This study examined the longitudinal relationship of early elementary predictors to adolescent depression 7 years later. The sample consisted of 938 students who have been part of a larger longitudinal study that started in 1993. Data collected from parents, teachers, and youth self-reports on early risk factors when students were in 1st and 2nd grade were compared to adolescent self-reported depression 7 years later. Regression analyses were conducted with each risk factor separately and combined, while also examining gender and the gender × risk factor interaction. Results showed that the risk factors predominately in the individual characteristic group (depression, anxiety, and antisocial behavior) were predictive of depression 7 years later. Gender differences among the longitudinal risk factors were also found in relation to adolescent depression. Discussion of the results focuses on the practice of children’s mental health assessment and implications for the development of prevention and intervention programs for depression.
Achenbach, T.M. ( 1991a). Manual for the child behavior checklist/4-18 and 1991 profile. Burlington: Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont.
2.
Achenbach, T.M. ( 1991b). Manual for the teacher’s report form and 1991 profile. Burlington: Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont.
3.
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author .
4.
Birmaher, B., Ryan, N.D., Williamson, D.E., Brent, D.A., Kaufman, J., Dahl, R.E., et al. (1996). Childhood and adolescent depression: A review of the past 10 years. Part 1. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 35, 1427-1439.
5.
Bond, L., Toumbourou, J., Thomas, L., Catalano, R.F., & Patton, G. ( 2005). Individual, family, school and community risk and protective factors for depressive symptoms in adolescents: A comparison of risk profiles for substance use and depressive symptoms. Prevention Science , 6, 73-88.
6.
Catalano, R.F., Mazza, J.J., Harachi, T.W., Abbott, R.D., Haggerty, K.P., & Fleming, C.B. ( 2003). Raising healthy children through enhancing social development in elementary school: Results after 1.5 years. Journal of School Psychology, 41, 143-164.
7.
Cicchetti, D., Rogosch, F.A., & Toth, S.L. ( 1994). A developmental psychopathology perspective on depression in children and adolescents. In W. M. Reynolds & H. F. Johnston (Eds.), Handbook of depression in children and adolescents. Issues in clinical child psychology (pp. 123-141). New York: Plenum Press.
8.
Cicchetti, D., & Sroufe, L.A. ( 2000). The past as prologue to the future: The times, they’ve been a-changin.’ Development and Psychopathology , 12, 255-264.
9.
Cicchetti, D., & Toth, S.L. ( 1998). The development of depression in children and adolescents . American Psychologist, 53, 221-241.
10.
Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. ( 1999). Initial impact of the Fast Track Prevention Trial for Conduct Problems: II. Classroom effects. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67, 648-657.
11.
Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. ( 2002). Predictor variables associated with positive Fast Track outcomes at the end of third grade. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 30, 37-52.
12.
Cummings, E.M., Davies, P.T., & Campbell, S.B. (2000). Developmental psychopathology and family process: Theory, research, and clinical implications. New York: Guilford Press.
13.
Duggal, S., Carlson, E.A., Sroufe, L.A., & Egeland, B. ( 2001). Depressive symptomatology in childhood and adolescence . Development and Psychopathology, 13, 143-164.
14.
Emery, R.E. ( 1989). Family violence. American Psychologist , 44, 321-328.
15.
Gjerde, P.F. ( 1995). Alternative pathways to chronic depressive symptoms in young adults: Gender differences in developmental trajectories. Child Development, 66, 1277-1300.
16.
Greenberg, M.T., & Kusche, C.A. ( 1990). Manual for Seattle Personality Scale for Children (Revised) . Seattle: University of Washington .
17.
Haggerty, K.P., Catalano, R.F., Harachi, T.W., & Abbott, R.D. ( 1998). Description de l’implementation d’un programme de prévention des problèmes de comportement à l’adolescence. [Preventing adolescent problem behaviors: A comprehensive intervention description] . Criminologie, 31, 25-47.
18.
Hawkins, J.D., Smith, B.H., Hill, K.G., Kosterman, R., Catalano, R.F., & Abbott, R.D. ( 2003). Understanding and preventing crime and violence: Findings from the Seattle Social Development Project. In T. P. Thornberry & M. D. Krohn (Eds.), Taking stock of delinquency: An overview of findings from contemporary longitudinal studies (pp. 255-312). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.
19.
Holsen, I., Kraft, P., & Vitterso, J. ( 2000). Stability in depressed mood in adolescence: Results from a 6-year longitudinal panel study. Journal of Youth and Adolescence , 29, 61-78.
20.
Jaffee, S.R., Moffitt, T.E., Caspi, A., Fombonne, E., Poulton, R., & Martin, J. ( 2002). Differences in early childhood risk factors for juvenile-onset and adult-onset depression. Archives of General Psychiatry , 59, 215-222.
21.
Jellinek, M.S., & Snyder, J.B. ( 1998). Depression and suicide in children and adolescents . Pediatrics in Review, 19, 255-264.
22.
Kendler, K.S., Davis, C.G., & Kessler, R.C. ( 1997). The familial aggregation of common psychiatric and substance use disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey: A family history study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 170, 541-548.
23.
Kessler, R.C., & Walters, E.E. ( 1998). Epidemiology of DSM-III-R major depression and minor depression among adolescents and young adults in the National Comorbidity Survey. Depression and Anxiety, 7, 3-14.
24.
Kovacs, M. ( 1992). Children’s depression inventory. North Tonawanda, NY: Mental Health Systems .
25.
