Abstract
Offspring of mothers with a history of major depressive disorder (MDD) are at high risk of developing the disorder themselves, yet specific mechanisms of risk remain unclear. One hypothesized mechanism is interpersonal stress, which has been shown to be elevated in offspring of mothers with a history of MDD. The goal of this study was to examine the role of a specific form of interpersonal stress, peer victimization (overt and relational). In doing so, we not only examined the impact of peer victimization on changes in youth depression, but also youth depression on changes in peer victimization, consistent with stress generation models. Participants were 251 mothers with (n = 129) or without (n = 122) a history of MDD and their child (aged 8–14 years at baseline) who were assessed every six months for two years. Using random intercepts cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPM), we were able to separate between-subject effects (mother MDD group differences in average levels of peer victimization and offspring depressive symptoms) and within-subject effects (transactional influences between within-subject fluctuations in peer victimization and depressive symptoms among offspring over time). Overall, these effects were stronger for relational victimization than for overt victimization and stronger for girls than boys. These results support the role of peer victimization, particularly relational victimization, as a risk factor among offspring of mothers with MDD, particularly girls, and highlight transactional relations between relational victimization and depressive symptoms in girls over time, which may create a vicious cycle of risk.
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Notes
Previous studies have used different terms to refer to subtypes of peer victimization. For consistency, we will refer to social/indirect victimization as relational victimization and physical/direct victimization as overt victimization.
Results of the analyses were virtually identical with or without these covariates included and all conclusions remained the same.
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Israel, E.S., Gibb, B.E. Transactional Relations Between Peer Victimization and Depressive Symptoms Among Youth at Risk of Developing Depression: Evidence for Gender Differences. Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol 51, 625–637 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-023-01032-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-023-01032-5