Emotion regulation and depressive symptoms during adolescence: A functionalist perspective

1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Kobak ◽  
Rayanne Ferenz-Gillies

AbstractThis paper uses a functionalist view of emotion to consider family factors that create risk for depressive symptoms in adolescents. Two adolescent siblings and their mothers were assessed for emotion regulation during autonomy-related communication tasks, whereas their mother's attachment- and intimacy-related functioning was assessed through interview and self-report. The results indicate that older teens' failure to establish autonomous stances during communication and their mothers' dissatisfaction with intimate relationships increase risk for teenagers reporting depressive symptoms. Further, mothers' preoccupation attachment-related issues was found to be associated with less autonomous communication from older teenagers. Implications of these findings and future directions for investigating the family factors associated with adolescent depression are discussed.

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 1023-1035 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Lotte Van Beveren ◽  
Sven C. Mueller ◽  
Caroline Braet

AbstractAlthough numerous studies reveal altered respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) among children, adolescents, and adults who exhibit emotion dysregulation, effects of temperamental vulnerability and parental mental health on RSA remain unclear. We evaluated the relationship among emotion regulation, RSA, and RSA reactivity in a pooled sample of 24 vulnerable and 31 resilient adolescents (mean age = 13.69 years; 60% girls), including associations with temperamental vulnerability and parental depressive symptoms. Participants watched a neutral film clip while their resting RSA was recorded, and then completed a reward and frustration task, using an affective Posner paradigm. Temperament and emotion regulation were assessed via self-report and parent report, and parents reported on their own depressive symptoms. Low resting RSA was associated with temperamental negative emotionality, whereas greater RSA reactivity to frustration was associated with maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. No significant relations were found between RSA and parental depressive symptoms. This study elucidates the role of RSA as a biomarker of individual differences in emotion dysregulation and temperamental vulnerability and stresses the importance of considering multiple units of analyses, as well as functional domains, when studying emotional responding and regulation in adolescents.


2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 1719-1733 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Nath ◽  
G. Russell ◽  
W. Kuyken ◽  
L. Psychogiou ◽  
T. Ford

BackgroundPaternal depressive symptoms are associated with children's emotional and behavioural problems, which may be mediated by negative parenting. But there is no research on the influence of paternal depressive symptoms on children's emotion regulation and limited literature investigating fathers’ parenting as a mediator in the pathway between paternal depressive symptoms and children's externalizing and internalizing problems. We aimed to investigate the mediating role of father–child conflict (at 3 years) in the association between postnatal paternal depressive symptoms (at 9 months) and children's emotional and behavioural problems (at 7 years) (aim 1). We also examined whether mediation pathways were more pronounced for boys or for girls (aim 2).MethodSecondary data analysis was conducted on the Millennium Cohort Study, when children were 9 months, 3 years and 7 years old (n = 3520). Main study variables were measured by self-report questionnaires. Fathers completed the Rutter Scale (depressive symptoms) and the Parent–Child Relationship Questionnaire (father–child conflict), while mothers completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and the Social Behaviour Questionnaire (child emotional and behavioural problems, emotion regulation). We used structural equation modelling to estimate direct, indirect and total effects of paternal depressive symptoms on child outcomes, mediated by father–child conflict whilst adjusting for relevant covariates (maternal depressive symptoms, child temperament, marital conflict, and socio-economic factors such as poverty indicator and fathers’ education level). Multi-group and interaction analysis was then conducted to determine the differential effect by gender of the association between paternal depressive symptoms on child outcomes via father–child conflict.ResultsFather–child conflict mediated the association between paternal depressive symptoms and emotion regulation problems [standardized indirect effect (SIE) 95% confidence interval (CI) −0.03 to −0.01, p < 0.001; standardized total effect (STE) 95% CI −0.05 to −0.01, p < 0.05] (aim 1). Father–child conflict mediated a larger proportion of the effect in boys (SIE 95% CI −0.03 to −0.01, p < 0.001; STE 95% CI −0.05 to 0.00, p = 0.063) than it did in girls (SIE 95% CI −0.02 to −0.01, p < 0.001; STE 95% CI −0.04 to 0.01, p = 0.216) (aim 2).ConclusionsFather–child conflict may mediate the association between postnatal paternal depressive symptoms and children's emotion regulation problems. Paternal depressive symptoms and father–child conflict resolution may be potential targets in preventative interventions.


2012 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 390-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne D. Simons ◽  
C. Nathan Marti ◽  
Paul Rohde ◽  
Cara C. Lewis ◽  
John Curry ◽  
...  

