Uncovering cognitive and metacognitive factors that influence onset of adolescent depression

来自世界卫生组织的世界精神卫生调查的证据表明，大约一半的终身精神疾病在患者达到青少年中期时开始，四分之三在20多岁中期开始（WHO，2001; Kessler等人，2008年）。在我的研究计划中，我的目标是探索低自尊发展的认知机制，这在以前的纵向研究中已被证明可以预测抑郁发作的发生（Sowislo和Orth，2013）。我的研究建议依赖于两个（也许不是完全不同的）结构：元认知，思考自己的想法，以及心理化，思考别人的想法。这些结构与自尊有关，因为创造自我的概念可能依赖于，首先，从记忆中抽象出对过去事件和经历的反应和决定（利用元认知），其次，评价别人对我们的看法（利用心理化;塞巴斯蒂安等人，2008年）。我的目的是调查这些结构的发展，使用各种认知任务，利用纵向设计。我还将测量抑郁症状，特别关注自我价值和自尊的测量。有了这个，我的目标是发展我们的理解，如何在元认知洞察力的个体差异，心智化和敏感性的负面社会反馈可能预测抑郁症的发病在青春期。

Evidence from the World Health Organisation's World Mental Health surveys shows that about half of all lifetime mental illness starts by the time patients reach their mid-teens and three-quarters by the mid-20s (WHO, 2001; Kessler et al., 2008). During my research programme, I aim to explore the cognitive mechanisms underlying development of low self-esteem, which has been shown to predict onset of a depressive episode in prior longitudinal studies (Sowislo and Orth, 2013). My research proposal relies on two (perhaps not entirely distinct) constructs: metacognition, thinking about one's own thinking, and mentalising, thinking about others' thinking. These constructs are relevant to self-esteem because creating a concept of the self may rely on, firstly, abstractions from memory about previous reactions to and decisions about past events and experiences (utilising metacognition) and, secondly, appraisals about what others' think of us (utilising mentalising; Sebastian et al., 2008). I aim to investigate the development of these constructs using various cognitive tasks, utilizing longitudinal designs. I will also measure depressive symptoms, with a particular focus on measures of self-worth and self-esteem. With this, I aim to develop our understanding of how individual differences in metacognitive insight, mentalising and sensitivity to negative social feedback may predict onset of depression during adolescence.