Peer Relationships and Depressive Symptoms Among Adolescents: Results From the German BELLA Study

Background: Poor mental health affects adolescent development and is associated with health and social outcomes in later life. The current study uses cross-sectional data to explore the understudied aspects of peer relationships as a predictor of depressive symptom severity of adolescents in Germany.Method: Data from the German BELLA study were analyzed. We focused on the most recent measurement point of the BELLA study and analyzed data of 446 adolescents (aged 14–17 years). Peer relationship was measured using four items from the internationally established Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS). Depressive symptoms were assessed via seven items of the German version of the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Short Depression Scale (CES-D). Hierarchical linear regression models were computed to explore the association between depressive symptoms and peer relationships. Hierarchical linear regression models served to determine the added predictive effects of each aspect of peer relationships.Result: The regression model showed that 22% of the variance of the severity of depressive symptoms could be explained by the quality of adolescents’ peer relationships (F(1,444) = 125.65, p < 0.001). Peer acceptance has the most substantial unique contribution to peer relationship as a predictor of depressive symptom severity (Change in R2 = 0.05; Change in F = 27.01, p < 0.001). The gender-specific analysis shows different trends for boys and girls.Conclusion: The quality of peer relationships is a significant predictor of adolescents’ depressive symptoms severity. Improved peer acceptance, dependability, and ease of making new friends are significantly associated with reduced depression symptoms for Germany’s adolescent population.

Loneliness, Circulating Endocannabinoid Concentrations, and Grief Trajectories in Bereaved Older Adults: A Longitudinal Study

Background: Loneliness is one of the most distressing grief symptoms and is associated with adverse mental health in bereaved older adults. The endocannabinoid signaling (ECS) system is stress-responsive and circulating endocannabinoid (eCB) concentrations are elevated following bereavement. This study examined the association between loneliness and circulating eCB concentrations in grieving older adults and explored the role of eCBs on the association between baseline loneliness and grief symptom trajectories.Methods: A total of 64 adults [grief with high loneliness: n = 18; grief with low loneliness: n = 26; and healthy comparison (HC): n = 20] completed baseline clinical assessments for the UCLA loneliness scale. In grief participants, longitudinal clinical assessments, including the Inventory of Complicated Grief and 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating scales, were collected over 6 months. Baseline circulating eCB [N-arachidonoylethanolamine (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG)] concentrations were quantified in the serum using isotope dilution, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry; cortisol concentrations were measured in the same samples using radioimmunoassay.Results: Circulating AEA concentrations were higher in severely lonely grieving elders than in HC group; cortisol concentrations were not different among the groups. Cross-sectionally, loneliness scores were positively associated with AEA concentrations in grievers; this finding was not significant after accounting for depressive symptom severity. Grieving individuals who endorsed high loneliness and had higher 2-AG concentrations at baseline showed faster grief symptom resolution.Conclusions: These novel findings suggest that in lonely, bereaved elders, increased circulating eCBs, a reflection of an efficient ECS system, are associated with better adaptation to bereavement. Circulating eCBs as potential moderators and mediators of the loneliness-grief trajectory associations should be investigated.

Walking on the bright side: Associations between affect, depression, and gait

Background Psychomotor change is a core symptom of depression and one of the criteria in diagnosing depressive disorders. Research suggests depressed individuals demonstrate deviations in gait, or walking, compared to non-depressed controls. However, studies are sparse, often limited to older adults and observational gait assessment. It is also unclear if gait changes are due to dysregulation of affect, a core feature of depression. The current study addressed this gap by investigating the relation between positive and negative affect, depressive symptom severity, and gait in young adults. Methods Using three-dimensional motion capture, gait parameters (velocity, stride length, and step time) were attained from 90 young adults during a task where they walked ten meters at their own pace overground in a laboratory for ten minutes. Self-report measures of mood and affect were collected. Results On average, the study population reported high negative and low positive affect. Contrary to our hypotheses, hierarchical regressions demonstrated no significant associations between gait parameters and affective or depressive symptoms (ps>.05). Conclusions Our findings do not support a relation between affective symptoms and gait parameters. The results may indicate age-dependent gait pathology or that other symptoms of depression may influence gait more strongly than affect. They may also reflect an observational bias of gait changes in depressed young adults, one that is unsupported by objective data. Replication is warranted to further examine whether affective symptomology is embodied via gait differences in young adults.