Objective: Examine the degree to which homework completion is associated with various indices of clinical improvement in adolescents with depression treated with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) either as a monotherapy and in combination with antidepressant medication. Method: This study used data from the Treatment of Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS), which compared the efficacy of CBT, fluoxetine (FLX), the combination of CBT and FLX (COMB), and a pill placebo (PBO; TADS Team, 2003, 2004, 2005). Current analyses included only TADS participants in the CBT (n = 111) or COMB (n = 107) conditions. Analyses focused on the relations between partial and full homework completion and a dichotomized measure of clinical response, evaluator and self-report ratings of depressive symptoms, hopelessness, and suicidality. Results: Homework completion significantly predicted clinical improvement, decrease in self-reported hopelessness, suicidality, and depression—but not in evaluator-rated depressive symptoms—in adolescents treated with CBT only. These relationships were almost completely absent in the COMB condition. The only significant COMB finding was that partially completed homework was related to decrease in hopelessness over time. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the ability of therapists and clients to collaboratively develop and complete between-session assignments is associated with response to CBT, self-report of severity of depressive symptoms, hopelessness, and suicidality and may be integral to optimizing the effects of CBT when delivered as a monotherapy.


2020 ◽  
pp. 027243162097853
Author(s):  
Karlijn W. J. de Jonge-Heesen ◽  
Sanne P. A. Rasing ◽  
Ad A. Vermulst ◽  
Yuli R. Tak ◽  
Rutger C. M. E. Engels ◽  
...  

Adolescent depression is a major concern for public health and is associated with negative consequences and outcomes. Identifying adolescent characteristics that might relate to the risk for developing depression is crucial. This study investigated bidirectional associations between coping strategies and depressive symptoms over time. The participants were 1,341 secondary school students from the Netherlands ([Formula: see text] = 13.91, SD = 0.55, 47.5% girls) who completed self-report questionnaires at six waves over 2.5 years. Cross-lagged models were used to investigate the associations between coping strategies and depressive symptoms. Coping strategies did not predict depressive symptoms over time. However, there was an indication of the reverse relationship. When adolescents experienced elevated depressive symptoms, they used fewer adaptive techniques to target stress. Gender differences were found in the use of avoidance. The inconsistencies of these findings with earlier studies are discussed and provide new directions for future research on working mechanisms underlying depression prevention programs.


Author(s):  
Afifa Anjum ◽  
Sahadat Hossain ◽  
Tajuddin Sikder ◽  
Md Elias Uddin ◽  
Dewan Abdur Rahim

Abstract Background Adolescent depression is an alarming issue for Bangladesh since a large number of Bangladeshi adolescents suffer from depression but cannot get proper treatment. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of depression and factors associated with this psychological health hazard among urban and semi-urban adolescents of the Dhaka region in Bangladesh. Methods A cross-sectional pilot study was performed among 311 adolescents, grades 8–10, in Dhaka city and Savar Upazila, adjacent to the city, in 2018. Data were collected using a questionnaire consisting of items on sociodemographics, lifestyle information, screen-based sedentary behaviour (SBSB) and mental health. Results A total of 36.6% of the adolescents reported depressive symptoms, with a greater prevalence among females (42.9%) than males (25.7%). Sociodemographic factors including being female, residence and grade in school were significantly associated with depression. Logistic regression analysis showed that SBSBs, such as the use of social media (odds ratio [OR] 2.06 [95% confidence interval {CI} 1.27–3.35]), high screen time (>120 min/day; OR 2.35 [95% CI 1.30–4.25]) and sleep disturbance (OR 3.93 [95% CI 2.37–6.50]) were significantly linked with depressive symptoms. Conclusions Depressive symptoms are prevalent among urban and semi-urban adolescents of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Therefore, urgent initiatives should be taken to curb the spread of depression among Bangladeshi adolescents.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
AL-abed Ali AL-abed ◽  
Rosnah Sutan ◽  
Sami Abdo Radman Al-Dubai ◽  
Syed Mohamed Aljunid

Khat chewing is associated with unfavourable health outcomes and family dysfunction. Few studies have addressed the factors associated with khat chewing among Yemeni women. However, the family and husband effects on chewing khat by women have not been addressed. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of khat chewing among Yemeni women and its associated factors, particularly husbands and family factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 692 adult Yemeni women in the city of Sana’a in Yemen using structured “face to face” interviews. Mean (±SD) age of women was 27.3 years (±6.10). The prevalence of chewing khat by women was 29.6%. Factors associated with chewing khat among women were chewing khat by husbands (OR=1.8; 95% CI: 1.26, 2.53), being married (OR=2.0; 95% CI: 1.20, 3.37), frequent family social gatherings (OR=1.5; 95% CI: 1.06, 2.10), high family income (OR=1.57; 95% CI: 1.12, 2.21), larger house (OR=1.63; 95% CI: 1.16, 2.31), and age of women (OR=0.64; 95% CI: 0.44, 0.92). It is concluded that khat chewing by women in this study was significantly associated with family factors and with khat chewing by their husbands. Urgent action is needed to control khat chewing particularly among women.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 1024-1024
Author(s):  
Amanda Piechota ◽  
Joan Monin

