Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Faculty of Human Sciences, Department of Psychology, Centre for Emotional Health, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references. / Introduction -- Parenting in adolescent depression: the mediating role of self-worth in a prospective test -- Neuroticism, life events and negative thoughts in the development of depression in adolescent girls -- A cognitive diathesis-stress generation model of early adolescent depression -- General discussion. / This research examined the longitudinal development of depressive symptoms among young adolescents (mean age 12 years). The first model examined depressive symptoms across 6 months in 315 young adolescents and their mothers, considering the mediation of perceived parenting and its influence on adolescent self-worth. Although parent-reported parental depression was not linked with child-reported perceived parenting, the child's perception of his or her mother as rejecting or less caring was associated with a lower sense of self-worth, which in turn predicted depressive symptoms 6 months later, controlling for initial depression. In the second model, tested across 12 months with 896 young adolescent girls, neuroticism served as a distal vulnerability for depression, conferring a risk of experiencing dependent stressors and negative automatic thoughts which fully mediated the effect of neuroticism on later depression. Initial depressive symptoms also followed this meditational pathway, in a possible maintenance and risk pathway for adolescent depression. Unexpectedly, independent stressors were also predicted by initial depressive symptoms, suggesting possible shared method or genuine environmental factors. Finally, it was proposed that young adolescents at risk of depression will not only display cognitive vulnerabilities contributing to increased depressive symptoms following stressors (cognitive diathesis-stress theory), but also be more likely to experience stressors at least partly dependent on their own behaviour (stress-generation theory). This model was supported with a large (N=756) sample of young adolescents across 6 months, controlling for initial depression. Taken together, this thesis extends previous theories about the aetiology of depression, providing evidence from family, personality and cognitive risk factors to better explain the development of depressive symptoms in early adolescence, with significant implications for intervention and treatment. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / viii, 140 leaves ill

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2007 / Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Social Work. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 58-62).

Text in Afrikaans / Die studie het ten doel om 'n moontlike verband tussen lokus van kontrole jeens skoolwerk en depressie by die adolessent te identifiseer. Die literatuurstudie ondersoek lokus van kontrole - as aspek van verantwoordelikheid - en depressie, sowel as die ontwikkeling van die adolessent. Uit die literatuurstudie ontstaan die gevoel dat sodanige verband wel bestaan. 'n Gerieflikheidsteekproef - bestaande uit graad 11 leerders - is vir die navorsing gebruik. Die deelnemers vul 'n biografiese vraelys in, sowel as Afrikaanse weergawes van Crandall se Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Questionnaire en die Beck Depression Inventory. Die resultate van die biografiese vraelys, lokus van kontrole vraelys en depressie opname word individueel uiteengesit voordat daar 'n ondersoek gedoen word na moontlike samevallende verskille of korrelasies tussen lokus van kontrole tellings en depressie tellings. weergegee. Gelyktydige voorkoms word ook as persentasies Geen statisties beduidende korrelasies tussen depressie en lokus van kontrole jeens skoolwerk is gevind nie, wat moontlik toegeskryf kan word aan die aard van die steekproef. Verdere navorsing word aanbeveel. / The aim of the study was the identification of a possible relation between locus of control towards schoolwork and depression in adolescence. Locus of control - as an aspect of responsibility - and depression, as well as the development of the adolescent are examined in a literature study. As a result of this the feeling that a relationship between the named variables do exist is expressed. A convencience sample- consisting of grade 11 learners - is used in the research. The participants complete a biographic questionnaire, as well as Afrikaans translations of Crandall's Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Questionnaire and the Beck Depression Inventory. The result of the biographic questionnaire, the responsibility questionnaire and the depression inventory are reported on their own before an investigation is done regarding possible simultaneous differences or correlations between locus of control values and depression values. Percentages are used for the report of simultaneous values. No statistical meaningful differences or correlations were found, which might be ascribed to the nature of the sample. Further research is recommended. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Voorligting)

