The Development of Future Orientation is Associated with Faster Decline in Hopelessness during Adolescence

Hopelessness is implicated in multiple psychological disorders. Little is known, however, about the trajectory of hopelessness during adolescence or how emergent future orientation may influence its trajectory. Parallel process latent growth curve modelling tested whether (i) trajectories of future orientation and hopelessness and (ii) within-individual change in future orientation and hopelessness were related. The study was comprised of 472 adolescents [52% female, 47% Caucasian, 47% received free lunch] recruited at ages 12–13 who completed measures of future orientation and hopelessness at five annual assessments. The results indicate that a general decline in hopelessness across adolescence occurs quicker for those experiencing faster development of future orientation, when controlling for age, sex, low socio-economic status in addition to stressful life events in childhood and adolescence. Stressful childhood life events were associated with worse future orientation at baseline and negative life events experienced during adolescence were associated with both an increase in the trajectory of hopelessness as well as a decrease in the trajectory of future orientation. This study provides compelling evidence that the development of future orientation during adolescence is associated with a faster decline in hopelessness.     

Cognitive Vulnerabilities to Depression for Adolescents in Single-Mother and Two-Parent Families

Although research consistently suggests that adolescents in single-mother families are at increased risk for depression, the mechanisms that explain this relationship are unclear. In a community sample of adolescents (N?=?368; ages 12–16; 50?% female; 50?% White) and their mothers (42?% single), adolescents completed measures of depressive symptoms, rumination, and depressogenic inferential style at baseline and two yearly follow-ups. Mothers reported on stressful events that occurred in the child’s life from birth until baseline. Adolescents raised by single mothers, relative to partnered mothers, experienced more childhood stressors and higher rumination levels at 1-year follow-up. Additionally, higher rumination mediated the relationship between single motherhood and greater youth depressive symptoms at the 2-year follow-up. Clinical implications and developmental considerations are discussed.     

Immunocognitive Model of Depression Secondary to Anxiety in Adolescents

There is evidence that anxiety precedes the onset of depression and that rumination contributes to this risk pathway in adolescence. This study examined inflammatory biomarkers as mediators in a risk model of depressive symptoms secondary to anxiety symptoms among adolescents who ruminate. A sample of 140 adolescents (52% female, 54% African American, 40% Caucasian, 6% biracial, mean age at T1?=?16.5 years, SD?=?1.2 years) provided blood samples on two visits (T1 and T2; mean time between T1 and T2?=?13.5 months, SD?=?5.9 months). Self-report anxiety, depression, and rumination measures were given at T1 and the depression measure was given again at a third visit (T3, mean months since T1?=?26.0 months, SD?=?9.0 months). Higher anxiety predicted more interleukin-6, but not more C-reactive protein, for adolescents with high levels of rumination. Moderated mediation analyses (N for analysis after removing cases with missing data and outliers?=?86) indicated that interleukin-6, but not C-reactive protein, at T2 mediated the relationship between anxiety symptoms at T1 and depressive symptoms at T3, conditional on rumination. Anxiety and rumination interacted such that, as rumination increased, anxiety predicted greater inflammation and depressive symptoms. These results demonstrate that established cognitive vulnerabilities for the development of depressive symptoms secondary to anxiety symptoms in adolescence might indirectly operate though biological mechanisms such as inflammation. In addition to highlighting risk factors and potential treatment targets for depression, this study suggests a potential biological mechanism underlying the effects of psychotherapies that reduce rumination on negative affect (e.g., cognitive behavioral therapy).     

Negative Inferential Style Mediates the Association between Racial Identity and Depressive Symptoms among African American Adolescents

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Negative inferential style is a cognitive vulnerability for depression. Yet, few studies have explored how this risk factor intersects with culturally-specific...     

