Abstract
This study examined the associations between internalizing and externalizing symptoms during early adolescence and the subsequent development of Major Depressive Disorder. The role that temperament plays in predisposing individuals to these particular pathways was also examined. Temperament at approximately age 12 was used to produce a risk-enriched subsample of 243 (124 female) participants. Data was collected in four waves over 6–7 years roughly corresponding to ages 13, 15, 17 and 19. Participants were excluded from the study, prior to the first wave, based on current or prior depressive, substance-use, or eating disorders. Logistic regression analyses revealed that internalizing symptoms and social-externalizing problems were significant risk pathways to the development of depression. Moreover, mediation analyses revealed that high temperamental negative emotionality, high affiliation, low effortful control, and low surgency were significant vulnerability factors for depression via the internalizing symptom pathway, whereas low effortful control was the only significant predictor for depression via the social-externalizing problem pathway. As such, high levels of effortful control acted as a protective factor for the development of depression across both symptom pathways, suggesting that is may be an important target for prevention strategies.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Manual for the child behavior checklist/4–18 and 1991 profile. Burlington: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.
Althoff, R. R., Verhulst, F. C., Rettew, D. C., Hudziak, J. J., & van der Ende, J. (2010). Adult outcomes of childhood dysregulation: A 14-year follow-up study. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 49(11), 1105–1116.e1101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2010.08.006.
Avenevoli, S., Knight, E., Kessler, R. C., & Merikangas, K. R. (2008). Epidemiology of depression in children and adolescents. In J. R. Z. Abela & B. L. Hankin (Eds.), Handbook of depression in children and adolescents (pp. 6–32). New York: The Guilford Press.
Beck, A. T., Brown, G., Epstein, N., & Steer, R. (1988). An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: Psychometric properties. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 893. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006x.56.6.893.
Bierman, K. L. (2004). Peer rejection. New York: Guilford Press.
Chen, P., & Jacobson, K. (2012). Developmental trajectories of substance use from early adolescence to young adulthood: Gender and racial/ethnic differences. Journal of Adolescent Health, 50(2), 154–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2011.05.013.Developmental.
Cicchetti, D., & Toth, S. L. (2014). A developmental perspective on internalizing and externalizing disorders. In Internalizing and externalizing expressions of dysfunction (pp. 9-28). Psychology press.
Clark, L. A. (2005). Temperament as a unifying basis for personality and psychopathology. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 114(4), 505–521. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843x.114.4.505.
Clark, L. A., & Watson, D. (1991). Tripartite model of anxiety and depression: Psychometric evidence and taxonomic implications. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 100(3), 316–336. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.100.3.316.
Compas, B. E., Connor-Smith, J., & Jaser, S. S. (2004). Temperament, stress reactivity, and coping: Implications for depression in childhood and adolescence. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 33(1), 21–31. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15374424JCCP3301.
Cummings, C. M., Caporino, N. E., & Kendall, P. C. (2014). Comorbidity of anxiety and depression in children and adolescents: 20 years after. Psychological Bulletin, 140(3), 816–845. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034733.
Cyranowski, J. M., Frank, E., Young, E., & Shear, M. K. (2000). Adolescent onset of the gender difference in lifetime rates of major depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 57(1), 21–57. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.57.1.21.
Davila, J., Hammen, C., Burge, D., Paley, B., & Daley, S. E. (1995). Poor interpersonal problem solving as a mechanism of stress generation in depression among adolescent women. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 104(4), 592–600. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843x.104.4.592.
De Bolle, M., De Clercq, B., Decuyper, M., & De Fruyt, F. (2011). Affective determinants of anxiety and depression development in children and adolescents: An individual growth curve analysis. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 42(6), 694–711. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-011-0241-6.
De Pauw, S. S. W., & Mervielde, I. (2010). Temperament, personality and developmental psychopathology: A review based on the conceptual dimensions underlying childhood traits. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 41(3), 313–329. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-009-0171-8.
Deater-Deckard, K. (2001). Annotation: Recent research examining the role of peer relationships in the development of psychopathology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 42(5), 565–579. https://doi.org/10.1111/1469-7610.00753.
