Gender Differences in the Relationship Between Offending, Self-harm and Depression in Adolescence and Young Adulthood

Longitudinal associations between conduct problems and depressive symptoms among girls and boys with early conduct problems

Youth with conduct problems (CP) may experience high rates of depressive symptoms (DS). However, little is known about the direction of the longitudinal associations between CP and DS in this specific population. Although girls with CP appear at greater risk than boys for presenting comorbid depression, empirical research on gender differences in these associations is even sparser. The current study used autoregressive latent trajectory models to compare four perspectives with hypotheses regarding the longitudinal associations between CP and DS, while taking into account the evolution of both problems. We also examined gender differences in the longitudinal associations. A total of 345 children (40.6 % female) presenting with a high level of CP in early elementary school (mean age at study inception = 8.52; SD = .94) were evaluated annually over a four-year period (5 measurement time points). The results revealed that CP and DS were quite stable over time. Moreover, CP and DS showed strong covariation at each measurement time point, but only one significant positive cross-lagged association between the two processes, indicating that higher levels of DS at time 3 were associated with higher levels of CP 1 year later. No differences were observed in the longitudinal associations between CP and DS in boys and girls. Given the comorbidity and stability of CP and DS, these findings suggest that DS should be systematically evaluated among children with early clinically significant CP, and treatment plans should include interventions aimed at both CP and DS among children who present with both types of problems.

Maternal caregiving and girls' depressive symptom and antisocial behavior trajectories: an examination among high-risk youth

Past research has identified maternal depression and family of origin maltreatment as precursors to adolescent depression and antisocial behavior. Caregiving experiences have been identified as a factor that may ameliorate or accentuate adolescent psychopathology trajectories. Using a multilevel approach that pools the unique attributes of two geographically diverse, yet complementary, longitudinal research designs, the present study examined the role of maternal caregiver involvement as a factor that promotes resilience-based trajectories related to depressive symptoms and antisocial behaviors among adolescent girls. The first sample comprises a group of US-based adolescent girls in foster care (n = 100; mean age = 11.50 years), each of whom had a history of childhood maltreatment and removal from their biological parent(s). The second sample comprises a group of UK-based adolescent girls at high familial risk for depression (n = 145; mean age = 11.70 years), with all girls having biological mothers who experienced recurrent depression. Analyses examined the role of maternal caregiving on girls' trajectories of depression and antisocial behavior, while controlling for levels of co-occurring psychopathology at each time point. Results suggest increasing levels of depressive symptoms for girls at familial risk for depression but decreasing levels of depression for girls in foster care. Foster girls' antisocial behavior also decreased over time. Maternal caregiver involvement was differentially related to intercept and slope parameters in both samples. Results are discussed with respect to the benefits of applying multilevel (multisample, multiple outcome) approaches to identifying family-level factors that can reduce negative developmental outcomes in high-risk youth.