Continuity of Psychopathology Throughout Adolescence and Young Adulthood

Initial validation of the Multidimensional Adolescent Functioning Scale (MAFS) in Spanish-speaking students from Chilean secondary schools

INTRODUCTION

Psychosocial functioning is closely associated with psychopathology and wellbeing in different populations, particularly adolescents. Despite its relevance, measures assessing psychosocial functioning in healthy adolescents are scant as most focus on adults or clinical populations. We evaluated the psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Adolescent Functioning Scale (MAFS), a self-report questionnaire created to assess three dimensions of psychosocial functioning ('general functioning', 'family-related functioning', and 'peer-related functioning') in adolescents from the general population.

METHODS

After translation and cultural adaptation, we administered the Spanish MAFS to 619 adolescents aged 14 to 19. We assessed the factor structure, internal consistency, and associations with depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, cognitive-behavioral skills, cognitive reappraisal (CR), and expressive suppression (ES). We additionally tested for measurement invariance based on biological sex.

RESULTS

The original three-factor structure showed the best fit. Internal consistency was good for the total scale (ω = 0.874; α = 0.869; GLB = 0.939, r_M=0.216) and for all subscales (ω = 0.806-0.839; α = 0.769 to 0.812; GLB = 0.861-0.873). Correlations between all three MAFS subscales were significant, ranging between 0.291 and 0.554. All MAFS subscales correlated positively and significantly with cognitive-behavioral skills and adaptive regulatory strategies and negatively with depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation.

CONCLUSION

The Spanish MAFS translation is a valid and reliable self-report measure to assess three domains of psychosocial functioning in adolescents aged 14-19 from the general population.

Annual Research Review: Stability of psychopathology: lessons learned from longitudinal population surveys

BACKGROUND

Psychopathology has been long recognized as a fluctuating process with various expressions over time, which can only be properly understood if we follow individuals and their social context from childhood up until adulthood. Longitudinal population-based studies have yielded powerful data to analyze this process. However, the resulting publications have not been reflected upon with regard to (a) the homotypic and heterotypic stability of internalizing and externalizing problems and (b) how transactions between psychopathology and environmental factors shape its development.

METHODS

In this narrative review, we primarily focused on population-based studies that followed cohorts repeatedly from an early age (<18 years) onwards, across multiple stages of development, using statistical methods that permit inferences about within-person bidirectional associations between internalizing and externalizing problems or psychopathology-environment transactions.

RESULTS

There is robust evidence that mental health problems in childhood or adolescence predict psychiatric problems later in development. In terms of the broadband domains internalizing and externalizing problems, homotypic stability greatly exceeds heterotypic stability and transitions from purely internalizing to purely externalizing problems or vice versa are rare. Homotypic rank-order stabilities seem to increase over time. Findings regarding transactions with environmental factors are less robust, due to widely varying research topics and designs, and a scarcity of studies that separated between-person differences from within-person changes. In general, however, the literature shows little consistent evidence for substantial mutual prospective influences between psychopathology and environmental factors.

CONCLUSIONS

Longitudinal surveys have strongly augmented insight into homotypic and heterotypic stability and change. Attempts to unravel the myriad of risk and protective factors that place individuals on particular pathways or deflect them from these pathways are still in a pioneering phase and have not yet generated robust findings. As a way forward, we propose to join forces and develop a common risk factor taxonomy.