Preadolescent Precursors to Depression in Girls

描述（由申请人提供）：当女孩进入青春期后期时，有五分之一的机会经历严重抑郁发作。这是男性抑郁症发病率的两倍，也是女性最常见和致残的疾病。然而，在识别抑郁症的前兆方面几乎没有什么努力，因此，几乎没有旨在预防这一重大公共卫生问题的现有计划。在目前的模型中，青春期抑郁症的出现被概念化为心理挑战、生物变化（即，青春期）和社会需求是特定的青春期。相反，这项研究的前提是，青少年抑郁症的根源至少部分在于青春期前。我们有一个独特的机会来解决女孩抑郁症的发展问题，利用正在进行的以社区为基础的年轻女孩研究，匹兹堡女孩研究（PGS）。 在拟议的研究中，我们将测试的假设，有可测量的，有意义的差异，在一些心理相关的前青春期，作为前兆，后来的抑郁症。这些包括过度的同情和顺从，以及情绪调节的困难。这些相关因素尚未纳入传统的精神病理学模型，但存在间接证据支持其在女孩抑郁症发展中的作用。此外，我们还将检验关于不同类型的成长环境和学校经历的假设，这些假设与女孩青春期前的特征相互作用，从而增加了日后抑郁的可能性。这些假设将在一项对240名从PGS中识别出的女孩的纵向研究中进行测试，其中一半已经表现出升高的亚临床抑郁评分。这些女孩及其母亲将在8岁、10岁和12岁时接受实验室评估，并将在8岁至12岁期间每年接受一次涵盖抑郁和焦虑障碍的半结构化访谈。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): By the time girls reach late adolescence there is a 1 in 5 chance of their experiencing a major depressive episode. This is twice the rate of depression in males, and represents the most common and disabling disorder for women. There has been very little effort at identifying precursors to depression, however, and as a result, there are few existing programs aimed at preventing this major public health problem. In current models the emergence of depression at adolescence is conceptualized as resulting from a combination of psychological challenges, biological changes (i.e., puberty) and social demands that are specific to adolescence. In contrast, the proposed study is based on the premise that the roots of adolescent depression lie at least partly in the preadolescent period. We have a unique opportunity to address issues in the development of depression in girls by taking advantage of an ongoing community-based study of young girls, the Pittsburgh Girls Study (PGS). In the proposed study, we will test the hypothesis that there are measurable, meaningful differences in a number of psychological correlates during preadolescence that serve as precursors to later depression. These include excessive levels of empathy and compliance, and difficulty with emotion regulation. Such correlates have not been incorporated into traditional models of psychopathology, but indirect evidence exists to support their role in the development of depression in girls. In addition, we will test hypotheses about types of caregiving environments and school experiences that interact with preadolescent characteristics of girls to increase the likelihood of later depression. These hypotheses will be tested in a longitudinal study of 240 girls identified from the PGS, half of whom already demonstrate elevated, but sub-clinical depression scores. The girls and their mothers will be observed in laboratory assessments at ages 8, 10, and 12, and will be administered semi-structured interviews covering depressive and anxiety disorders annually from ages 8 to 12.