Abstract
This research tested skill-deficit and cognitive-distortion models of depression and aggression in 615 fifth- and sixth-grade children. Children completed a measure of their generalized conceptions of relationships in the peer domain and their level of depressive symptoms. Teachers completed measures of social competence, social status, and aggression. As anticipated, children with higher levels of depressive symptoms, either alone or in combination with aggression, demonstrated more negative conceptions of both self and peers than did nonsymptomatic children. Conceptions of relationships did not differentiate between aggressive and nonsymptomatic children. Children with depressive symptoms and children with aggressive symptoms displayed unique profiles of social competence deficits and problematic status in the peer group. Analysis of the accuracy of children's conceptions of relationships revealed support for both skill-deficit and cognitive-distortion models. Consistent with a skill-deficit model, children with depressive and depressive-aggressive symptoms were sensitive to actual differences in their social status. In contrast, aggressive children showed an insensitivity to social cues. Consistent with a cognitive-distortion model, children with depressive and depressive-aggressive symptoms had more negative conceptions than would be expected given their social status, whereas aggressive-unpopular children demonstrated a self-enhancement bias. These findings indicate the importance of integrated cognitive-interpersonal models of depression and aggression that incorporate multiple pathways among social-cognitive, interpersonal, and emotional functioning.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Manual for the Teacher's Report Form and 1991 profile. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.
Alloy, L. B., & Abramson, L. Y. (1988). Depressive realism: Four theoretical perspectives. In L. B. Alloy (Ed.), Cognitive processes in depression (pp. 223-265). New York: Guilford.
Altmann, E. O., & Gotlib, I. H. (1988). The social behavior of depressed children: An observational study. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 16, 29-44.
Armsden, G. C., & Greenberg, M. T. (1987). The Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment: Individual differences and their relationship to psychological well-being in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 16, 427-454.
Asarnow, J. R. (1988). Peer status and social competence in child psychiatric inpatients: A comparison of children with depressive, externalizing, and concurrent depressive and externalizing disorders. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 16, 151-162.
Asher, S. R., & Coie, J. D. (1990). Peer rejection in childhood. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Baker, M., Milich, R., & Manolis, M. B. (1996). Peer interactions of dysphoric adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 24, 241-255.
Baldwin, M. W. (1992). Relational schemas and the processing of social information. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 461-484.
Barnett, P. A., & Gotlib, I. H. (1988). Psychosocial functioning and depression: Distinguishing among antecedents, concomitants, and consequences. Psychological Bulletin, 104, 97-126.
Bierman, K. L., Smoot, D. L., & Aumiller, K. (1993). Characteristics of aggressive-rejected, aggressive (nonrejected), and rejected (nonaggressive) boys. Child Development, 64, 139-151.
Boivin, M., & Hymel, S. (1997). Peer experiences and social self-perceptions: A sequential model. Developmental Psychology, 33, 135-145.
Boivin, M., Poulin, F., & Vitaro, F. (1994). Depressed mood and peer rejection in childhood. Development and Psychopathology, 6, 483-498.
Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss: Vol. 2. Separation. New York: Basic.
Bukowski, W. M., Sippola, L. K., Verlan, P., & Newcomb, A. F. (1993). The association between aggression, popularity, and narcissism and children's feelings of social well-being. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, New Orleans, LA.
Cassidy, J., & Asher, S. R. (1992). Loneliness and peer relations in young children. Child Development, 63, 350-365.
Cole, D. A. (1990). Relation of social and academic competence to depressive symptoms in childhood. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 99, 422-429.
Cole, D. A. (1991). Preliminary support for a competency-based model of depression in children. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 100, 181-190.
Cole, D. A., & Carpentieri, S. (1990). Social status and the comorbidity of child depression and conduct disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 58, 748-757.
Cole, D. A., Martin, J. M., Peeke, L. G., Seroczynski, A. D., & Hoffman, K. (1998). Are cognitive errors of underestimation predictive or reflective of depressive symptoms in children: A longitudinal study. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 107, 481-496.
Cole, D. A., Martin, J. M., & Powers, B. (1997). A competency-based model of child depression: A longitudinal study of peer, parent, teacher, and self-evaluations. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38, 505-514.
Cole, D. A., & Turner, J. E., Jr. (1993). Models of cognitive mediation and moderation in child depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 102, 271-281.
