Predicting Depression in  Adolescents: The Roles of Gender,  Age, and Stress Responses

The present study is a longitudinal study that examined whether depression in adolescence within a two-year gap could be predicted by adolescents’ stress responses to social stressors, while also investigating whether gender and age play a role in this prediction. At T1, participants were 205 adolescents between 12 and 17 years old (mean age=14.81 year, SD=1.31, 49.3% female). This study also replicated past studies that investigated gender differences in depression and stress responses including coping. The Response to Stress Questionnaire was used as an instrument to assess adolescents’ reaction and coping methods to social stressors, whereby the participants indicated the ways in which they react to social stressors on a four-point scale. Furthermore, the depressive symptoms of the participants were measured with the Children Depression Inventory at two time points two years apart, whereby the participants answer a 27-item self-report questionnaire. Based on the results of the...Show moreThe present study is a longitudinal study that examined whether depression in adolescence within a two-year gap could be predicted by adolescents’ stress responses to social stressors, while also investigating whether gender and age play a role in this prediction. At T1, participants were 205 adolescents between 12 and 17 years old (mean age=14.81 year, SD=1.31, 49.3% female). This study also replicated past studies that investigated gender differences in depression and stress responses including coping. The Response to Stress Questionnaire was used as an instrument to assess adolescents’ reaction and coping methods to social stressors, whereby the participants indicated the ways in which they react to social stressors on a four-point scale. Furthermore, the depressive symptoms of the participants were measured with the Children Depression Inventory at two time points two years apart, whereby the participants answer a 27-item self-report questionnaire. Based on the results of the statistical analyses, there were no significant gender differences in depression, nor were there significant age-related differences in depression between adolescent girls and boys. There were, however, significant gender differences in stress responses, namely Primary Control Engagement coping and Involuntary Engagement stress response. And finally, Primary Control Engagement coping, gender, and depression at T1 significantly predicted depression at T2, however the interaction effects of gender, age, and gender by age with the stress response did not significantly predict depression at T2. In conclusion, later depression can be predicted by stress responses, however gender and age do not moderate this prediction.Show less

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Predicting Depression in Adolescents: The Roles of Gender, Age, and Stress Responses