Eisenberg, N., Valiente, C., Spinrad, T. L., Liew, J., Zhou, Q., Losoya, S. H., Reiser, M., & Cumberland, A. (2009). Longitudinal relations of children's effortful control, impulsivity, and negative emotionality to their externalizing, internalizing, and co-occurring behavior problems. Developmental Psychology, 45(4), 988–1008. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016213.
Ellis, L., & Rothbart, M. (2001). Revision of the early adolescent temperament questionnaire. Society for Research in Child Development, 81, 1–5.
Furman, W., McDunn, C., & Young, B. J. (2012). The role of peer and romantic relationships in adolescent affective development. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Garrison, C. Z., Addy, C. L., Jackson, K. L., McKeown, R. E., & Waller, J. L. (1991). The CES-D as a screen for depression and other psychiatric disorders in adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 30(4), 636–641. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-19910700-00017.
Gilliom, M., & Shaw, D. S. (2004). Codevelopment of externalizing and internalizing problems in early childhood. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 313–333. https://doi.org/10.10170/S0954579404044530.
Gulley, L. D., Hankin, B. L., & Young, J. F. (2016). Risk for depression and anxiety in youth: The interaction between negative affectivity, effortful control, and stressors. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 44(2), 207–218. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-015-9997-7.
Hankin, B. L., Abramson, L. Y., Moffit, T. E., Silva, P. A., McGee, R., & Angell, K. E. (1998). Development of depression from preadolescence to young adulthood: Emerging gender differences in a 10-year longitudinal study. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 107(1), 128–140.
Hankin, B. L., Young, J. F., Abela, J. R., Smolen, A., Jenness, J. L., Gulley, L. D., Technow, J. R., Gottlieb, A. B., Cohen, J. R., & Oppenheimer, C. W. (2015). Depression from childhood into late adolescence: Influence of gender, development, genetic susceptibility, and peer stress. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 124(4), 803–816. https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000089.
Hoffmann, J. P., & Su, S. S. (1998). Stressful life events and adolescent substance use and depression: Conditional and gender differentiated effects. Substance Use & Misuse, 33(11), 2219–2262. https://doi.org/10.3109/10826089809056256.
Joiner Jr., T. E., & Timmons, K. A. (2008). Handbook of depression (I. H. Gotlib Ed. 2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
Karevold, E., Røysamb, E., Ystrom, E., & Mathiesen, K. S. (2009). Predictors and pathways from infancy to symptoms of anxiety and depression in early adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 45(4), 1051–1060. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016123.
Kaufman, J., Birmaher, B., Brent, D., Rao, U., Flynn, C., Moreci, P., et al. (1997). Schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia for school-age children–present and lifetime version (K-SADS-PL): Initial reliability and validity data. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 980–988.
Kendler, K. S., & Gardner, C. O. (2014). Sex differences in the pathways to major depression: A study of opposite-sex twin pairs. American Journal of Psychiatry, 171(4), 426–435. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2013.13101375.
Kendler, K. S., Gardner, C. O., & Prescott, C. A. (2002). Toward a comprehensive developmental model for major depression in women. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 159(7), 1133–1145. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.159.7.1133.
Kendler, K. S., Gardner, C. O., & Prescott, C. A. (2006). Toward a comprehensive developmental model for major depression in men. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163(1), 115–124. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.163.1.115.
Khan, A. A., Jacobson, K. C., Gardner, C. O., Prescott, C. A., & Kendler, K. S. (2005). Personality and comorbidity of common psychiatric disorders. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 186(3), 190–196. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.186.3.190.
Klein, D. N., Dougherty, L. R., Laptook, R. S., & Olino, T. M. (2012). Temperament and risk for mood disorders in adolescents. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Klein, D. N., Durbin, C. E., Shankman, S. A., & Santiago, N. J. (2002). Depression and personality. New York: Guilford Press.
Kochanska, G., Murray, K. T., & Harlan, E. T. (2000). Effortful control in early childhood: Continuity and change, antecedents, and implications for social development. Developmental Psychology, 36(2), 220–232. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.36.2.220.
Krueger, R. F. (1999). The structure of common mental disorders. The Archive of General Psychiatry, 56(10), 921–926. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.56.10.921.
Kuster, F., Orth, U., & Meier, L. L. (2012). Rumination dediates the prospective effect of low self-esteem on depression: A five-wave longitudinal study. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38(6), 747–759.