SOCIAL ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, COPING SELF-EFFICACY, AND COPING STRATEGIES AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS

The transition to college and its associated social challenges could trigger social anxiety and depression among young college students. There is a paucity of literature relating coping self-efficacy, coping strategies, social anxiety and depression. The current study aims to fill this gap by finding the contributions of gender, coping self-efficacy (CSE), and coping strategies onto the levels of social anxiety and depression among college students. It also aims to find race-ethnicity differences, considering students’ level of social anxiety and depression. One hundred and fifty-eight students were recruited from the undergraduate psychology subject pool at a northeastern university. The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, Diagnostic Inventory for Depression, Coping Self-Efficacy Scale and Brief COPE were used to measure the study variables. A one-way ANOVA and simultaneous multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to examine data. There were no significant race-ethnicity differences in social anxiety, depressive symptom severity, psychosocial impairment, and quality of life. However, gender and self-blame significantly predicted social anxiety; substance use, behavioral disengagement, and self-blame significantly predicted depressive symptom severity; and social support CSE significantly predicted psychosocial impairment. Gender, dysfunctional coping strategies and social-support CSE were significantly associated with social anxiety and depression among college students. The results have important implications for treatment intervention and outreach by college counseling personnel.

Patterns of negative affective biases associated with depressive symptoms and during remission in large community-based sample

Background: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is associated with negative affective cognitive biases. Differences on population level however remain unclear, including whether they normalise with remission. This study investigated associations between affective cognition and MDD within a large community-based sample.Methods: Participants from Generation Scotland (N=1,179) completed three affective tasks: (i) Bristol Emotion Recognition Task (BERT), (ii) Face Affective Go/No-go (FAGN), and (iii) Cambridge Gambling Task (CGT). After exclusions, individuals were classified as MDD-current (n=43), MDD-remitted (n=282), or non-MDD controls (n=784). Main analyses tested for hypothesised associations between affective bias summary measures and depressive symptoms, and for differences in affective biases between MDD-remitted versus non-MDD subjects. Exploratory analyses examined responses per task condition in more detail.Results: We found an association between greater depressive symptom severity and lower risk adjustment (CGT win, standardised coefficient =-0.02, p=0.03). This was attenuated when non-affective cognition (g) was accounted for, or when restricting analysis to those not currently taking antidepressant medication. Main analysis revealed no further clear evidence of affective biases, neither for MDD-remitted individuals. Exploratory analyses however suggested more subtle negative biases associated with depressive symptoms.Conclusions: Individuals with high depressive ratings were less likely to bet more despite increasingly favourable win conditions, which may indicate lower reward motivation, but could also be explained by lower non-affective cognitive functioning. Overall, results from this community-based sample showed limited evidence for overarching cognitive affective differences in MDD, though subtle negative biases related to current symptom severity suggested by exploratory analyses across the whole sample.

The Longitudinal relationships between depressive symptom severity and phone-measured mobility: an application of dynamic structural equation modeling (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The mobility of an individual measured by phone-collected location data has been found to be associated with depression in several recent studies. However, the longitudinal relationships (the temporal direction of relationships) between depressive symptom severity and phone-measured mobility are yet to be fully explored. OBJECTIVE To explore the relationships and the direction of the relationships between depressive symptom severity and phone-measured mobility over time. METHODS The data used in this paper came from the major EU program, Remote Assessment of Disease and Relapse – Central Nervous System (RADAR-CNS) conducted across three European countries. Depressive symptom severity was measured by the 8-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8) through mobile phones every two weeks. Participants’ location data was recorded by GPS and network sensors in mobile phones every 10 minutes. To measure individuals’ mobility, 11 mobility features were extracted from 2 weeks’ location data prior to each PHQ-8 record. A dynamic structural equation modeling framework was used to explore the longitudinal relationships between depressive symptom severity and phone-measured mobility. RESULTS This study included 290 participants (median [IQR] age, 50.0 (34.0, 59.0) years; 215 (74.14%) females; 149 (51.38%) employed participants) with 2341 PHQ-8 records and corresponding phone-collected location data. Significant and negative correlations were found between depressive symptom severity and phone-measured mobility, and these correlations were more significant at the within-individual level than the between-individual level. For the direction of relationships over time, mobility features of homestay (time at home), the location entropy (time distribution on different locations), and the residential location count (reflecting traveling) were significantly correlated with the subsequent changes in the PHQ-8 score, while changes in the PHQ-8 score significantly affected the subsequent periodic pattern of mobility. CONCLUSIONS Our results demonstrate that several phone-derived mobility features have the potential to predict the future depressive state, which may provide support for future clinical applications of depression prediction, depressive relapse prevention, and remote mental health monitoring practice in real-world settings.

