Parental and individual predictors of trajectories of depressive symptoms in Chilean adolescents

Abstract

Depressive symptoms are prevalent in adolescence, but not all adolescents experience the same level or evolution of symptoms, suggesting the need to identify differences in trajectories of symptoms. We used Growth Mixture Modeling to analyze different trajectories of depressive symptoms in a sample of 1,072 Chilean adolescents (12-15 years old, 54% female). First, a baseline model was selected and then adolescent irritability, maternal warmth, demandingness and disrespect were introduced to the model as predictors of class membership. Four latent class trajectories of depressive symptoms were identified: high persistent (12%), low stable (56%), high decreasing (15%) and low increasing (17%). Low stable was the most prevalent class, and was characterized by higher maternal warmth and lower maternal disrespect and adolescent irritability while high persistent was characterized by the opposite maternal characteristics. Significant gender differences in class membership were observed. The results highlight the importance of identifying different trajectories of depressive symptoms and specific predictors of each trajectory. The association of parenting dimensions with trajectories of persistent depressive symptoms provides evidence that parenting can serve as both a protective and risk factor for adolescent adjustment.

Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms Among North American Indigenous Adolescents: Considering Predictors and Outcomes

“…Scholars using these approaches have assessed depressive symptoms in various ways, ranging from brief self‐reports (e.g., Chaiton et al, ; Costello, Swendsen, Rose, & Dierker, ; Cumsille, Martínez, Rodríguez, & Darling, ; Repetto, Caldwell, & Zimmerman, ) to extensive, clinically oriented questionnaires and structured interviews (e.g., Briere, Janosz, Fallu, & Morizot, ; Duchesne & Ratelle, ; Ellis et al, ; Mezulis, Salk, Hyde, Priess‐Groben, & Simonson, ; Reinke, Eddy, Dishion, & Reid, ; Wickrama & Wickrama, ; Wu, ; Yaroslavsky, Pettit, Lewinsohn, Seeley, & Roberts, ). In addition, some studies have focused on the development of depressive symptoms across the entire span of adolescence (Chaiton et al, ; Costello et al, ; Dekker et al, ; Diamantopoulou, Verhulst, & van der Ende, ; Ellis et al, ; Ferro, Gorter, & Boyle, ; Mezulis et al, ; Wickrama & Wickrama, ; Yaroslavsky et al, ), whereas others have been limited to either early (Brendgen, Wanner, Morin, & Vitaro, ; Briere et al, ; Cumsille et al, ; Duchesne & Ratelle, ; Reinke et al, ; Sallinen, Rönkä, Kinnunen, & Kokko, ) or late (Rodriguez, Moss, & Audrain‐McGovern, ; Stoolmiller, Kim, & Capaldi, ) adolescence.…”

Child Maltreatment, Delinquent Behavior, and School Factors as Predictors of Depressive Symptoms from Adolescence to Adulthood: A Growth Mixture Model

“…Most studies have found that four latent trajectories best characterize the data; however, differences exist, with some studies finding as few as three and others as many as six (Ellis et al, 2017). Most of these studies focus on adolescents only (Brendgen, Wanner, Morin, & Vitaro, 2005; Fernandez Castelao & Kröner-Herwig, 2012; Rodriguez, Moss, & Audrain-McGovern, 2005; Sallinen, Rönkä, Kinnunen, & Kokko, 2007) or utilized samples that are either nonrandom (Chaiton et al, 2013, Repetto, Caldwell, & Zimmerman, 2005), unrepresentative of U.S. populations (Brendgen et al, 2005; Cumsille et al, 2015; Dekker et al, 2007), or both (Chaiton et al, 2013; Repetto et al, 2005).…”

Mild and severe childhood depression: differences and implications for prevention programs in the school setting

“…However, Cumsille et al claimed that depressive symptoms that develop in adolescence have a considerable impact on health in adulthood. 4 It is, therefore, necessary to delve into the characteristics of childhood depression and, in addition to determining the prevalence of children with serious depressive symptomatology, discover how many have less severe symptoms. Normally, the studies show data with more severe symptoms of childhood depression, but the percentages of children who have risk symptoms are barely identified, and if such symptoms are not detected and eliminated early on, they could turn into severe cases of depression in the not-too-distant future.…”