The relationship of young adolescent Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) scores to their social and cognitive functioning

Academic Expectations of Stress Inventory: A Psychometric Evaluation of Validity and Reliability of the Persian Version

This study aims to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Academic Expectations of Stress Inventory (AESI) in terms of validity and reliability measurements among Persian students. A total sample of 620 high-school students (n_female = 328, n_male = 292) was recruited to complete scales on academic expectations of stress, self-efficacy, and depression. The AESI was translated from English to Persian and its translation was further checked by three experts. We used a cross-sectional research design to collect data. The results approved the internal consistency, test–retest reliability, convergent, and construct validity of the ASEI. Additionally, confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the two-factor structure of the AESI, including the expectation of self and the expectations of parents/teachers. AESI was related to depression and self-efficacy in an empirically and theoretically expected direction. Moreover, configural and metric invariance were supported by gifted vs. non-gifted groups, but not scalar. No invariance was supported by gender groups. In conclusion, the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the AESI were confirmed to be used for educational, clinical, and research purposes in Iran.

Variation in latent social profiles of adolescent ADHD and related clinical features

Social impairment is a hallmark of Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but the extent of variation in adolescent social strengths and weaknesses is unclear. We compared teacher-reported characteristics of social functioning in adolescents with a history of ADHD (N = 340), and without ADHD (N = 182) from the NIMH Collaborative Multisite Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD (MTA) at 72-month follow-up (13 - 15.9 years-old). Latent profile analysis of teacher-reported cooperation, assertion and self-control on the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS), was used to identify "social profiles". Their associations with clinical features were explored. Significant differences in social functioning were identified between adolescents with a history of ADHD, and without ADHD (ES = 0.54 - 0.77). Four distinct social profiles were identified in adolescents with a history of ADHD: unskilled (N = 24, 7%), low average (N = 144, 42%), average (N = 141, 41%), and skilled (N = 31, 9%). Profiles with worse social functioning (low average, unskilled) displayed more symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, oppositionality, depression, global impairment, and were less liked, more rejected and ignored by peers than average and skilled. Social profile membership was not associated with sex, anxiety symptoms, or remittance / persistence of ADHD. Social functioning in adolescents with a history of ADHD is variable, and associated with worse symptomology, global functioning, and peer relationships, irrespective of persistence or remittance of ADHD. Group level summaries of social difficulties in ADHD may be inadequate given nearly half of adolescents with a history of ADHD presented with average or skilled social profiles.

The Mediator Role of Perceived Stress in the Relationship between Academic Stress and Depressive Symptoms among E-learning Students with Visual Impairments

Introduction

This study examined a mediator role of perceived stress on the prediction of the effects of academic stress on depressive symptoms among e-learning students with visual impairments.

Methods

A convenience sample for this study was collected for three weeks from November to December in 2012 among students with visual impairments attending a Korean cyberuniversity in Seoul. A total of 103 students with visual impairments completed the survey via e-mail or telephone, with an overall response rate of 72.54%.

Results

The present study demonstrated that perceived stress fully mediated the effect of academic stress on depressive symptoms. Academic stress was significantly associated with perceived stress and depressive symptoms, and perceived stress was significantly associated with depressive symptoms. However, the association between academic stress and depressive symptoms was no longer significant when perceived stress was included as a mediator.

Discussion

This finding supports the full mediation model by demonstrating that academic stress indirectly influences depressive symptoms through perceived stress, and by highlighting the important contribution of perceptions of stressors.

Implications for practitioners

Cyberuniversities, professors, and disability services offices need to identify and assess what academic resources are available. To improve the accessibility of e-learning materials and settings, reasonable accommodations in e-learning settings and special online assistance services should be provided. A precollege orientation program and a training program for better adaptation and usage of the e-learning materials and technologies are needed. Senior students’ successful experiences and know-how should be shared among students with visual impairments. Psychological counseling services for students who have a high level of depressive symptoms should be provided.

