressive disorders; however, the relations are complex, and it is important to consider interactions between temperament dimensions rather than focusing exclusively on main effects.

Comparing cognitive, relational and stress mechanisms underlying gender differences in recovery from bereavement-related internalizing problems

Four putative mediators underlying gender differences in youths' recovery from bereavement-related internalizing problems were examined in a sample (N = 109; age range = 8-16 years at the initial assessment) of parentally bereaved youth: intrusive thoughts about grief, postdeath stressors, negative appraisals of postdeath stressors, and fear of abandonment. A three-wave parallel process longitudinal growth model design was employed. Changes in internalizing problems and mediators were measured as a function of months since the death. Girls showed stability in depression symptoms and a slight rise in anxiety symptoms; boys' trajectories of symptoms of anxiety and depression declined. Girls' higher initial levels of postdeath stressors, threat appraisals and fear of abandonment mediated their higher level of internalizing problems 14 months later. Girls' higher initial fear of abandonment also mediated additional growth in anxiety relative to boys.

Perceived social competence, negative social interactions, and negative cognitive style predict depressive symptoms during adolescence

The current study examined whether negative interactions with parents and peers would mediate the longitudinal association between perceived social competence and depressive symptoms and whether a negative cognitive style would moderate the longitudinal association between negative interactions with parents and increases in depressive symptoms. Youth (N = 350; 6th-10th graders) completed self-report measures of perceived social competence, negative interactions with parents and peers, negative cognitive style, and depressive symptoms at three time points. Results indicated that the relationship between perceived social competence and depressive symptoms was partially mediated by negative interactions with parents but not peers. Further, baseline negative cognitive style interacted with greater negative parent interactions to predict later depressive symptoms.

Parent ratings of behavioral functioning after traumatic brain injury in very young children

OBJECTIVE

The behavioral ratings of preschoolers who sustained traumatic brain injury (TBI) prior to the age of 2 years and a typically developing group were compared; predictors of behavioral functioning were examined.

METHODS

Eighty-two 3-year-olds comprised mild TBI (n = 31), moderate/severe TBI (n = 20), and typically developing (n = 31) groups, with Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) as the primary outcome measure.

RESULTS

Groups differed on the CBCL Withdrawal Scale. No differences emerged in the proportion of children demonstrating clinical elevations, with average mean scores for each group. Exploratory analyses yielded no differences between inflicted, non-inflicted, and typical groups. Glasgow Coma Scale and Self-Report Family Inventory Leadership predicted Externalizing Problems; developmental level predicted Internalizing Problems.

CONCLUSIONS

After early TBI, preschoolers did not differ from one another or a matched comparison group in behavioral ratings; however, it may be premature to infer that preschoolers do not evidence behavioral dysfunction after early TBI.

Does the Hopelessness Theory Account for Sex Differences in Depressive Symptoms Among Young Adults?

The present study examined whether the sex difference in depression could be accounted for within the framework of the hopelessness theory of depression. Specifically, we tested whether young adults' negative inferential styles mediated the sex difference in depressive symptoms or whether sex moderated the cognitive vulnerability-stress effects on depressive symptoms in a multi-wave longitudinal study. In doing so, we examined the different forms of negative inferential styles separately (causes, consequences, self-characteristics, composite, weakest link). Results did not support the mediation hypothesis. In terms of the moderation hypothesis, we found significant sex 9 inferential style 9 stress interactions predicting depressive symptoms across the follow-up, with the vulnerability-stress effects significant for men but not women. Among women, negative inferential styles and life events were independent predictors of depressive symptoms. In these moderation analyses, each of the inferential styles exhibited similar predictive validity.