Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T08:59:11.721Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Are self-reported depressive symptoms in first-grade children developmentally transient phenomena? A further look

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 October 2008

Nick Ialongo ,
Gail Edelsohn ,
Lisa Werthamer-Larsson ,
Lisa Crockett  and
Sheppard Kellam
Nick Ialongo*
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins University
Gail Edelsohn
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins University Medical School
Lisa Werthamer-Larsson
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins University
Lisa Crockett
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
Sheppard Kellam
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins University
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Dr. Ialongo, Department of Mental Hygiene, School of Hygiene and Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, 624 North Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In light of putative developmental constraints, some have argued that prior to the middle to late elementary school years children's reports of depressive symptoms represent nothing more than transient developmental phenomena. In an earlier study of an epidemiologically defined sample of first-grade children, self-reported depressive symptoms proved relatively stable and significantly related to adaptive functioning. In the present study, we follow that cohort of first graders longitudinally and assess the prognostic value of self-reports of depressive symptoms in first grade with respect to depressive symptoms and adaptive functioning in the late elementary school years. We also assess whether or not children's reports of depressive symptoms demonstrate greater stability and are more highly associated with adaptive functioning in the middle to late elementary school years. First-grade depressive symptoms were found to have significant prognostic value in terms of levels of depressive symptoms and adaptive functioning in fifth grade, with the strength of prediction varying by gender in the former. Although there was a moderate increase in short-term stability from first to fifth grade, it remained consistently strong across first, fourth, and fifth grades. The magnitude of the relationship between depressive symptoms and adaptive functioning also remained consistent over time. These findings on stability, caseness, and prognostic power attest to the significance of children's self-reports of depressive symptoms in the early as well as the middle to late elementary school years.

Type
Research Article
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 5 , Issue 3 , Summer 1993 , pp. 433 - 457
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abramson, L., Seligman, M., & Teasdale, J. D. (1978). Learned helplessness in humans: Critique and reformulation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 37, 49–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
American Psychiatric Association. (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed., rev.). Washington, CD: Author.Google Scholar
Angold, A. (1988a). Childhood and adolescent depression: I. epidemiological and aetiological aspects. British Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 601–617.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Angold, A. (1988b). Childhood and adolescent depression: II. in clinical populations. British Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 476–492.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beardslee, W., Klerman, G., Keller, M., Lavori, P., & Podorefsky, D. (1985). But are they cases? Validity of DSM-III major depression in children identified in a family study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 142, 687–691.Google Scholar
Beck, A. T. (1974). The development of depression: A cognitive model. In Friedman, R. M. & Katz, M. M. (Eds.), The psychology of depression: Contemporary theory and research. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Berkson, J. (1946). Limitations of the application of the fourfold contingency table. Biometrics Bulletin, 2, 47–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bird, H., Canino, G., Rubio-Stipec, M., Gould, M. S., Ribera, J., Sesman, M., Woodbury, M., Huertas-Goldman, S., Pagan, A., Sanchez-Lacay, A., & Moscoso, M. (1988). Estimates of prevalence of childhood maladjustment in a community survey in Puerto Rico. Archives of General Psychiatry, 45, 1120–1126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byrnes, J., & Wasik, B. (1991). Role of conceptual knowledge in mathematical procedure learning. Developmental Psychology, 27, 777–786.Google Scholar
Carey, M., Faulstich, M., Gresham, F., Ruggiero, L., & Enyart, P. (1987). Children's depression inventory: Construct and discriminant validity across clinical and nonreferred (control) populations. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 755–761.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carey, S. (1985). Conceptual change in childhood. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Caron, C., & Rutter, M. (1991). Comorbidity in child psychopathology: Concepts, issues, and research strategies. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 32, 1063–1080.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chi, M. T., Feltovich, J., & Glaser, R. (1981). Categorization and representation of physics problems by experts and novices. Cognitive Science, 5, 121–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chi, M. T., Hutchinson, J. E., & Robin, A. F. (1989). How inferences about novel domain-related concepts can be constrained by structured knowledge. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 35, 27–62.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Schneider-Rosen, K. (1984). Toward a transactional model of childhood depression. In Cicchetti, D. & Schneider, K.-Rosen (Eds.), Childhood depression a developmental perspective (pp. 5–28). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Schneider-Rosen, K. (1986). An organizational approach to childhood depression. In Rutter, M., Izard, C., & Read, P. (Eds.), Depression in young people (pp. 71–134). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Cohn, L. D. (1991). Sex differences in the course of personality development. Psychological Bulletin, 109, 252–266.Google Scholar