Depressive Symptoms and Decision Making among African American Youth

Childhood and adolescent depression has emerged as a public health concern because of its impairment of functioning, particularly in the domains of decision making and self-efficacy. The present investigation examines the association between depressive symptoms and decision coping patterns among a nonreferred, nonclinical community sample of 276 low-income African American adolescents. The students ranged in age from 12 to 17 years. The Children's Depression Inventory was used to assess participants'depressive symptomatology. The Flinders Adolescent Decision Making Questionnaire was used for assessing participants' decision coping patterns. The instrument was group administered in classroom settings by the research staff. Findings indicated a significant association between depressive symptomatology and the use of maladaptive decision coping patterns. Perhaps increasing competence in decision making may have beneficial effects on overall mood and depressive symptoms among children and adolescents.

Depressed mood in Chinese children: Development significance for social and school adjustment

Children’s socioemotional problems have been largely neglected in Chinese collectivistic cultures. The purpose of the study was to examine contributions of depressed mood to social and school adjustment in Chinese children. A sample of children in the People’s Republic of China, initially aged 12 years, participated in this two-year longitudinal study. Data concerning depressed mood, and social and academic performance were obtained from multiple sources including self-reports, peer assessments, teacher ratings, and school records. It was found that depressed mood was stable over the two years. Moreover, depression contributed negatively to later social and school achievement and positively to the development of adjustment difficulties. These results suggest that depressed mood is a significant phenomenon in social and psychological development in Chinese children and thus deserves attention from parents, teachers and professionals.

Authoritative and Authoritarian Parenting Practices and Social and School Performance in Chinese Children

The purpose of the study was to examine the relations between authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles and social and school adjustment in Chinese children. A sample of second grade children, aged eight years, and their parents in Beijing, People’s Republic of China, participated in this study. The children were group administered a peer assessment measure of social behaviour and a sociometric nomination measure. Teachers completed a rating scale on school-related social competence and problems for each child. Data concerning child-rearing practices were obtained from parents. In addition, information on children’s academic and social competence was obtained from school records. It was found that authoritarian parenting was associated positively with aggression and negatively with peer acceptance, sociability-competence, distinguished studentship and school academic achievement. In contrast, parental authoritative style was associated positively with indices of social and school adjustment and negatively with adjustment problems. The results indicated that, inconsistent with the argument in the literature (e.g. Steinberg, Dornbusch, & Brown, 1992), authoritative and authoritarian parenting practices were relevant to social and academic performance in Chinese children.

Multivariate longitudinal methods for studying developmental relationships between depression and academic achievement

Recent advances in methods and computer software for longitudinal data analysis have pushed researchers to more critically examine developmental theories. In turn, researchers have also begun to push longitudinal methods by asking more complex developmental questions. One such question involves the relationships between two developmental processes. In this situation, choosing a longitudinal method is not obvious and should depend on specific hypotheses and research questions. This article outlines three common bivariate longitudinal models, including the bivariate latent growth curve model, the latent growth curve with a time-varying covariate, and the bivariate dual change score growth model, and illustrates their use by modeling how the development of depression is related to the development of achievement. Each longitudinal model is fitted to repeated measurements of children's depression and achievement from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) data set in order to examine differing developmental relationships, and show how the developmental questions are answered by each longitudinal technique. The results from the longitudinal models appear to be somewhat at odds with one another regarding the developmental relationships between achievement and depression, but the conclusions are actually correct solutions to different developmental questions. These results highlight the need for researchers to match their research questions with model selection.

Perceived Domain-Specific Competence and Global Self-Worth of Primary Students in Hong Kong

Self-evaluations on five specific domains of competence or adequacies and on global self-worth were assessed in a sample of 151 Hong Kong Chinese boys and girls (grade 3 to 6) using the Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC). Although self-perceptions on the five domains of Scholastic Competence, Social Acceptance, Athletic Competence, Physical Appearance, and Behavioural Conduct could be regarded as articulated and differentiated, these domains did not emerge as independent dimensions of self-evaluations. Hong Kong Chinese children appeared to associate school performance with behavioural conduct, and athletic prowess with physical appearance. Evaluation of the indexes representing the manner in which different specific domains of competence were integrated into global self-worth suggested that the independent assessment of global self-esteem was justified. The use of the SPPC with Chinese children and cross-cultural comparisons are discussed.