Objective: Emerging prospective evidence from mixed samples, mostly covering short-term follow-up periods, suggests that childhood loss of control (LOC) eating predicts significant impairment in mental and physical health. This study sought to investigate the natural course of childhood LOC eating over the long term and in relation to binge eating disorder (BED) diagnosis, psychopathology, and body weight trajectory in the community. Method: A total of 60 children (8-13 years) with LOC eating within the past three months and 60 demographically-matched children without LOC history were assessed with the Eating Disorder Examination adapted for Children and self-report questionnaires over a 5.5 year follow-up period. Missing data were imputed. Results: Over follow-up, 38.3% of children showed persistent LOC eating, and 28.3% revealed an onset of LOC eating. Persistent LOC eating significantly predicted onset of partial-/full-syndrome BED at follow-up. Negative prognostic effects on eating disorder psychopathology, depressive symptoms, and body mass index were non-significant. Discussion: The results indicate a moderate stability of LOC eating over the long term. LOC eating, especially if stable, was suggested as a variable risk factor of clinically relevant eating disturbances. In contrast, a prognostic value for psychopathology and body mass index was not confirmed.

This study examined the connection between household type and delinquency and depressive symptoms for female adolescents. The present study draws its claims from Power-control theory which, at its most abstract level, predicts gender differences in delinquency based on the level of patriarchy in the family and the theoretical works of Sarah Rosenfield, who argues that it is the over control of females that causes them to have higher rates depression than males. This study hoped to build on research that links differences in family type and parental control to sex differences in delinquency by using the Power-control theory to look depressive symptoms among female adolescents. Past studies looking at female delinquency attempt to understand why females are under representative in crime statistics when compared to their male counterparts. These studies focus most of the attention on the social control placed over females. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the findings showed that, contrary to claims made by power-control theory, patriarchal family did not predict delinquent behavior or depressive symptoms for female adolescents. Further analysis included an instrument of control, parental attachment, risk perceptions and found significant results. Race was also significant in several models. The parent-daughter relationship was most significant in predicting outcomes of depressive symptoms and delinquent behavior. Those who reported close relationships with their parents were less likely to report depressive symptoms and delinquency behavior.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Depression in African American (AA) adolescents is a prevalent mental health problem, can result in serious concurrent and long-term effects, and is associated with health disparities due to underutilization of mental health services. Initiatives to reduce disparities among depressed AA adolescents require a greater understanding of the experience of depression from their own point of view. The purpose of this dissertation was to generate a comprehensive theoretical framework that describes how AA adolescents experience depression throughout adolescence. The information gained about how AA adolescents understand and manage depressive symptoms, and in some cases seek and use mental health services will contribute to initiatives to reduce behavioral health disparities. This dissertation project was composed of two components. The first component was an integrative review of studies that explored associations between adolescent coping responses and depression. The integrative review summarized and integrated research from the past ten years that examined coping techniques of depressed adolescents. It revealed that the use of active coping strategies plays an important role in recovery from depression. The second component was a grounded theory study which included a sample of 22 community-based AA young adults (ages 18-21) and 5 clinic-based AA adolescents (ages 13-17). During semi-structured interviews, participants described their experiences with depression as adolescents. In addition, a timeline was constructed that included major events related to the unfolding of depression, including treatment seeking, which occurred during adolescence. Data generated from the grounded theory study were analyzed and resulted in two qualitatively derived products. The first is a typology titled Being With Others that depicts interaction patterns of depressed AA adolescents with people in their lives. The five categories in the typology are keeping others at bay, striking out at others, seeking help from others, joining in with others, and having others reach out. The second product is a theoretical framework titled Weathering through the Storm that describes how depression in AA adolescents unfolds over time. The five phases of the framework are labeled enduring stormy weather, braving the storm alone, struggling with the storm, finding shelter in the storm, and moving out of the storm.

