A Longitudinal Study of Self-Awareness and Depressed Mood in Adolescence

The relationship between longitudinal variations of self-awareness and depressed mood in 479 adolescents was examined across four waves of data collection over a seven-year period. Self-awareness was significantly associated with depressed mood, and this association was strongest during midadoles-cence. Regression analyses of changes of depressed mood over time suggest mutual influence between self-awareness and depressed mood. Stressful life events, such as pubescent changes and the relationship with significant others, explained variations in self-awareness. Different influences of these life events were important at varying stages of adolescence.     

Introspectiveness and adolescent development

This study introduces a measure of introspectiveness for adolescents aged 12–18 and investigates its association with several aspects of adolescent development. Introspectiveness—the tendency to deveote diffuse attention to thoughts and feelings about the self—increased during adolescence, and may be stimulated by discontinuities associated with adolescent development, other kinds of discontinuities, and parental introspectiveness. Also, introspectiveness was positively associated with depression, anxiety, and physical symptoms, and may help explain the increase in symptom reporting during this developmental period. Highly introspective adolescents participated in more artistic activities and spent more time alone than those low on introspectiveness. Finally, highly introspective college students chose self-oriented academic majors, which may have implications for future occupational development. Together these results suggest that the concept of introspectiveness may increase our understanding of several important aspects of this developmental period.This research was supported by grants from the William T. Grant Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and NIMH Grant No. 39590. An earlier version was presented at the 1984 annual convention of the American Sociological Association in San Antonio, Texas.Research interests include medical sociology and health and illness behavior among adolescents and older adults.Received a Ph.D. from Stanford University. Research interests include medical sociology, health care policy, and aging research.Received an M.A. from Rutgers University. Research interests include adolescent development and therapy.