The current study examined whether excessive reassurance seeking serves as a vulnerability factor to depression in a sample of high-risk youth using a multiwave longitudinal design. At Time 1, 140 children (aged 6–14) of affectively disordered parents completed measures assessing reassurance seeking and depressive symptoms. In addition, every 6 weeks during the following year, children and parents completed measures assessing depressive symptoms and the occurrence of hassles. In line with hypotheses, the results of contemporaneous analyses indicated that children with high levels of reassurance seeking reported greater elevations in depressive symptoms following elevations in either hassles or parental depressive symptoms than children with low levels. At the same time, the results of time-lagged analyses indicated that both these relationships were moderated by age with excessive reassurance seeking being associated with greater elevations in depressive symptoms following elevations in either hassles or parental depressive symptoms in older but not younger children.
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Notes
Given that the RSSC has not been used previously with 6- and 7-year-old children, we examined whether similar internal consistencies and test–retest reliability were obtained in this age group (n = 28). We obtained mean interitem correlations of .51 and .49 and alphas of .81 and .76 at Times 1 and 2, respectively. Test–retest reliability over the 1-year interval was .46 (p < .05), suggesting that reassurance seeking exhibited a moderate degree of stability over the 1-year follow-up interval. Thus, the psychometric properties of the measure appeared similar in the 6- and 7-year-olds to those obtained in the sample as a whole.
Given that the CHAS has not been used previously with 6- and 7-year-old children, we examined whether similar internal consistencies and test–retest reliabilities were obtained in this age group (n = 28). The mean test–retest reliability across the 1-year follow-up interval was .54, suggesting children's levels of hassles exhibited moderate stability. Parents’ and children's scores were significantly associated (r = .66, p < .01) at the Phase 3 assessment. Thus, the psychometric properties of the measure appeared similar in the 6- and 7-year-olds to those obtained in the sample as a whole.
Details on these specific analyses are available by contacting the first author.
Given that follow-up CDI and HASSLES scores were obtained from children at eight different time points over a 1-year interval, we examined whether the effect of FU_HASSLES on FU_CDI varied as a function of TIME. In order to select a covariance structure, we assumed a mean structure that included T1_CDI, TIME, FU_HASSLES, and the TIME × FU_HASSLES interaction. In addition, RE_CHILD, RE_FAMILY, and RE_SLOPE were included in the model. With respect to the random effects component of the model, the ARH(1) parameter (r = .23, p < .001) and RE_CHILD (p < .01) were significant. Although RE_FAMILY was not significant, it was retained in the model to control for any nonindependence of data. Last, RE_SLOPE was not significant and thus was deleted from the model prior to examining the fixed-effects component. Regarding the fixed-effects component of the model, the TIME × FU_HASSLES interaction was not significant (β = 0.03, SE = 0.04, F(8, 602) = 0.43, ns), indicating that the effect of hassles on depressive symptoms did not vary as a function of the timing of the follow-up assessment.
It is important to note that lagged analyses were chosen as a secondary rather than a primary data analytic approach due to the large loss of data, and consequently the drop in statistical power that results when utilizing this approach. Such data loss occurs because in lagged analyses, each “observation” consists of data from two consecutive follow-up assessments rather than data from one follow-up assessment.
Given that follow-up CDI and BDI scores were obtained from children and their parents at eight different time points over a 1-year interval, we examined whether the effect of FU_BDI on FU_CDI varied as a function of TIME. In order to select a covariance structure, we assumed a mean structure that included T1_CDI, TIME, FU_BDI, and the TIME × FU_BDI interaction. In addition, RE_CHILD, RE_FAMILY, and RE_SLOPE were included in the model. With respect to the random effects component of the model, the ARH(1) parameter (r = 21, p < .01), RE_CHILD, (p < .05), RE_FAMILY (p < .01), and RE_SLOPE (p < .05) were significant. Regarding the fixed-effects component of the model, the TIME × FU_BDI interaction was not significant (β = 0.19, SE = 0.12, F(8, 578) = 1.58, ns), indicating that the effect of parental depressive symptoms on children's depressive symptoms did not vary as a function of the timing of the follow-up assessment.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The research reported in this article was supported, in part, by a Young Investigator Award from the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD) awarded to John R. Z. Abela. We would like to thank Martin E. P. Seligman for serving as a mentor for the NARSAD grant. We would also like to thank Marc Fournier and Debbie Moskowitz for providing statistical consultation.
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Abela, J.R., Zuroff, D.C., Ho, MH.R. et al. Excessive Reassurance Seeking, Hassles, and Depressive Symptoms in Children of Affectively Ill Parents: A Multiwave Longitudinal Study. J Abnorm Child Psychol 34, 165–181 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-005-9011-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-005-9011-x