Interaction of Biological Stress Recovery and Cognitive Vulnerability for Depression in Adolescence

Major Depressive Disorder is a common mental illness with rates increasing during adolescence. This has led researchers to examine developmental antecedents of depression. This study examined the association between depressive symptoms and the interaction between two empirically supported risk factors for depression: poor recovery of the biological stress system as measured through heart rate and cortisol, and cognitive vulnerabilities as indexed by rumination and a negative cognitive style. Adolescents (n = 127; 49 % female) completed questionnaires and a social stress task to elicit a stress response measured with neuroendocrine (cortisol) and autonomic nervous system (heart rate) endpoints. The findings indicated that higher depressive symptoms were associated with the combination of higher cognitive vulnerabilities and lower cortisol and heart rate recovery. These findings can enhance our understanding of stress responses, lead to personalized treatment, and provide a nuanced understanding of depression in adolescence.     

Deficits in Emotional Clarity and Vulnerability to Peer Victimization and Internalizing Symptoms Among Early Adolescents

Peer victimization is a significant risk factor for a range of negative outcomes during adolescence, including depression and anxiety. Recent research has evaluated individual characteristics that heighten the risk of experiencing peer victimization. However, the role of emotional clarity, or the ability to understand one’s emotions, in being the target of peer victimization remains unclear. Thus, the present study evaluated whether deficits in emotional clarity increased the risk of experiencing peer victimization, particularly among adolescent girls, which, in turn, contributed to prospective levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms. In the present study, 355 early adolescents (ages 12–13; 53 % female; 51 % African American) who were part of the Adolescent Cognition and Emotion project completed measures of emotional clarity, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms at baseline, and measures of peer victimization, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms at follow-up. Moderation analyses indicated that deficits in emotional clarity predicted greater peer victimization among adolescent girls, but not adolescent boys. Moderated mediation analyses revealed that deficits in emotional clarity contributed to relational peer victimization, which, in turn, predicted prospective levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms among adolescent girls, but not boys. These findings indicate that deficits in emotional clarity represent a significant risk factor for adolescent girls to experience relational peer victimization, which, in turn, contributed to prospective levels of internalizing symptoms. Thus, prevention programs should target deficits in emotional clarity to prevent peer victimization and subsequent internalizing symptoms among adolescent girls.     

A Longitudinal Investigation of Cognitive Self-schemas across Adolescent Development

Research in developmental psychology highlights youth’s self-schemas as one possible pathway to improve adolescents’ functioning and promote positive developmental outcomes. Despite this, the trajectory of positive and negative self-schemas is relatively understudied. This study addresses this limitation by empirically examining the trajectory of self-schemas in a community sample of 623 youth (M?=?13.04 years; 54% female; 49% African American, 4% Biracial, 47% European American) who were followed over a seven-year period. Caregivers completed measures of parenting practices, maternal rumination and negative inferential style, and adolescents completed a computerized behavioral task assessing self-schemas (i.e., mental frameworks that guide attention, interpretation, and memory of one’s experiences). Multilevel growth curve modeling results demonstrated a quadratic slope for negative self-schemas and no mean-level change for positive self-schemas. These trajectories did not vary by gender or racial group. However, parenting factors differentially influenced the trajectories. Specifically, higher levels of parental involvement at baseline, or an active interest and engagement in a child’s experiences and activities, related to lower levels of negative self-schemas during adolescence. Additionally, higher levels of parental rumination and parental negative control at baseline related to lower levels of youth positive self-schemas at baseline. These findings contribute to models of youth cognitive development.

     

Cognitive Vulnerabilities Amplify the Effect of Early Pubertal Timing on Interpersonal Stress Generation During Adolescence

Early pubertal timing has been found to confer risk for the occurrence of interpersonal stressful events during adolescence. However, pre-existing vulnerabilities may exacerbate the effects of early pubertal timing on the occurrence of stressors. Thus, the current study prospectively examined whether cognitive vulnerabilities amplified the effects of early pubertal timing on interpersonal stress generation. In a diverse sample of 310 adolescents (M age = 12.83 years, 55 % female; 53 % African American), early pubertal timing predicted higher levels of interpersonal dependent events among adolescents with more negative cognitive style and rumination, but not among adolescents with lower levels of these cognitive vulnerabilities. These findings suggest that cognitive vulnerabilities may heighten the risk of generating interpersonal stress for adolescents who undergo early pubertal maturation, which may subsequently place adolescents at greater risk for the development of psychopathology.