Connolly, J., Geller, S., Marton, P., & Kutcher, S. (1992). Peer responses to social interaction with depressed adolescents. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 21, 365-370.
Coyne, J. C. (1976). Depression and the response of others. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 85, 186-193.
Crick, N. R., & Dodge, K. A. (1994). A review and reformulation of social information-processing mechanisms in children's social adjustment. Psychological Bulletin, 115, 74-101.
Crick, N. R., & Ladd, G. W. (1993). Children's perceptions of their peer experiences: Attributions, loneliness, social anxiety, and social avoidance. Developmental Psychology, 29, 244-254.
Cummings, E. M., & Cicchetti, D. (1990). Toward a transactional model of relations between attachment and depression. In M. Greenberg, D. Cicchetti, & E. M. Cummings (Eds.), Attachment in the preschool years: Theory, research, and intervention (pp. 339-372). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Dodge, K. A. (1986). A social information processing model of social competence in children. In M. Perlmutter (Ed.), The Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology (Vol. 18, pp. 77-125). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Dodge, K. A. (1993). Social-cognitive mechanisms in the development of conduct disorder and depression. Annual Review of Psychology, 44, 559-584.
Dodge, K. A., & Frame, C. L. (1982). Social cognitive biases and deficits in aggressive boys. Child Development, 53, 620-635.
Dodge, K. A., & Newman, J. P. (1981). Biased decision making processes in aggressive boys. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 90, 375-379.
Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., McClaskey, C. L., & Brown, M. M. (1986). Social competence in children. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 51, 1-85.
Dodge, K. A., & Richard, B. A. (1985). Peer perceptions, aggression, and the development of peer relations. In J. D. Day & J. B. Pryor (Eds.), The development of social cognition (pp. 35-58). New York: Springer.
Garber, J., Quiggle, N. L., Panak, W., Dodge, K. A. (1991). Aggression and depression in children: Comorbidity, specificity, and cognitive processing. In D. Cicchetti & S. Toth (Eds.), Internalizing and externalizing expressions of dysfunction (pp. 225-264). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Goodyer, I., Wright, C., & Altham, P. (1990). The friendships and recent life events of anxious and depressed school-age children. British Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 689-698.
Gotlib, I. H., & Hammen, C. L. (1992). Psychological aspects of depression: Toward a cognitive-interpersonal integration. London: Wiley.
Hammen, C., & Rudolph, K. D. (1996). Childhood depression. In E. J. Mash & R. A. Barkley (Eds.), Child psychopathology (pp. 153-195). New York: Guilford Press.
Hughes, J. N., Cavell, T. A., & Grossman, P. B. (1997). A positive view of self: Risk or protection for aggressive children? Development and Psychopathology, 9, 75-94.
Hymel, S., Bowker, A., & Woody, E. (1993). Aggressive versus withdrawn unpopular children: Variations in peer and self-perceptions in multiple domains. Child Development, 64, 879-896.
Hymel, S., Rubin, K. H., Rowden, L., & LeMare, L. (1990). Children's peer relationships: Longitudinal prediction of internalizing and externalizing problems from middle to late childhood. Child Development, 61, 2004-2021.
Jacobsen, R. H., Lahey, B. B., & Strauss, C. C. (1983). Correlates of depressed mood in normal children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 11, 29-40.
Kaslow, N. J., Rehm, L. P., & Siegel, A. W. (1984). Social-cognitive and cognitive correlates of depression in children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 12, 605-620.
Kendall, P. C., Cantwell, D. P., & Kazdin, A. E. (1989). Depression in children and adolescents: Assessment issues and recommendations. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 13, 109-146.
Kendall, P. C., & Fischler, G. L. (1984). Behavioral and adjustment correlates of problem solving: Validational analyses of interpersonal cognitive problem-solving measures. Child Development, 55, 879-892.
Kendall, P. C., Stark, K. D., & Adam, T. (1990). Cognitive deficit or cognitive distortion in childhood depression. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 18, 255-270.
Kennedy, E., Spence, S. H., & Hensley, R. (1989). An examination of the relationship between childhood depression and social competence amongst primary school children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 30, 561-573.
Kovacs, M. (1980/81). Rating scales to assess depression in school-aged children. Acta Paedopsychiatry, 46, 305-315.