Adolescents spend much of their time using the internet and electronic media. Since its inception, the use of online social networking (OSN) sites by adolescents continues to grow. With the proliferation of OSN, it is critical to examine how this activity affects psychological development, but better measurement tools are needed. As researchers struggle to keep up with this rapidly growing field, many gaps remain in the literature investigating the interrelations between adolescent's OSN use and mental health outcomes. Research examining the relationship between OSN and mental health outcomes, specifically depression and anxiety, has produced mixed results suggesting that other factors influence this association. A large research literature documents associations between attachment and mental health. Given that attachment also affects interpersonal communication, several studies have investigated links between attachment and OSN use in adult and college populations. Results indicated that even though attachment to father was independently related to anxiety and depression symptoms, it was not a significant moderator for mental health and OSN. Attachment to mother was a significant moderator for anxiety and depression and several OSN subscales. Based on this information, a greater focus on youth's interpersonal connection and social skills both online and offline may be beneficial when treating adolescents experiencing anxiety or depression.

Using the stress process model, the relationship between pregnancy and depressive symptoms among adolescent girls was investigated. This model posits that stress resulting from social location and related disruptive life events may indirectly affect health by eroding coping, mastery, or social support mechanisms. The effect of low income, minority status and pregnancy on coping processes in adolescent girls was hypothesized and tested. Communication with parents, involvement in activities, and success in school were examined as positive coping strategies. Smoking tobacco, heavy alcohol use, and drug use were examined as negative coping. Data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health were analyzed. After combining the available cases from the 2006, 2007, and 2008 datasets, selecting girls aged from 12 to 17 years, and removing missing cases; the sample consisted of a total of 22,854 adolescents. A series of binary logistic regression models were estimated. Findings included that coping strategies partially mediate the relationship between pregnancy and depressive symptoms. In particular, success in school, smoking tobacco, and drug abuse played a mediating role. When coping was accounted for, the relationship between pregnancy and depressive symptoms was reduced and became only marginally significant. Implications of the study include a focus on policy that promotes early intervention assisting at-risk adolescents with the development of coping strategies that may help them adjust to unexpected life events, such as pregnancy.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-08-08T11:31:32Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Sonia Maria da Silva Balão.pdf: 990062 bytes, checksum: d661de8299c0d3453ea314d82c5dbbd6 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-08T11:31:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sonia Maria da Silva Balão.pdf: 990062 bytes, checksum: d661de8299c0d3453ea314d82c5dbbd6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-06-20 / Nowadays, a great number of young people present themselves in clinic with complaints of a lonely and isolated personal life, with an affective-social withdrawal and impoverishment, sadness, hopelessness, anguish, internal guilt, helplessness, lack of will to live, cranky, self agressive and self-multilation behaviors. These factors, beyond worrying, point to pathology and to complex emotional difficulties. Another common feature of these young patients is to dedicate a lot of time to the virtual world instead of real life. On the social network, they have a group of lots of friends and dedicate a lot of their time with unknown people. This clear dissociation between the cloistered real life and the active virtual life demands questioning the social network role and think its excessive use as a way of psychological defense. Therefore, through the case study of a 16 years old young woman (when she begins the analysis), this research project proposes to understand this dissociation and its possible relation of the phenomenon to some psychopathology, specially depression, covering the contradictory way of the young people to have a depressive, apathetic and isolated existence in real life and manifest themselves vitally, interactively and intensely in social networks. The theorical basis of this investigation is the Winnicott’s Theory of Personal Maturity and the focus was on the articulation between the clinical case and the theory through the theoretical-methodological research and the research-listening. Reports from the patience, written by the psychologist during her three first years of psychological treatment and WhatsApp and Facebook messages given by the patience were all the valid corpus for this investigation. By avoiding contact with the loneliness that her illness aroused, the patient presented herself to treatment incapacitated to be alone and think about herself. Because of the lack of limits, she made use of the virtual world and isolated herself from shared reality. With psychic action from the analytic process, she started to stay connected to the cyber world while she needs, returning to the real world whenever she feels strengthened. Therefore, based on the analysis of the results of this clinical case, the use of communication in social networks by young depressive people is based on a paradox: the defense of the maniac type by the performance of the false self, to avoid depressive psychopathology, and, at the same time, the attempt to be cured by the new possibilities when the patient can experience the false self in consigning thru it the emersion of the true self / Atualmente, muitos jovens apresentam-se em consultório com queixas de uma vida pessoal solitária e isolada, com retraimento e empobrecimento afetivo-social, tristeza, desesperança, angústia, culpabilidade interna, desamparo, falta de vontade de viver e comportamentos irritadiços, autoagressivos e de automutilação, fatores esses que, além de preocupantes, apontam para uma possível patologia e para dificuldades emocionais complexas. Outra característica comum a esses jovens pacientes é dedicarem muito tempo ao mundo virtual em detrimento do real. Nas redes sociais, têm um grande grupo de amigos virtuais e dedicam muito tempo à interação com desconhecidos. Essa clara dissociação entre a vida real enclausurada e a vida virtual ativa impõe questionar o papel das redes sociais como uma forma de defesa psicológica. Frente a isso, a partir do estudo do caso clínico de uma jovem que, no início da análise, tinha 16 anos, esta pesquisa propõe compreender essa dissociação e a possível relação do fenômeno com alguma psicopatologia, em especial a depressão, abrangendo o modo contraditório dos jovens de ter um existir depressivo, apático e isolado na vida real e de se manifestarem de maneira vitalizada, interativa e intensa nas redes sociais. O fundamento teórico deste estudo é a Teoria do Amadurecimento Pessoal de Winnicott e o enfoque principal foi a articulação do caso clínico com a teoria por meio da pesquisa teórico-metodológica (pesquisa-investigação) e da pesquisa-escuta. Relatos da paciente anotados pela psicóloga em seus três primeiros anos de tratamento e mensagens de WhatsApp e de Facebook fornecidas pela paciente constituíram o corpus de base da pesquisa. Ao evitar contato com a solidão que seu adoecimento despertava, a paciente apresentou-se para tratamento incapaz de se manter sozinha e refletir sobre si mesma e, por não encontrar limites, fez uso patológico do mundo virtual, afastando-se da realidade compartilhada. Com a evolução psíquica a partir do processo analítico, ela passou a se conectar ao mundo cibernético dentro de sua necessidade, retornando ao mundo real sempre que se sentia fortalecida. Desse modo, a partir da análise desse caso clínico, chegou-se ao resultado de que o uso da comunicação nas redes sociais pelos jovens depressivos baseia-se num paradoxo: a defesa maníaca pela atuação do falso self, a fim de evitar o sofrimento da psicopatologia depressiva, e, ao mesmo tempo, a tentativa de cura por meio de novas experiências que o paciente pode vivenciar quando o falso self cede e consente a emersão do self verdadeiro