Abstract In older adults, the suffering of a relative with chronic disease or illness can severely impact their caregiver. However, older adults also tend to have better emotional regulation than younger age groups. Very little is known about these dynamics in the context of early-stage dementia in which both spouses are struggling with caregiving or experiencing dementia and need one another for support. In the present study, we hypothesized that when both partners have better emotion regulation skills, each partner’s depressive symptoms would be the lowest. We made the same hypothesis for both the person with dementia and their spouse without dementia. We used self-report baseline data from an intervention study of 70 older adult married couples (N=140) where one spouse has early-stage dementia. Spouses completed questionnaires that measured their emotional regulation habits (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale) and their recent depressive symptoms (CESD). Results from the actor partner interdependence model showed that when both partners had high emotional regulation skills scores there were the lowest levels of depressive symptoms for each dyad member (B=4.31, SE=.94, t(49.9)=4.61, p&lt;.001). Findings suggest couple-focused interventions to enhance emotion regulation skills are important for coping in the early stages of dementia.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Groarke ◽  
Emily McGlinchey ◽  
Phoebe McKenna-Plumley ◽  
Emma Berry ◽  
Lisa Graham-Wisener ◽  
...  

BackgroundLongitudinal studies examining the temporal association between mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 outbreak are needed. It is important to determine how relationships between mental health outcomes, specifically loneliness and depressive symptoms, manifest over a brief timeframe and in a pandemic context.Method Data was gathered over 4 months (March – June 2020) using an online survey with three repeated measures at monthly intervals (N = 1958; 69.8% females; Age 18-87 years, M = 37.01, SD = 12.81). Associations between loneliness, depression symptoms, and emotion regulation difficulty were tested using Pearson’s product moment correlations, and descriptive statistics were calculated for all study variables. Cross-lagged structural equation modelling was used to examine the temporal relationships between variables. Results The longitudinal association between loneliness and depressive symptoms was reciprocal. Loneliness predicted higher depressive symptoms one month later, and depressive symptoms predicted higher loneliness one month later. The relationship was not mediated by emotion regulation difficulties. Emotion regulation difficulties and depressive symptoms were also reciprocally related over time.Limitations Limitations include the reliance on self-report data and the non-representative sample. There was no pre-pandemic assessment limiting the conclusions that can be drawn regarding the mental health impact of the COVID-19 crisis.ConclusionsLoneliness should be considered an important feature of case conceptualisation for depression during this time. Clinical efforts to improve mental health during the pandemic could focus on interventions that target either loneliness, depression, or both. Potential approaches include increasing physical activity or low-intensity cognitive therapies delivered remotely.


Author(s):  
A. Sfärlea ◽  
K. Takano ◽  
C. Buhl ◽  
J. Loechner ◽  
E. Greimel ◽  
...  

AbstractContemporary cognitive models of depression propose that cognitive biases for negative information at the level of attention (attention biases; AB) and interpretation (interpretation biases; IB) increase depression risk by promoting maladaptive emotion regulation (ER). So far, empirical support testing interactions between these variables is restricted to non-clinical and clinical adult samples. The aim of the current study was to extend these findings to a sample of children and adolescents. This cross-sectional study included 109 children aged 9–14 years who completed behavioural measures of AB (passive-viewing task) and IB (scrambled sentences task) as well as self-report measures of ER and depressive symptoms. In order to maximize the variance in these outcomes we included participants with a clinical diagnosis of depression as well as non-depressed youth with an elevated familial risk of depression and non-depressed youth with a low familial risk of depression. Path model analysis indicated that all variables (AB, IB, adaptive and maladaptive ER) had a direct effect on depressive symptoms. IB and AB also had significant indirect effects on depressive symptoms via maladaptive and adaptive ER. These findings provide initial support for the role of ER as a mediator between cognitive biases and depressive symptoms and provide the foundations for future experimental and longitudinal studies. In contrast to studies in adult samples, both adaptive as well as maladaptive ER mediated the effect of cognitive biases on depressive symptoms. This suggests potentially developmental differences in the role of ER across the lifespan.


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