COGNITIONS AND STRESS AS PREDICTORS OF CHILD DEPRESSION

提出一项为期六个月的纵向研究，以确定预测因素

A six month longitudinal study is proposed to identify predictors of risk for depressive symptoms during children's transition to middle school. The long term objective of this research is to delineate the developmental pathways involved in the emergence of child depression and to understand the impact of early onset depressive symptoms on future adjustment. In line with recent efforts to construct developmentally sensitive, integrative models of child depression, this study will examine the interplay between individual vulnerability, construed as maladaptive cognitions about the self and others, and contextual risk, construed as stressful events and conditions. Two conceptual models of risk will be tested (a) a stress exposure model, wherein the joint influence of cognitions and stress precipitates depression and (b) a stress- generation model, wherein depression undermines children~s competence and leads to psychosocial impairment. In a community sample of 300 elementary school children, information will be gathered from multiple sources about 3 domains of adjustment: (a) cognitions about the self and interpersonal relationships, assessed with child questionnaires, (b) acute life events, daily hassles, and chronic strain, assessed with parent and child questionnaires, and (c)depressive, anxiety, and externalizing symptoms, assessed with parent, child, and teacher questionnaires. A follow up assessment will be conducted six months later, subsequent to children~s transition into middle school. Hypotheses will be tested using multiple regression procedures to compare several proposed moderator and mediator models of child depression. Extension of this line of research to include long term prospective studies and more in depth assessments will enable researchers to pinpoint early markers of risk for depression. This knowledge can inform interventions designed to interrupt the cycle between early maladjustment and later psychopathology.