Ladd, G. W. (1999). Peer relationships and social competence during early and middle childhood. Annual Review of Psychology, 50(1), 333–359. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.50.1.333.
Lennox, C., & Dolan, M. (2014). Temperament and character and psychopathy in male conduct disordered offenders. Psychiatry Research, 215(3), 706–710. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2014.01.019.
Leve, L. D., Kim, H. K., & Pears, K. C. (2005). Childhood temperament and family environment as predictors of internalizing and externalizing trajectories from ages 5 to 17. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 33(5), 505–520. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-005-6734-7.
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 and Adolescent Psychiatry, 34(9), 1221–1229. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-199509000-00021.
Livesley, W. J., Jang, K. L., & Vernon, P. A. (1998). Phenotypic and genetic structure of traits delineating personality disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 55(10), 941–948. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.55.10.941.
Lonigan, C. J., Hooe, E. S., David, C. F., & Kistner, J. A. (1999). Positive and negative affectivity in children: Confirmatory factor analysis of a two-factor model and its relation to symptoms of anxiety and depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67(3), 374–386. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.67.3.374.
Loth, A. K., Drabick, D. A. G., Leibenluft, E., & Hulvershorn, L. A. (2014). Do childhood externalizing disorders predict adult depression? A meta-analysis. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 42, 1103–1113. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-014-9867-8.
Maxwell, S. E., Cole, D. A., & Mitchell, M. A. (2011). Bias in cross-sectional analyses of longitudinal mediation: Partial and complete mediation under an autoregressive model. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 46(5), 816–841. https://doi.org/10.1080/00273171.2011.606716.
Mezulis, A. H., & Rudolph, M. E. (2012). Pathways linking temperament and depressive symptoms: A short-term propsective diary study among adolescents. Cognition and Emotion, 26(5), 950–960. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2012.665027.
Mitchell, M. A., & Maxwell, S. E. (2013). A comparison of the cross-sectional and sequential designs when assessing longitudinal mediation. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 48(3), 301–339. https://doi.org/10.1080/00273171.2013.784696.
Muris, P., & Ollendick, T. H. (2005). The role of temperament in the etiology of child psychopathology. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 8(4), 271–289. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-005-8809-y.
Newcomb, A. F., & Bukowski, W. M. (1984). A longitudinal study of the utility of social preference and social impact sociometric classification schemes. Child Development, 55(4), 1434. https://doi.org/10.2307/1130013.
Nigg, J. T. (2006). Temperament and developmental psychopathology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 47(3–4), 395–422. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01612.x.
Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Girgus, J. S. (1994). The emergence of gender differences in depression during adolescence. Psychological Bulletin, 115(3), 424–443.
Olino, T. M., Klein, D. N., Lewinsohn, P. M., Rohde, P., & Seeley, J. R. (2010). Latent trajectory classes of depressive and anxiety disorders from adolescence to adulthood: Descriptions of classes and associations with risk factors. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 51(3), 224–235.
Parker, J. G., & Asher, S. R. (1987). Peer relations and later personal adjustment: Are low-accepted children at risk? Psychological Bulletin, 102(3), 357–389. https://doi.org/10.1037//0033-2909.102.3.357.
Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2004). SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments & Computers, 36(4), 717–731.
Putnam, S. K., Ellis, L. K., & Rothbart, M. K. (2001). The structure of temperament from infancy through adolescence. Miami: Pabst Scientist Publisher.
Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1(3), 385–401.
Rice, F., Sellers, R., Hammerton, G., Eyre, O., Bevan-Jones, R., Thapar, A. K., et al. (2016). Antecedents of new-onset major depressive disorder in children and adolescents at high familial risk. JAMA Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.3140.
Roberts, R. E., Lewinsohn, P. M., & Seeley, J. R. (1991). Screening for adolescent depression: A comparison of depression scales. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 30(1), 58–66. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-199101000-00009.
Rothbart, M. (1989). Temperament and development. New York: Wiley.
Rothbart, M. K., & Bates, J. E. (1998). Temperament (N. Eisenberg Ed. 5th ed.). New York: Wiley.
Rowe, R., Costello, E. J., Angold, A., Copeland, W. E., & Maughan, B. (2010). Developmental pathways in oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 119(4), 726–738. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020798.