Maternal Psychological Control, Use of Supportive Parenting, and Childhood Depressive Symptoms

The current study, operating from a stress-process framework, examined the interactive effects of supportive parenting practices (i.e., mothers' use of positive communication, positive parenting, and parental involvement) and maternal psychological control on mother- and child-reported child depressive symptoms in a community-recruited sample of 9-12 year-olds. Discrepancies between reports of depressive symptoms were also examined. Maternal psychological control was uniquely associated with child-, not mother-, reported depressive symptoms. Parental involvement was uniquely associated with mother-, not child-, reported depressive symptoms. Positive parent-child communication was associated with both reports of child depressive symptoms at the bivariate level, but not when unique associations were examined. Positive parenting was unrelated to either report of depressive symptoms. No interaction effects were detected. The current findings highlight the differential importance of parenting practices on child depressive symptoms, and also indicate the necessity of gathering both parent and child reports of symptomatology and family functioning.

The relationship between internalising symptom development and academic attainment in early adolescence

Evidence for the longitudinal associations between internalising symptom development and academic attainment is sparse and results from existing studies are largely inconclusive. The approaches that have been used in existing studies examining this relationship have in common the limitation of grouping together all individuals in the sample which makes the assumption that the relationship between time, symptoms and attainment across all individuals is the same. The current study aimed to use heterogeneous trajectories of symptom development to examine the longitudinal associations between internalising symptom development and change in academic attainment over a three years period in early adolescence, a key period for internalising symptom development. Internalising symptoms were assessed for 3 consecutive years in a cohort from age 11-14 years (n = 2647, mean age at T1 = 11.7 years). National standardised test scores prior to the first wave and subsequent to the last wave were used as measures of academic attainment. Heterogeneous symptom development trajectories were identified using latent class growth analysis and socio-demographic correlates, such as gender, SES and ethnicity, of the different trajectory groupings were investigated. Derived trajectory groupings were examined as predictors of subsequent academic attainment, controlling for prior attainment. Results demonstrate that symptom trajectories differentially predicted change in academic attainment with increasing trajectories associated with significantly worse academic outcomes when compared to pupils with low levels of symptoms in all waves. Hence, a trajectory based approach provides a more nuanced breakdown of complexities in symptom development and their differential relationships with academic outcomes and in doing so helps clarify the longitudinal relationship between these two key domains of functioning in early adolescence.

Differentiating Anxiety and Depression in Relation to the Social Functioning of Young Adolescents With ADHD

The present study examined anxiety and depressive symptoms in relation to the social functioning of young adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and builds upon prior work by incorporating youths' self-reports of internalizing symptoms and examining distinct anxiety and depression dimensions to increase specificity. Participants were 310 young adolescents (ages 10-14; 71% male, 78% Caucasian) diagnosed with ADHD. Youth provided ratings of anxiety/depression, and parents provided ratings of their own depression. Parents and youth both reported on youths' social skills and perceived social acceptance. Path analyses indicated that above and beyond child demographics, ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder symptom severity, and parents' own depression, self-reported social anxiety and anhedonia were both associated with lower youth-reported social skills and both parent- and youth-reported social acceptance. Negative self-evaluation was associated with poorer parent-reported social skills. Finally, harm avoidance was positively associated with both youth- and parent-reported social skills. A path analysis using comorbid diagnoses (rather than symptom dimensions) indicated that that having a comorbid disruptive behavior disorder or depression diagnosis (but not a comorbid anxiety diagnosis) was associated with poorer parent-reported social functioning. Results demonstrate that the relation between internalizing symptoms and social functioning among young adolescents with ADHD is nuanced, with social anxiety and anhedonia symptoms associated with lower social skills and social acceptance in contrast to harm avoidance being associated with higher ratings of social skills (and unrelated to social acceptance). In terms of comorbid diagnoses, depression is more clearly related than anxiety to poorer social functioning among young adolescents with ADHD. These results point to the importance of attending to specific facets of anxiety and depression in clinical care and future research.

Early adolescent depressive mood: direct and indirect effects of attributional styles and coping

The present study used a cross-sectional survey design to examine how adolescent depressive mood was related to attributional styles and coping strategies with a sample of 326 youths (aged 8-14 years). With the cutting point adopted in the West, 20.9% of the current sample reported depressive symptoms. Regression analysis results show that, with the asymptomatic group, seeking social support strategy mediated the effects of positive-global and positive-stable attribution, and internalization strategy mediated the effects of negative-global attribution on depression mood. In the dysphoric adolescents, attributing positive events to global factors and seeking social support strategy predicted depressive mood in the negative direction whereas attributing negative events to global factors, problem solving strategy and internalization strategy, the positive direction. The current study confirmed that both attributional styles and coping strategies were significant predictors of depressive mood but different dimensions of attribution related to depressive symptoms in different magnitude.

