NCJ Number
214884
Journal
Journal of Adolescence Volume: 29 Issue: 3 Dated: June 2006 Pages: 453-458
Date Published
June 2006
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This study examined the link between self-reported depressive symptoms and mental outlooks and perceptions ("cognitive features") over a 1-year period for a community sample of 93 children and 69 adolescents.
Abstract
The findings suggest that depressive symptoms in youth produce changes that result in negative views of oneself, the world, and the future; and these cognitive features put them at risk for future episodes of depression. The study found that in childhood, negative views of one's self, the world, and the future were apparently more a consequence than a predictor of depressive symptoms after 1 year. In adolescence, a negative view of the future was predictive of depressive symptoms after 1 year. Negative views of one's self, the world, and the future also appeared to be a consequence of depressive symptoms. The 162 children and adolescents were recruited from a cohort (n=93) that attended elementary schools in Flanders, Belgium, and a second cohort (n=69) that attended the first, second, or third year in high school at the beginning of the study. The mean age of the child sample was 10.8 years and consisted of 44 boys and 49 girls. The mean age of the adolescent sample was 13 years old and was 65.2 percent female. The total sample completed a Dutch version of the Children's Depression Inventory and the Cognitive Triad Inventory for Children. 16 references