Abstract
The association between stressful life events and depression has been consistently supported in the literature; however, studies of the developmental trajectories of these constructs and the nature of their association over time are limited. We examined trajectories of depressive symptoms and negative dependent life events and the associations between these constructs in a sample of 916 youth assessed annually from age 9 to 16, using latent growth curve modeling. Youth depressive symptoms, as rated by youth, parents, and teachers, decreased from late childhood into adolescence, whereas rates of youth-rated life events did not change significantly over time. Initial levels of depressive symptoms were positively associated with initial levels of life events. Furthermore, after controlling for the initial association between the two constructs, increases in depressive symptoms (as assessed by parents and youth) were positively associated with increases in life events over time. The study builds on prior research by focusing specifically on negative dependent life events, examining results across multiple informants, and employing latent growth curve modeling to evaluate associations between trajectories of life events and depressive symptoms in a longitudinal adolescent sample. Additional studies employing latent growth modeling to examine the changes in this association during adolescence are needed.
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Notes
For clarity, “SLEs” (stressful life events) is used in this report as a general term in discussing the stress-depression literature, in order to encompass the various definitions of life events in the literature. “NDLEs” will be used to indicate a specific category of SLEs, negative dependent life events, as examined in the current study.
Given the modest correlations across raters of depressive symptoms, we examined the possibility of creating a multiple indicator latent variable for depressive symptoms. However, measurement invariance across individual time points is a requirement for the creation of a multiple-indicator model (Muthén and Muthén 2003), and this was not achieved in our data.
Models examining the CBCL and TRF were also conducted with girls and boys in separate groups, fixing parameter estimates to be equal across groups. The results were very similar to those from the models in which the entire sample was in one group, with the exception of the Slope-Slope correlation in the CBCL latent trait growth model. This parameter estimate was a similar value in both models, but was only statistically significant in the one-group model.
For clarity and consistency, the phrase “initial levels” will be used herein to indicate the variance stable with initial levels of a construct (e.g. depressive symptoms or NDLEs).
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported in part by grants from the MacArthur Foundation, the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development Grants HD010333, HD050346, HD007289, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse Grant DA011015.
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Appendices
Appendix 1
LESA items identified as negative and dependent.
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1.
Broke up with a boyfriend/girlfriend
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2.
Falling out/broke up with a close friend
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3.
Falling out/broke up with my best friend
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4.
Physical fight with a friend
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5.
Locked out of home/apartment
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6.
Getting along worse than before with mother
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7.
Getting along worse than before with father
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8.
Getting along worse than before with brothers/sisters
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9.
Had quarrels or disagreements with your parents about friends
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10.
Had quarrels or disagreements with your parents about dress
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11.
Had quarrels or disagreements with your parents about going places by yourself (like concerts, parties, the mall, etc.)
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12.
Had quarrels or disagreements with your parents about staying out
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13.
Had quarrels or disagreements with your parents about things you do at home (music you listen to, TV, telephone)
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14.
Had quarrels or disagreements with your parents about cleaning up
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15.
Had quarrels or disagreements with your parents about the way you talk (swearing, slang, talking back)
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16.
Had a big disappointment at school
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17.
Got in trouble with the teacher
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18.
Got in trouble with the principal
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19.
Parents were called about school problem
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
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Johnson, D.P., Whisman, M.A., Corley, R.P. et al. Association between Depressive Symptoms and Negative Dependent Life Events from Late Childhood to Adolescence. J Abnorm Child Psychol 40, 1385–1400 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-012-9642-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-012-9642-7