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Gender Moderation of the Intergenerational Transmission and Stability of Depressive Symptoms from Early Adolescence to Early Adulthood

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Abstract

Factors that might exacerbate or mitigate the transmission of depressive symptoms from parents to adolescents and the continuity of depressive symptoms into early adulthood are poorly understood. This study tested the hypothesis that the intergenerational transmission and stability of depressive symptoms would be stronger for girls than boys over adolescence and into early adulthood, while considering the possibility that the pattern of gender moderation might vary depending on parent gender and developmental timing. The participants were 667 rural Midwestern adolescents (52 % female) and their parents. Survey data on maternal and paternal depressive symptoms (at youth age 11) and on adolescent and young adult depressive symptoms (at youth ages 11, 18, and 21) were analyzed via multiple group structural equation modeling. Maternal depressive symptoms predicted increased late adolescent depressive symptoms for girls but not boys, and adolescent depressive symptoms were more stable in girls. Paternal depressive symptoms predicted increased late adolescent depressive symptoms for all youth. The findings suggest the need for early, tailored interventions.

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Acknowledgments

The content of this article is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies.

Author Contributions

WM formulated the research question and data analysis plan, and developed the initial manuscript draft. MC conducted the data analyses and tabled the results, and contributed to writing the manuscript. LT contributed to shaping the research question and data analysis plan, and contributed to writing the manuscript. RS led the design and implementation of the larger study, and contributed to writing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Research Institute for Child and Family Studies, Boys Town, 14100 Crawford Street, Boys Town, NE, 68135, USA

    W. Alex Mason & Mary B. Chmelka

  2. Partnerships in Prevention Science Institute, Iowa State University, 2625 N. Loop Drive, Suite 2400, Ames, IA, 50010, USA

    Linda Trudeau & Richard L. Spoth

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  1. W. Alex Mason
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  2. Mary B. Chmelka
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  3. Linda Trudeau
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Correspondence to W. Alex Mason.

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Funding

This study was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (Grant AA14702), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Grant DA10815), and the National Institute of Mental Health (Grant MH49127).

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Mason, W.A., Chmelka, M.B., Trudeau, L. et al. Gender Moderation of the Intergenerational Transmission and Stability of Depressive Symptoms from Early Adolescence to Early Adulthood. J Youth Adolescence 46, 248–260 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0480-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0480-8

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