Kovacs, M., Feinberg, T.L., Crouse-Novak, M.A., Paulauskas, S.L., & Finkelstein, R. (1984). Depressive disorders in childhood. I. A longitudinal prospective study of characteristics and recovery . Archives of General Psychiatry, 41, 229-237.
26.
Lewinsohn, P.M., Gotlib, I.H., & Seeley, J.R. ( 1995). Adolescent psychopathology: IV. Specificity of psychosocial risk factors for depression and substance abuse in older adolescents . Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 34, 1221-1229.
27.
Lewinsohn, P.M., Hops, H., Roberts, R.E., Seeley, J.R., & Andrews, J.A. ( 1993). Adolescent psychopathology: I. Prevalence and incidence of depression and other DSM-III-R disorders in high school students . Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 102, 133-144.
28.
Lewinsohn, P.M., Rohde, P., & Seeley, J.R. ( 1994). Psychosocial risk factors for future adolescent suicide attempts. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology , 62, 297-305.
29.
Little, R.J.A., & Rubin, D.B. ( 1987). Statistical analysis with missing data. New York: John Wiley.
30.
Loeber, R., Farrington, D.P., Stouthamer Loeber, M., Moffitt, T.E., Caspi, A., & Lynam, D. ( 2001). Male mental health problems, psychopathy, and personality traits: Key findings from the first 14 years of the Pittsburgh Youth Study . Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review , 4, 273-297.
31.
Loeber, R., & Keenan, K. ( 1994). Interaction between conduct disorder and its comorbid conditions: Effects of age and gender. Clinical Psychology Review, 14, 497-523.
32.
Mazza, J.J. ( 2000). The relationship between posttraumatic stress symptomatology and suicidal behavior in school-based adolescents. Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior, 30, 91-103.
33.
Mazza, J.J., & Reynolds, W.M. (2001). An investigation of psychopathology in nonreferred suicidal and nonsuicidal adolescents. Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior, 31, 282-302.
34.
Mazza, J.J., & Reynolds, W.M. (2008). School-wide approaches to intervention with depression and suicide. In B. Doll & J. A. Cummings (Eds.), Transforming school mental health services: Population-based approaches to promoting the competency and wellness of children (pp. 213-241). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists .
35.
Mesman, J., Bongers, I.L., & Koot, H.M. ( 2001). Preschool developmental pathways to preadolescent internalizing and externalizing problems. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 42, 679-689.
Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Girgus, J.S. ( 1994). The emergence of gender differences in depression during adolescence. Psychological Bulletin, 115, 424-443.
38.
Nolen-Hoeksema, S., Girgus, J.S., & Seligman, M.E. (1992). Predictors and consequences of childhood depressive symptoms: A 5-year longitudinal study. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 101, 405-422.
39.
Petersen, A.C., Sarigiani, P.A., & Kennedy, R.E. ( 1991). Adolescent depression: Why more girls? Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 20, 247-271.
40.
Radloff, L.S. ( 1977). The CES-D Scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement , 1, 385-401.
41.
Reinherz, H.Z., Giaconia, R.M., Carmola Hauf, A.M., Wasserman, M.S., & Paradis, A.D. ( 2000). General and specific childhood risk factors for depression and drug disorders by early adulthood. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 39, 223-231.
Reynolds, W.M., & Johnston, H.F. (1994). The nature and study of depression in children and adolescents. In W. M. Reynolds & H. F. Johnston (Eds.), Handbook of depression in children and adolescents (pp. 3-17). New York: Plenum Press.
44.
Rutter, M. ( 2000). Psychosocial influences: Critiques, findings, and research needs. Development and Psychopathology, 12, 375-405.
45.
Rutter, M., & Sroufe, L.A. ( 2000). Developmental psychopathology: Concepts and challenges . Development and Psychopathology, 12, 265-296.
46.
Schafer, J.L., & Graham, J.W. ( 2002). Missing data: Our view of the state of the art . Psychological Methods, 7, 147-177.
47.
Schulenberg, J.E., Maggs, J.L., & O’Malley, P.M. (2003). How and why the understanding of developmental continuity and discontinuity is important: The sample case of long-term consequences of adolescent substance use. In J. T. Mortimer & M. J. Shanahan (Eds.), Handbook of the life course (pp. 413-436). New York: Plenum.
48.
Seiffge-Krenke, I., Weidemann, S., Fentner, S., Aegenheister, N., & Poeblau, M. ( 2001). Coping with school-related stress and family stress in healthy and clinically referred adolescents. European Psychologist , 6, 123-132.
49.
Sroufe, L., Egeland, B., & Carlson, E.A. ( 1999). One social world: The integrated development of parent-child and peer relationships. In W. A. Collins & B. Laursen (Eds.), Relationships as developmental contexts. The Minnesota Symposia on Child Psychology (Vol. 30. pp. 241-261). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
50.
Straus, M.A. ( 1979). Measuring intrafamily conflict and violence: The Conflict Tactics (CT) Scales. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 41, 75-88.
51.
Werthamer-Larsson, L., Kellam, S.G., & Ovesen-McGregor, K.E. (1990). Teacher interview: Teacher Observation of Classroom Adaptation-Revised (TOCA-R). In S. G. Kellam (Ed.) Johns Hopkins Prevention Center training manual. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University.
52.
Wilson, B.J., & Gottman, J.M. ( 2002). Marital conflict, repair, and parenting. In M. H. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting: Vol. 4. Social conditions and applied parenting (2nd ed., pp. 227-258). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