Coie, J., Dodge, K., & Kupersmidt, J. (1990). Peer group behavior and peer social status. In Asher, S. R. & Coie, J. D. (Eds.), Peer rejection in childhood (pp. 17–59). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Costello, E. J. (1989). Developments in child psychiatric epidemiology. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 28, 836–841.Google ScholarPubMed
Cowan, P. (1978). Piaget with feeling: Cognitive, social and emotional dimensions. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.Google Scholar
Digdon, N., & Gotlib, I. H. (1985). Developmental considerations in the study of childhood depression. Developmental Review, 5, 162–199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edelsohn, G., Ialongo, N., Werthamer-Larsson, L., Crockett, L., & Kellam, S. (1992). Self-reported depressive symptoms in first grade children: Developmentally transient phenomena? Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 31, 282–290.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Feinberg, S. E. (1977). The analysis of cross-classified categorical data. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Fleming, J., Boyle, M. H., & Offord, D. (1993). The outcome of adolescent depression in the Ontario Child Health Study follow-up. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 32, 28–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fleming, J., & Offord, D. (1990). Epidemiology of childhood depressive disorders: A critical review. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 29, 571–580.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fleming, J., Offord, D., & Boyle, M. H. (1989). The Ontario Child Health Study: Prevalence of childhood and adolescent depression in the community. British Journal of Psychiatry, 155, 647–654.Google ScholarPubMed
Gelman, R., & Baillargeon, R. (1983). A review of some Piagetian concepts. In Flavell, J. H. & Markman, E. M. (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3. Cognitive development (pp. 167–230). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Gobbo, C., & Chi, M. T. (1986). How knowledge is structured and used by expert and novice children. Cognitive Development, 1, 221–237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harter, S. (1986). Processes underlying the construction, maintenance, and enhancement of self-concept in children. In Suis, J. & Greenwald, A. (Eds.), Psychological perspectives on the self (pp. 137–181). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Hergenrather, J. R., & Rabinowitz, M. (1991). Age related differences in the organization of children's knowledge of illness. Developmental Psychology, 27, 952–959.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kashani, J., McGee, R., Clarkson, S., Anderson, S., Walton, L., Williams, S., Silva, P., Robins, A., Cytryn, L., & McKnew, D. H. (1983). Depression in a sample of 9-year old children. Archives of General Psychiatry, 40, 1217–1223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaufman, J. (1991). Depressive disorders in maltreated children. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 30, 257–265.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kazdin, A., Moser, J., Colbus, D., & Bell, R. (1985). Depressive symptoms among physically abused and psychiatrically disturbed children. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 94, 298–307.Google Scholar
Kellam, S. (1990). Developmental epidemiological framework for family research on depression and aggression. In Patterson, G. (Ed.), Depression and aggression in family interaction (pp. 11–48). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Kellam, S., Brown, C. H., Rubin, B. R., & Ensminger, M. E. (1983). Paths leading to teenage psychiatric symptoms and substance use: Developmental epidemiological studies in Woodlawn. In Guze, S. B., Earls, F. J., & Barrett, J. E. (Eds.), Childhood psychopathology and development (pp. 17–51). New York: Raven Press.Google Scholar
Kellam, S., & Ensminger, M. (1980). Theory and method in child psychiatric epidemiology. In Earls, F. (Ed.), Studying children epidemiologically (pp. 145–180). New York: Neale Watson Academic Publishers.Google Scholar
Kellam, S., & Rebok, G. (1992). Building developmental and etiological theory through epidemiologically based preventive intervention trials. In McCord, J. & Tremblay, R. E. (Eds.), Preventing antisocial behavior: Interventions from birth through adolescence (pp. 162–195). New York: Neale Watson Academic Publishers.Google Scholar
Kellam, S. G., Rebok, G. W., Mayer, L. S., Ialongo, N., & Kalodner, C. R. (1993). Depressive symptoms over first grade and their responsiveness to a preventive trial aimed at improving achievement. Manuscript submitted for publication.Google Scholar
Kellam, S., Werthamer-Larsson, L., Dolan, L., Brown, C. H., Mayer, L., Rebok, G., Anthony, J., Laudolff, J., & Edelsohn, G. (1991). Developmental epidemiologically-based preventive trials: Baseline modelling of early target behaviors and depressive symptoms. American Journal of Community Psychology, 19, 563–584.Google Scholar
Kovacs, M. (1983). The children's depression inventory: A self-rated depression scale for school-age youngsters. Unpublished manuscript, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh.Google Scholar
Kovacs, M. (1986). A developmental perspective on methods and measures in the assessment of depressive disorders: The clinical interview. In Rutter, M.Izard, C., & Read, P. (Eds.), Depression in young people (pp. 435–465). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Kovacs, M., Feinberg, T. L., Crouse-Novak, M. A., Paulauskas, S. L., & Finklestein, R. (1984a). Depressive disorders in childhood. I. A longitudinal prospective study of characteristics and recovery. Archives of General Psychiatry, 41, 229–237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kovacs, M., Feinberg, T. L., Crouse-Novak, M. A., Paulauskas, S. L., Pollock, M., & Finklestein, R. (1984b). Depressive disorders in childhood. II. A longitudinal study of the risk for a subsequent major depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 41, 643–649.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kovacs, M., & Goldston, D. (1991). Cognitive and social cognitive development of depressed children and adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 30, 388–392.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kovacs, M., & Paulauskas, S. (1984). Developmental stage and the expression of depressive disorders in children: An empirical analysis. In Cicchetti, D. & Schneider, K.