Latino adolescents' loneliness, academic performance, and the buffering nature of friendships

This longitudinal study examined Latino adolescents' feelings of loneliness and the repercussions of loneliness for later educational success. Participants were 640 Latino students (56% girls, 62% Mexican/Mexican-American) who reported on loneliness across the first 2 years of high school. Growth mixture modeling identified three distinct loneliness trajectory classes for the Latino adolescents--consistently low, chronically high, and low but increasing. Language brokering, language use, and school mobility emerged as predictors of class membership. Increasingly and chronically lonely youth experienced academic difficulty, both in terms of academic progress and exit exam success, but support from friends served as a buffer of the negative relationship between loneliness and academic success. This study highlights the pernicious effects of loneliness and suggests promoting prosocial friendship support as a means of facilitating more positive academic outcomes for Latino youth.

Does Depression Moderate or Mediate the Relations Between Deficits in Competence and Aggression?

This study was conducted to examine the role of child depression in the relations between deficits in competence and aggression by replicating and extending the study by Cole et al. (1996). In a two-wave longitudinal study, 6th-grade children ( n = 329) completed self-report measures of three domains of competence (i.e. social, academic, behavioural), depression and aggression. Parents also reported information about their child’s competence in the three domains, depression and aggression. The participants were all residents in lower-middle- to middle-class urban areas in a large southwestern city of Korea. Data were collected through paper/pencil questionnaires administered twice during the school year (near the end of the first and second semesters in 2008) approximately 6 months apart. Hierarchical regression analyses were implemented to examine whether Wave 2 depression moderates or mediates the relations between deficits in Wave 1 competence and Wave 2 aggression. To take account of the domain-specificity of child competence, separate hierarchical regression analyses for the three domains of competence were conducted. Self-reports and parent reports for each variable were standardized and combined into a composite index. The results of the hierarchical regression analyses were summarized as follows. First, depression did not moderate the relations between deficits in competence and aggression. Second, depression served as a mediator only in the relation between deficits in behavioural competence and aggression. In contrast, depression did not mediate the relation between lowered social or academic competence and aggression. The findings of this study provide partial evidence for the competence-based model of childhood depression and for the role of depression as a trigger of aggressive behaviours among children who lack in behavioural competence. The results imply that school psychologists and school counsellors should not overlook deficits in behavioural competence and depression among aggressive children while providing screening and intervention services for these children.

Longitudinal Correlates of Depressive Symptoms Among Urban African American Children: II. Extension of Findings Across 3 Years

We examined the association between childhood self-reported depressive symptoms and 2 areas of child psychosocial functioning: social and cognitive competence. Urban African American children, ages 6 to 11 and their mothers (N = 177) were interviewed at 2 assessments separated by 3 years. As a test of the relations among depressive symptoms and subsequent psychosocial functioning, independent hierarchical regression analyses were performed, with mother-reported social and cognitive competence and grades at the latter assessment as dependent variables. The analyses indicated that Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) scores at the initial assessment predicted changes in mother-reported social competence from the initial assessment to the latter assessment. This study also examined the impact of an additional stressor, maternal HIV infection, on this same relation. The analyses indicated that maternal HIV infection did not moderate the relation between childhood self-reported depressive symptoms and later competence.

Nonverbal Social Skills of Adults with Mild Intellectual Disability Diagnosed with Depression

Depression is one of the most common psychiatric disorders in adults with intellectual disability (ID), yet little is known about depressive behaviors in an ID population. This study examined the nonverbal social skills of 18 adults with mild ID diagnosed with depression and a matched sample of adults with mild ID without depression. Nonverbal social skills were coded from videotapes of actual social interactions. Results indicate that adults with mild ID diagnosed with depression evidence a profile of maladaptive nonverbal social skills including limited body movement, a restricted range of facial expressions, infrequent smiling, speaking in a flat and quiet voice, and taking a long time to respond to the questions or comments of a social partner. Findings from this study have implications for enhancing the early detection and diagnosis of depression and guiding theories of and treatments for depression in an ID population.

