Depression in children and adolescents occurs in significant proportions, particularly among offspring of depressed parents, and is associated with suicide, academic and social difficulties, and increased risk of future depressions. The purpose of this study is to explore the parenting, cognitive, and stress factors associated with the development of depression during the early adolescent years. According to the Family Cognitive Diathesis Stress (FCDS) Model, when faced with an important negative life event, individuals who have a particular cognitive style (i.e., the propensity to make internal, stable, and global attributions and to develop negative expectations about the future) are more likely to become depressed. It is further hypothesized that this """"""""depressogenic"""""""" cognitive style has its origins in parent-child relationships characterized by criticism, rejection, and overcontrol. This depresssogenic cognitive style is hypothesized to mediate the relation between negative family interactions and the onset and maintenance of depression. This study will examine the validity of the FCDS model for understanding individual differences in children's reactions to negative life events as well as to the normative life experience of the transition into junior high school. Using a prospective longitudinal design, 250 children will be followed over the early adolescent years (grades 5 to 8). Children will be selected as being either """"""""high' or 'low' risk for developing depression based upon the history of depression in their parents. The primary variables to be assessed are: cognitions (e.g., attributions, expectancies), family factors (e.g., parenting style, family conflict), life events, and social support. Pubertal development, depression and other symptomatology also will be monitored. Multiple regression analyses will be used to test the primary hypotheses concerning the interaction between cognitions and stress in the prediction of depression, and the role of children's cognitive style as a potential mediator between parenting characteristics and depression in children. The study also will explore the family, stress, and cognitive factors associated with the increased rate of depression over the early adolescent years. This research has important implications for understanding the processes underlying individual differences in the development of depression particularly among """"""""high risk"""""""" offspring, and will serve as a guide for the development of programs aimed at ameliorating and preventing the onset of depression in children and adults in the future.
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