Abstract
This observational study supplements the strong and consistent link found between childhood depression and deficits in interpersonal functioning by examining the relationship between a high versus low score on the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) and children’s emotions when interacting with their best friends. High-CDI and low-CDI target children (n=86) were paired for videotaped game-playing with self-reported best friends. Researchers found that although high-CDI target children were not distinguishable from low-CDI peers in their displays of positive and negative emotion. However, the partners of high-CDI target children displayed significantly more negative emotion during the competitive task and significantly less positive emotion during the cooperative task than did partners of low-CDI target children. In addition, high-CDI target children and their partners reported less enjoyment of their interactions than low-CDI target children and their partners. This combination of findings suggests that depressive symptoms were associated with a relative lack of success achieving an optimal friendship interaction even under highly favorable conditions.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the following grants to the first author: Fahs-Beck Foundation Dissertation Completion Grant; Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Dissertation Research Grant; University Fellowships from the Department of Human and Community Development and the Medical Scholars Program, UIUC; Hazel I. Craig Summer Research Fellowship, UIUC; Summer Graduate Research Grant from the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences, UIUC. We gratefully acknowledge the teachers and students who participated in this research, and thank Alison Sattler for her skillful assistance in preparing the manuscript.
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Rockhill, C.M., Fan, MY., Katon, W.J. et al. Friendship Interactions in Children with and without Depressive Symptoms: Observation of Emotion during Game-Playing Interactions and Post-Game Evaluations. J Abnorm Child Psychol 35, 429–441 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-007-9101-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-007-9101-z