Co-occurrence of conduct problems and depressive symptoms in early adolescent boys: I. Familial factors and general adjustment at Grade 6

Clinical studies indicate that depression and conduct disorder frequently co-occur in children. Research on the correlates of depression in children has frequently failed to control for this co-occurrence, and little is known about the family background and characteristics of children displaying both problem behaviors. An at-risk community sample of 203 early adolescent boys in the Oregon Youth Study was divided into the following groups: (a) those showing elevated conduct problems and depressed mood, (b) those showing elevated conduct problems only, (c) those showing elevated depressed mood only, and (d) those with neither problem. Multimethod, multiagent assessments were conducted at Grade 6. The four groups were compared using multivariate analyses of variance. Demographic variables, parental characteristics, family-management practices, and boys' adjustment show some deficits in all three risk groups, and the patterns of deficits vary between groups. As hypothesized, the boys with conduct problems and depressed mood show the poorest adjustment. Results are consistent with a failure model, which hypothesizes that boys with conduct problems are at risk for failing to develop competence in areas such as academic skill and peer relations. In addition, their noxious behavior leads to poor relationships with parents and peers. These problems result in failures and rejection, which make them vulnerable to depressed mood.

Cognition, competence, and coping in child and adolescent depression: Research findings, developmental concerns, therapeutic implications

Findings of the few psychotherapy outcome studies with depressed children and adolescents raise questions about whether or not treatments are sufficiently sensitive to developmental factors. Here we review the outcome data, then survey potentially relevant research on the cognitions, competencies, and coping behavior of depressed youngsters. Much of the work in each domain is both procedurally and theoretically adevelopmental, and the psychotherapy research does not appear to be well informed by research in the other domains. To help remedy this situation, for each domain we suggest key developmental questions that need to be answered, and we discuss implications for psychotherapy. We also propose a three-way partnership involving basic developmental research linked with research on relations between depression and various cognitive and behavioral processes, with both lines of inquiry informing the development and refinement of interventions.

Relationship between academic stress and suicidal ideation: testing for depression as a mediator using multiple regression

Relations among academic stress, depression, and suicidal ideation were examined in 1,108 Asian adolescents 12-18 years old from a secondary school in Singapore. Using Baron and Kenny's [J Pers Soc Psychol 51:1173-1192, 1986] framework, this study tested the prediction that adolescent depression mediated the relationship between academic stress and suicidal ideation in a four-step process. The previously significant relationship between academic stress and suicidal ideation was significantly reduced in magnitude when depression was included in the model providing evidence in this sample that adolescent depression was a partial mediator. The applied and practical implications for intervention and prevention work in schools are discussed. The present investigation also served as a demonstration to illustrate how multiple regression analyses can be used as one possible method for testing mediation effects within child psychology and psychiatry.

The Children Depression Inventory as Predictor of Social and Scholastic Competence

Summary This work analyzes the relationship between the different CDI factors, nonsocialized personality traits as measured by the Psychoticism and Antisocial Behavior EPQ scales, academic achievement, and general intelligence. Participants in this study were 678 8th-grade Basic General Education students (secondary), of whom 315 were boys and 363 girls, with an average mean age of 13 years. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the CDI performed yielded four orthogonal factors. The third factor (CDI-III; Incompetence/Maladjustment) was integrated by items related to social and academic maladjusted behavior. The CDI was negatively correlated with academic achievement, although this correlation disappeared when performing partial correlations controlling for CDI-III. A regression analysis further corroborated that CDI-III was the only CDI factor related to low academic achievement. The results also show that the CDI-III and Introversion for boys, and the CDI-III and Neuroticism for girls, were the most predictive variables of low academic achievement.