Absenteeism and associated labour costs according to depressive symptom severity in the German general population: why preventive strategies matter

Purpose Depression is a highly prevalent mental health condition with substantial individual, societal and economic consequences. This study focussed on the association of depressive symptom severity with absenteeism duration and employer labour costs. Methods Using cross-sectional data from the German Health Update 2014/2015, multivariable zero-inflated Poisson regression (ZIP) models explored the association of depressive symptom severity (8-item depression patient health questionnaire—PHQ-8), with absenteeism weeks during 12 months in men and women working full- or part-time. The predicted sick leave weeks were multiplied by mean average labour costs. Results The sample consisted of 12,405 persons with an average sick leave of 1.89 weeks (SD 4.26). Fifty-four % were women and 57% were between 40 and 59 years of age. In men and women, mild, moderate, moderately severe and severe depressive symptoms were associated with a significant factor increase in sick leave weeks compared to persons with no or minimal symptoms. Labour costs increased with increasing symptom severity from € 1468.22 for men with no or minimal depressive symptoms to € 7190.25 for men with severe depressive symptoms and from € 1045.82 to € 4306.30 in women, respectively. Conclusion The present results indicate that increasing depressive symptom severity is associated with increasing absenteeism and employer costs. They emphasize the need for implementation, realignment or extension of professional work-site health promotion programmes aiming at the improvement and maintenance of employee health and the reduction of labour costs associated with depression-related sick leave.

Longitudinal trajectory of depression symptom severity and the influence of concussion history and physical function over a 19-year period among former National Football League (NFL) players: an NFL-LONG Study

ObjectiveThis study investigated the longitudinal course of depressive symptom severity over 19 years in former American football players and the influence of concussion history, contact sport participation and physical function on observed trajectories.MethodsFormer American football players completed a general health questionnaire involving demographic information, medical/psychiatric history, concussion/football history and validated measures of depression and physical function at three time points (2001, 2010 and 2019). Parallel process latent growth curve modelling tested associations between concussion history, years of football participation, and overall and change in physical function on the overall level and trajectory of depressive symptoms.ResultsAmong the 333 participants (mean(SD) age, 48.95 (9.37) at enrolment), there was a statistically significant, but small increase in depressive symptom severity from 2001 (48.34 (7.75)) to 2019 (49.77 (9.52)), slope=0.079 (SE=0.11), p=0.007. Those with greater concussion history endorsed greater overall depressive symptom severity, B=1.38 (SE=0.33), p<0.001. Concussion history, B<0.001 (SE=0.02), p=0.997 and years of participation, B<0.001 (SE=0.01), p=0.980, were not associated with rate of change (slope factor) over 19 years. Greater decline in physical function, B=−0.71 (SE=0.16), p<0.001, was predictive of a faster growth rate (ie, steeper increase) of depression symptom endorsement over time.ConclusionsConcussion history, not years of participation, was associated with greater depressive symptom severity. Neither factor was predictive of changes over a 19-year period. Decline in physical function was a significant predictor of a steeper trajectory of increased depressive symptoms, independent of concussion effects. This represents one viable target for preventative intervention to mitigate long-term neuropsychiatric difficulties associated with concussion across subsequent decades of life.