Roza, S. J., Hofstra, M. B., van der Ende, J., & Verhulst, F. C. (2003). Stable prediction of mood and anxiety disorders based on behavioral and emotional problems in childhood: A 14-year follow-up during childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160(12), 2116–2121. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.160.12.2116.
Rubin, K. H., Bukwski, W., & Parker, J. G. (2006). Peer interactions, relationships, and groups (N. Eisenberg Ed. 6th ed.). New York: Wiley.
Rubin, L. H., Witkiewitz, K., St. Andre, J., & Reilly, S. (2007). Methods for handling missing data in the behavioral neurosciences: Don’t throw the baby rat out with the bath water. Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education, 5(2), A71–A77.
Rueter, M. A., Scaramella, L., Wallace, L. E., & Conger, R. D. (1999). First onset of depressive or anxiety disorders predicted by the longitudinal course of internalizing symptoms and parent-adolescent disagreements. Archives of General Psychiatry, 56(8), 726–732. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.56.8.726.
Schafer, J. L., & Graham, J. W. (2002). Missing data: Our view of the state of the art. Psychological Methods, 7(2), 147–177. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.7.2.147.
Schwartz, O. S., Simmons, J. G., Whittle, S., Byrne, M. L., Yap, M. B. H., Sheeber, L. B., & Allen, N. B. (2016). Affective parenting behaviors, adolescent depression, and brain development: A review of findings from the Orygen adolescent development study. Child Development Perspectives. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12215.
Sherman, B. J., Vousoura, E., Wickramaratne, P., Warner, V., & Verdeli, H. (2016). Temperament and major depression: How does difficult temperament affect frequency, severity, and duration of major depressive episodes among offspring of parents with our without depression? Journal of Affective Disorders, 200, 82–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2016.04.033.
Stringaris, A., & Goodman, R. (2009). Longitudinal outcome of youth oppositionality: Irritable, headstrong, and hurtful behaviors have distinctive predictions. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 48(4), 404–412. https://doi.org/10.1097/chi.0b013e3181984f30.
Swendsen, J. D., Conway, K. P., Rounsaville, B. J., & Merikangas, K. R. (2002). Are personality traits familial risk factors for substance use disorders? Results of a controlled family study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 159(10), 1760–1766. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.159.10.1760.
Tackett, J. L., Kushner, S. C., Herzhoff, K., Smack, A. J., & Reardon, K. W. (2014). Viewing relational aggression through multiple lenses: Temperament, personality, and personality pathology. Development and Psychopathology, 26(03), 863–877. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579414000443.
Twenge, J. M., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2002). Age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, and birth cohort difference on the children's depression inventory: A meta-analysis. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 111(4), 578–588.
Ustün, T. B., Ayuso-Mateos, J. L., Chatterji, S., Mathers, C., & Murray, C. J. (2004). Global burden of depressive disorders in the year 2000. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 184(5), 386–392.
Van Beveren, M., Mezulis, A., Wante, L., & Braet, C. (2016). Joint contributions of neagtive emotionality, positive emotionality, and effortful control on depresssive symptoms in youth. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 00(00), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2016.1233499.
Verhulst, F. C., & Ende, J. (1992). Agreement between parents' reports and adolescents' self-reports of problem behavior. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 33(6), 1011–1023.
Verstraeten, K., Vasey, M. W., Raes, F., & Bijttebier, P. (2009). Temperament and risk for depressive symptoms in adolescence: Mediation by rumination and moderation by effortful control. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 37(3), 349–361. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-008-9293-x.
Yap, M. B. H., Allen, N. B., O'Shea, M., di Parsia, P., Simmons, J. G., & Sheeber, L. (2011). Early adolescents' temperament, emotion regulation during mother-child interactions, and depressive symptomatology. Development and Psychopathology, 23(1), 267–282. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579410000787.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval and Informed Consent
The parent project was appoved by the Human Research Ethics Committee at the University of Melbounre, and all participants provided written, informed consent.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dolcini-Catania, L.G., Byrne, M.L., Whittle, S. et al. Temperament and Symptom Pathways to the Development of Adolescent Depression. J Abnorm Child Psychol 48, 839–849 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-020-00638-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-020-00638-3