Academic Risk Among Inner-City Adolescents: The Role of Personal Attributes

In this 3-year prospective study, we explored antecedents of school-based adjustment among 134 inner-city high-school students. We examined the role of freshman-year risk and protective factors in relation to dropout status and senior-year adjustment indices among those who remained in school, including academic performance, psychological symptoms, and drug use. Although each single attribute included in this study has been linked to poor academic performance in previous investigations, the primary goal in this study was to determine which attributes were strongly related to academic problems when considered together. In addition, we sought to establish whether risk factors associated with dropout were the same as those that predicted academic problems among students who remained in school. Findings indicated that freshman-year attendance and demographic indices were most strongly predictive of dropout. Among adolescents who remained in school, freshman academic success was robustly linked to senior-year competence. Implications for identifying inner-city high-school students at high risk for academic problems are discussed.

Social skills deficits associated with depression

This article reviews the empirical evidence of impaired social skills associated with depression. Conceptualizations of social skills are examined followed by evidence from self-report, observer-rating, and behavioral assessments of depressed people's social skills. Evidence of social skills deficits in children with depression and in people with bipolar disorder is also examined. The effectiveness of social skills training as a treatment of depression is evaluated. Three different theoretical relationships between disrupted social skills and depression are described and evaluated, including poor social skills as a cause of depression, depression as a cause of poor social skills, and poor social skills as a vulnerability factor in the development of depression. Currently, there is some evidence to support each of these conceptualizations, as the relationship between poor social skills and depression can take a variety of forms.

Family, peer, and individual correlates of depressive symptomatology among U.S. and Chinese adolescents

This study examined the correlates of symptoms of depressed mood among adolescents in 2 dramatically different cultures (n = 502 in Tianjin, People's Republic of China; n = 201 in greater Los Angeles). Gender, stressful life events, perceived parental warmth, and conflict with parents were associated in the expected direction with depressive symptoms in each cultural setting. As predicted, regression analyses showed that the quality of family relationships and grades in school had significantly stronger associations with depressive symptoms among Chinese youths than among U.S. youths, whereas gender differences in depressive symptoms were greater among the U.S. youths. Peer warmth moderated the effects of particular risk factors for depressive symptoms in each cultural setting.

Casting the net for "depression" among ethnic minority children from the high-risk urban communities

This paper reviews the current research on depressive phenomena among urban ethnic minority children from resource-poor communities. Developmental differences in the prevalence and reporting of depressive phenomena are discussed. The relationships between depressive phenomena and stressful life events, parental styles, anxiety, child-coping strategies, and scholastic maladjustment are explored. The authors critique the psychometric equivalency, construct validity, diagnostic sensitivity, and terminology of the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI). Methodological and conceptual alternatives are proposed, and the utility and validity of various measures of depressive phenomena in children are examined. The review highlights the authors's perspective that a depressive phenomenon among young school-aged children from resource-poor communities is best described as a complex response to environment, rather than a biologically determined disease entity.

Competence and memory: integrating psychosocial and cognitive correlates of child depression

Positive and negative peer nominations of multiple competencies and incidental recall of positive and negative self-referential adjectives were measured in relatively depressed and nondepressed fourth-, sixth-, and eighth-grade children (9 to 15 years old). Positive and negative peer evaluations related significantly to children's ability to recall positive and negative self-referential information (respectively), even after controlling for concurrent depressive symptoms. Positive and negative peer evaluations also related strongly to children's self-reported depressive symptoms. Incidental recall of positive and negative information significantly related to self-reported depression. In fact, the relation between recall of negative information and depression significantly increased in the eighth grade. Finally, preliminary support emerged that cognitive processes related to the incidental recall of negative self-descriptive information may mediate the relation between peer evaluations and depression. Implications for further research into the social determinants of cognitive processes and into the social and cognitive determinants of depression are discussed.

Genetic and environmental influences on depressive symptomatology in adolescence: individual differences and extreme scores

The purpose of the current investigation was to compare the genetic and environmental influences on individual differences in depressive symptomatology (as assessed using the Children's Depression Inventory) to such influences on extreme scores in an unselected sample of adolescents. The sample included 707 pairs of siblings (average ages 14.5 and 12.9 years, respectively) participating in a combined twin- and step-family study. Moderate genetic influence was found for the full range of individual differences in depression; in contrast, there was nonsignificant genetic influence, and significant shared environmental influence, on extreme scores. The results were interpreted using a risk model in which familial influences specific to the high end of the distribution contribute to depressive symptomatology in adolescence.