This study uses an integration of ethnographic and case-study qualitative analysis to help explain early adolescent and caregiver perspectives of an increased prevalence of depression in Mexican American girls. This phenomenon has been replicated in numerous other studies and it is important to obtain more information to inform understanding, enhance treatment, and initiate intervention and prevention strategies. The combination of these methods of qualitative inquiry allowed for the triangulation of multiple pieces of data including participant observation, interviewing, and archival research. Retrospective child and caregiver verbal accounts were compared with one another as well as with prior assessment of functioning and participant observation. Fourteen Mexican American or bi-ethnic early adolescents and one of their caregivers were interviewed using an unstructured interview process. Transcribed interviews were analyzed qualitatively. Findings suggest that both girls and caregivers focus on the contribution of negative life events, interpersonal relationship stress, personal characteristics, gender discrimination, and biology on the increased prevalence of depression. It is noteworthy that each of these factors is strongly correlated with the family socio-cultural environment. This study concludes with a proposal to integrate the work of Zayas, Lester, Cabassa, and Fortuna (2005) regarding Latina suicide attempts and the work of Hyde, Mezulis, and Abramson (2008) regarding the increase in girls’ rates of depression during early adolescence to explain the increased prevalence of depression in Mexican American girls yielding additional affective, biological, and cognitive vulnerabilities as well as particular negative life events. / text