Abstract
The present study examined the connection between contingency-competence-control–related beliefs, on the one hand, and anxiety and depression, on the other hand, in a large sample of young adolescents aged 10 to 14 years (N = 214). Participants completed measures of perceived contingency, competence, and control, as well as a questionnaire assessing symptoms of common anxiety disorders and major depressive disorder. Results showed that contingency-competence-control–related beliefs were intercorrelated and that these beliefs, in turn, were significantly associated with symptoms of anxiety and depression. Structural equation modeling provided support for a model in which perceived contingency and perceived competence predicted perceived control and in which perceived competence (anxiety and depression) and perceived control (depression only), in turn, predicted symptoms of psychopathology. A prospective test of this model indicated that none of the contingency-competence-control–related beliefs was able to predict symptoms of anxiety and depression at 4-weeks follow-up. However, data also demonstrated that perceived competence significantly contributed to the subjective experience of anxiety and depression on both occasions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Robinson NS, Garber J, Hilsman R: Cognitions and stress: Direct and moderating effects on depressive versus externalizing symptoms during junior high school transition. J Abn Psychol104:453–463, 1995.
Cole DA, Peeke L, Dolezal S, Murray N, Canzoniero A: A longitudinal study of negative affect and self-perceived competence in young adolescents. J Pers Soc Psychol77:851–862, 1999.
Stark KD, Schmidt KL, Joiner TE: Cognitive triad: Relationship to depressive symptoms, parents' cognitive triad, perceived parental messages. J Abn Child Psychol24:615–631, 1996.
Bandura A, Pastorelli C, Barbaranelli C, Caprara GV: Self-efficacy pathways to childhood depression. J Pers Soc Psychol 76:258–269, 1999.
Gladstone TRG, Kaslow NJ, Seeley JR, Lewinsohn PM: Sex differences, attributional style, and depressive symptoms among adolescents. J Abn Child Psychol 25: 297–305, 1997.
Kazdin AE, Esveldt-Dawson K, Sherick RB, Colbus D: Assessment of overt behavior and childhood depression among psychiatrically disturbed children. J Consult Clin Psychol 53:201–210, 1985.
Weisz JR, Stipek DJ: Competence, contingency, and the development of perceived control. Hum Dev 25:250–281, 1982.
Weisz JR: Understanding the developing understanding of control. In Cognitive perspectives on children's social and behavioral development: The Minnesota Symposia on Child Psychology (Vol. 18, pp. 219–285), ed. Perlmutter M. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1986.
Weisz JR, Weiss B, Wasserman AA, Rintoul B: Control-related beliefs and depression among clinic-referred children and adolescents. J Abn Psychol 96:58–63, 1987.
Weisz JR, Stevens JS, Curry JF, Cohen R, Craighead WE, Burlingame WV, Smith A, Weiss B, Parmelee DX: Control-related cognitions and depression among inpatient children and adolescents. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 28:358–363, 1989.
Weisz JR, Sweeney L, Proffitt VD, Carr T: Control-related beliefs and self-reported depressive symptoms in late childhood. J Abn Psychol 102:411–418, 1993.
Weisz JR, Southam-Gerow MA, McCarty CA: Control-related beliefs and depressive symptoms in clinic-referred children and adolescents: Developmental differences and model specificity. J Abn Psychol 110:97–109, 2001.
Chorpita BF: Control and the development of negative emotion. In The developmental psychopathology of anxiety (pp.112–142), eds. Vasey MW, Dadds MR. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Chorpita BF, Barlow DH: The development of anxiety: The role of control in the early environment. Psychol Bull 124:3–21, 1998.
Chorpita BF, Brown TA, Barlow DH. Perceived control as a mediator of family environment in etiological models of childhood anxiety. Behav Ther 29:457–476, 1998.
Chorpita BF, Yim L, Moffitt C, Umemoto LA, Francis SE: Assessment of symptoms of DSM-IV anxiety and depression in children: A revised child anxiety and depression scale. Behav Res Ther 38:835–855, 2000.
American Psychiatric Association (APA): Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition. Washington: American Psychiatric Association, 1994.
Weisz JR, Sweeney L, Proffitt VD: The Perceived Contingency Scale for Children. Los Angeles: Univerisity of California, 1991.
Harter S: Manual for the Self-Perception Profile for Children. Denver: University of Denver, 1985.
Weisz JR, Southam-Gerow MA, Sweeney L: The Perceived Control Scale for Children. Los Angeles: University of California, 1998.
Spence SH: A measure of anxiety symptoms among children. Behav Res Ther 36: 545–566, 1998.
Jöreskog KG, Sörbom D: LISREL 8.30. Chicago: Scientific Software International, 1999.
Gerbing DW, Anderson JC: Monte Carlo evaluations of goodness-of-fit indices for structural equation models. In Testing structural equation models (pp.10–39), eds. Bollen KA, Long JS. New York: Wiley, 1993.
Muris P, Meesters C, Schouten E: A brief questionnaire of DSM-IV defined anxiety and depression symptoms among children. Clin Psychol Psychother 9:430–442, 2002.
Meng XL, Rosenthal R, Rubin DB: Comparing correlated correlation coefficients. Psychol Bull111:172–175, 1992.
Vasey MW, Dadds MR: An introduction to the developmental psychopathology of anxiety. In The developmental psychopathology of anxiety (pp.3–26), eds. Vasey MW, Dadds MR. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Kendall PC: Treating anxiety disorders in children: Results of a randomized clinical trial. J Consult Clin Psychol 62:100–110, 1994.
Lewinsohn PM, Clarke GN, Hops H, Andrews J: Cognitive-behavioral group treatment of depression in adolescence. Behav Ther 21:385–401, 1990.
Stallings P, March JS (1995): Assessment. In Anxiety disorders in children and adolescents (pp.125–147), ed. March JS. New York: Guilford Press, 1995.
Kazdin AE, Kagan J: Models of dysfuntion in developmental psychopathology. Clin Psychol Scie Pract 1:35–52, 1994.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Muris, P., Schouten, E., Meesters, C. et al. Contingency-Competence-Control–Related Beliefs and Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression in a Young Adolescent Sample. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 33, 325–339 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023040430308
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023040430308