Emotional/behavioral problems in clinic and nonclinic children: correspondence among child, parent and teacher reports

This study examined the correspondence among child, parent and teacher reports, in rating emotional and behavioral problems of 98 community nonpatients and 64 clinically referred children (ages 6-13). The mean ratings differed significantly for the three sources and for the two samples, and there were a few significant interactions. Correlations of the scores between sources, especially parents and teachers, were in the moderate range and were not significantly different from one another. Informant correspondence was higher for externalizing than internalizing problems in both patient and nonpatient samples, and was higher for nonpatients than patients. In general, informant agreement was higher for cases characterized by lower family stress and higher child acceptance, among other clinical variables.

Depression and engagement in pleasant and unpleasant activities in normal children

This study investigated Lewinsohn's reinforcement model of depression by examining the relationship between depressive symptomatology and mood-related activities in normal children. Subjects were 138 children aged 8 to 14 years. Children and their parents rated the children's depression and engagement in pleasant and unpleasant activities. It was found that children's depression was correlated positively with increased engagement in unpleasant activities. However, the predicted negative correlation between children's depression and engagement in pleasant activities was supported only when children's mood was assessed by parental report, and not by children's self-report.

Self-report measures of obsessionality, depression and social anxiety in a school population of adolescents

The results are reported for a non-clinical school population of 252 adolescent subjects, aged 13 to 15 years, responding to the Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (MOCI), the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) and the List of Social Situation Problems (LSSP). The scales intercorrelated significantly but appear to measure different aspects of self perception. No significant age or gender effects emerged in any. The results obtained are compared with those of previous studies and the use of the MOCI in adolescent populations discussed.

Identifying depression in children: a comparison of alternative selection criteria

This study evaluated commonly used methods of identifying "depressed" children and examined the extent to which the conclusions about correlates of dysfunction vary among different selection criteria. Child psychiatric patients (N = 231, ages 7-12) and their parents participated and completed measures to permit identification of "depressed" children on the basis of three separate criteria, including self-report scores on the Children's Depression Inventory, parent-reported scores for the same measure, and a DSM-III diagnosis of major depression. The study examined whether depressed and nondepressed children, defined separately by the different criteria, differed in a variety of depression-related symptoms, cognitive processes, and social activity. The results indicated little overlap in the persons identified as "depressed" on the basis of child- or parent-completed CDI scores or DSM-III diagnosis. Depressed and nondepressed children tended to differ across all domains (depression-related symptoms, cognitive processes, and social activity) for each selection criterion. However, significant differences were evident in these domains only when the selection criterion and other domains were assessed with the same informant (e.g., self-report) and hence shared a common method (rater) component. The findings underscore the potential influence that method factors may have in influencing the conclusions that are drawn regarding the correlates of childhood depression.

The structure and correlates of self-reported symptoms in 11-year-old children

Self-reports of DSM-III symptomatology were obtained from 792 11-year-old children using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC). We report results concerning 13 subscales derived from the DISC. Factor analysis of the subscales suggested a broad distinction between "externalizing" and "internalizing" disorder for boys' self-report. For girls, two separate internalizing factors representing anxiety and depression emerged. We also found sex differences in correlates of self-reported disorder. Finally, we examined agreement between child and parent and teacher reports. Overall, agreement was relatively low, although somewhat higher for child-parent than for child-teacher.

Parent-completed and adolescent-completed CDIs: relationship to adolescent social and cognitive functioning

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of both young adolescents' scores on the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) and their mothers' ratings of the adolescents' depression (parent-completed CDI) to indices of their social and cognitive functioning obtained from a source outside the home. Subjects consisted of a nonclinic sample of 85 young adolescents (11-15 years of age), their mothers, and their social studies teachers. Recent school grades and teacher-completed measures served as the indices of adolescent social and cognitive competence. The results indicated that both adolescents' and mothers' CDI scores were significantly and negatively correlated with measures of adolescent cognitive and social functioning. Multiple regression analyses, utilizing adolescent- and parent-completed CDI scores as predictors, indicated that both predictor variables entered into the equations for cognitive functioning while only the mother-completed CDI entered into those for social functioning. When maternal depression was also entered into the multiple regressions, the findings regarding mother- and adolescent-completed CDI scores were not altered. The relationship of these findings to other somewhat disparate findings concerning the utility of mother and child reports of child depression is discussed.