-Rosen (Eds.), Childhood depression a developmental perspective (pp. 59–80). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Lagner, T. S., Gersten, J. C., Greene, E. L., Eisenberg, J. G., Herson, J. H., & McCarthy, E. D. (1974). Treatment of psychological disorders among urban children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 170–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lefkowitz, M. M. (1980). Childhood depression: A reply to Costello. Psychological Bulletin, 87, 191–194.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lefkowitz, M. M., & Burton, N. (1978). Childhood depression: A critique of the concept. Psychological Bulletin, 87, 191–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lefkowitz, M. M., & Tesiny, E. P. (1980). Assessment of childhood depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 48, 43–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lefkowitz, M. M., & Tesiny, E. P. (1985). Depression in children: Prevalence and correlates. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 53, 647–656.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Markman, E. M. (1989). Categorization and naming in children: Problems in induction. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Martini, D., Strayhorn, J., & Puig-Antich, J. (1990). A symptom self-report measure for preschoolers. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 27, 12–20.Google Scholar
McConville, B., Boag, L., & Purohit, A. (1973). Three types of childhood depression. Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal, 18, 133–137.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mitchell, J., McCauley, E., Burke, P., & Moss, S. J. (1988). Phenomenology of depression in children and adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 27, 12–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
National Institute of Mental Health. (1991). Implementation of the national plan for research on child and adolescent mental disorders (Program Announcement PA-91–46). Washington, DC: U.S. Government, Printing Office.Google Scholar
Patterson, G. R., Reid, J., & Dishion, T. (1992). Antisocial boys. Eugene, OR: Castalia.Google Scholar
Quay, H. (1986). Classification. In Quay, H. C. & Werry, J. S. (Eds.), Psychopathological disorders of childhood (3rd ed., pp. 1–35). New York: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Rehm, L. (1977). A self-control model of depression. Behavior Therapy, 8, 787–804.Google Scholar
Roberts, T. (1991). Gender and the influence of evaluations on self-assessments in achievement settings. Psychological Bulletin, 109, 297–308.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rogers, B. G. (1985). Review of the California Achievement Tests, Forms C and D. In Mitchell, J. V. (Ed.), The ninth mental measurements yearbook (pp. 243–246). Lincoln, NE: Buros Institute of Mental Measurements.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (1986). The developmental psychopathology of depression: Issues and perspectives. In Rutter, M., Izard, C., & Read, P. (Eds.), Depression in young people (pp. 3–30). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (1989). Isle of Wight revisited: Twenty five years of psychiatric epidemiology. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 28, 836–841.Google Scholar
Rutter, M., Tizard, J., & Whitmore, K. (1970). Education, health, and behavior. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Saylor, C., Finch, A., Spirito, A., & Bennett, B. (1984). The children's depression inventory: A systematic evaluation of psychometric properties. Journal of Consulting Clinical Psychology, 52, 955–967.Google Scholar
Schachar, R., Sandberg, S., & Rutter, M. (1986). Agreement between teachers' ratings and observations of hyperactivity, inattentiveness, and defiance. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 14, 331–345.Google ScholarPubMed
Smucker, M. R., Craighead, W. E., Craighead, L. W., & Green, B. J. (1986). Normative and reliability data for the Children's Depression Inventory. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 14, 25–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
SPSS Inc. (1983). SPSSα Algorithms. Chicago: SPSS Inc.Google Scholar
Stipek, D., & Mac Iver, D. (1989). Developmental change in children's assessment of intellectual competence. Child Development, 60, 521–538.Google Scholar
Toth, S., Todd-Manly, J., & Cicchetti, D. (1992). Child maltreatment and vulnerability to depression. Development and Psychopathology, 4, 97–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Velez, C. N., Johnson, J., & Cohen, P. (1989). A longitudinal analysis of selected risk factors for child school psychopathology. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 28, 861–864.Google Scholar
Wardrop, J. L. (1989). Review of the California Achievement Tests, Forms E and F. In Close Conoley, J. & Kramer, J. (Eds.), The tenth mental measurements yearbook (pp. 128–133). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar
Weiss, B., Weisz, J., Politano, M., Carey, M., Nelson, W., & Finch, A. (1992). Relations among self-reported depressive symptoms in clinic-referred children versus adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 101, 391–397.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weisz, J. R. (1986). Understanding the developing understanding of control. In Perlmutter, M. (Ed.), Cognitive perspectives on children's social and behavioral development. The Minnesota Symposia on Child Psychology (Vol. 18, pp. 219–275). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Werthamer-Larsson, L. (1988). The epidemiology of maladaptive behavior in first grade children. Unpublished dissertation, Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD.Google Scholar
Werthamer-Larsson, L., Kellam, S., & Wheeler, L. (1991). Effect of first grade classroom environment on shy behavior, aggressive behavior, and concentration problems. American Journal of Community Psychology, 19, 585–602.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Windle, C. (1955). Further studies of test-retest effect on personality questionnaires. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 15, 246–253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Health Organization. (1977). International Classification of Diseases: Manual of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases Injuries and Causes of Death (9th revision). Geneva: World Health Organization.Google Scholar