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The dynamic interdependence between family support and depressive symptoms among adolescents in Ghana

  • Original Article
  • Published:
International Journal of Public Health

Abstract

Objectives

This study identified temporal sequencing in the associations between family support and depressive symptoms over the course of adolescence for youth in Ghana.

Methods

Data derived from a longitudinal cohort study of 718 Ghanaian adolescents (58 % female) who were, on average, 13.84 years at Wave 1. Youth completed surveys at three time points separated by an 18-month time lag from early through late adolescence. Latent growth curve techniques were used to investigate the degree to which family support predicts changes in youth depressive symptoms and/or depressive symptoms precede changes in family support from early through late adolescence.

Results

Youth in Ghana experience declines in family support and increases in depressive symptoms over the course of adolescence. The associations between lower family support and higher depressive symptoms are recursive or bidirectional over time.

Conclusions

Study results suggest the value of promoting family support and reducing youth’s depressive symptomology as a way of interrupting a recursive cycle of declining family support and increasing depressive symptomology from early through late adolescence.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge funding in support of this work from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (PI: Bingenheimer, R01HD061017). The research and interpretations reported are the sole responsibility of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the NICHD or represent the views, opinions, or policies of the NICHD or its staff.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Prevention and Community Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Avenue, Suite 300, Washington, DC, 20052, USA

    Kathleen M. Roche & Jeffrey B. Bingenheimer

  2. Department of Community & Public Health, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, The Johns Hopkins University, 525 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Sharon R. Ghazarian

Authors
  1. Kathleen M. Roche
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  2. Jeffrey B. Bingenheimer
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  3. Sharon R. Ghazarian
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Correspondence to Kathleen M. Roche.

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Roche, K.M., Bingenheimer, J.B. & Ghazarian, S.R. The dynamic interdependence between family support and depressive symptoms among adolescents in Ghana. Int J Public Health 61, 487–494 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-015-0781-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-015-0781-9

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