Kovacs, M. (1983). The Children's Depression Inventory: A self-rated depression scale for school-aged youngsters. Unpublished manuscript.
Lewinsohn, P. M. (1974). A behavioral approach to depression. In R. Friedman & M. Katz (Eds.), The psychology of depression: Contemporary theory and research (pp. 157-185). Washington, DC. Winston-Wiley.
Little, S. A., & Garber, J. (1995). Aggression, depression, and stressful life events predicting peer rejection in children. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 845-856.
Lochman, J. E. (1987). Self and peer perceptions and attributional biases of aggressive and nonaggressive boys in dyadic interactions. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 404-410.
Lochman, J. E., & Dodge, K. A. (1998). Distorted perceptions in dyadic interactions of aggressive and nonaggressive boys: Effects of prior expectations, context, and boys' age. Development and Psychopathology, 10, 495-512.
Main, M., Kaplan, N., & Cassidy, J. (1985). Security in infancy, childhood, and adulthood: A move to the level of representation. In I. Bretherton & E. Waters (Eds.), Growing points in attachment theory and research. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50 (1–2, Serial No. 209), 66-104.
Patterson, C. J., Kupersmidt, J. B., & Griesler, P. C. (1990). Children's perceptions of self and of relationships with others as a function of sociometric status. Child Development, 61, 1335-1349.
Patterson, G. R., & Stoolmiller, M. (1991). Replications of a dual failure model for boys' depressed mood. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 491-498.
Proffitt, V. D., & Weisz, J. R. (1992). Perceived incompetence and depression in childhood: Cognitive distortion or accurate appraisal. Unpublished manuscript.
Quiggle, N. L., Garber, J., Panak, W. F., & Dodge, K. A. (1992). Social information processing in aggressive and depressed children. Child Development, 63, 1305-1320.
Rabiner, D. L., Keane, S. P., & MacKinnon-Lewis, C. (1993). Children's beliefs about familiar and unfamiliar peers in relation to their sociometric status. Developmental Psychology, 29, 236-243.
Reynolds, W. M. (1994). Assessment of depression in children and adolescents by self-report questionnaires. In W. M. Reynolds & H. F. Johnston (Eds.), Handbook of depression in children and adolescents (pp. 209-234). New York: Plenum.
Rogosch, F., Cicchetti, D., & Aber, J. L. (1995). The role of child maltreatment in early deviations in cognitive and affective processing abilities and later peer relationship problems. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 591-609.
Rudolph, K. D., Hammen, C., & Burge, D. (1994). Interpersonal functioning and depressive symptoms in childhood: Addressing the issues of specificity and comorbidity. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 22, 355-371.
Rudolph, K. D., Hammen, C., & Burge, D. (1995). Cognitive representations of self, family, and peers in school-age children: Links with social competence and sociometric status. Child Development, 66, 1385-1402.
Rudolph, K. D., Hammen, C., & Burge, D. (1997). A cognitive-interpersonal approach to depressive symptoms in preadolescent children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 25, 33-45.
Safran, J. D. (1990). Towards a refinement of cognitive therapy in light of interpersonal theory I. Theory. Clinical Psychology Review, 10, 87-105.
Shirk, S. R., Boergers, J., Eason, A., & Van Horn, M. (1998). Dysphoric interpersonal schemata and preadolescents' sensitization to negative events. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 27, 54-68.
Shirk, S. R., Van Horn, M., & Leber, D. (1997). Dysphoria and children's processing of supportive interactions. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 25, 239-249.
Smucker, M. R., Craighead, W. E., Craighead, L. W., & Green, B. J. (1986). Normative and reliability data for the Children's Depression Inventory. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 14, 25-39.
Weisz, J. R., Rudolph, K. D., Granger, D. A., & Sweeney, L. (1992). Cognition, competence, and coping in child and adolescent depression: Research findings, developmental concerns, therapeutic implications. Development and Psychopathology, 4, 627-653.
Zakriski, A. L., & Coie, J. D. (1996). A comparison of aggressive-rejected and nonaggressive-rejected children's interpretations of self-directed and other-directed rejection. Child Development, 67, 1048-1070.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rudolph, K.D., Clark, A.G. Conceptions of Relationships in Children with Depressive and Aggressive Symptoms: Social-Cognitive Distortion or Reality?. J Abnorm Child Psychol 29, 41–56 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005299429060
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005299429060