Risk for Adolescent Depression: Gender Differences and Contagion in Peer Networks

描述（由申请人提供）：虽然同伴友谊为大多数青少年提供了支持的基础，但这些友谊的特征也可能会导致抑郁症的风险，并可能有助于解释青春期抑郁症的性别差异。理论家们假设，与朋友共同沉思的倾向可能反映了一种机制，通过这种机制，同伴无意中在他们之间培养了对抑郁症的认知脆弱性，同时加强了友谊。因此，这可能是一种社会强化倾向，增加了青少年抑郁症的风险。先前的研究支持共同反刍增加抑郁风险的假设;然而，这种风险传递的机制仍不清楚。拟议的研究旨在整合认知和人际关系模型的风险在青少年新生在他们的第一学期过渡到高中的前瞻性研究。主要目的1是通过研究青少年的适应性和适应不良结果来扩展先前关于共同反刍的工作。我们假设，共同反刍的朋友将报告更高质量的友谊，同时也报告更多的抑郁症状。此外，我们预测，与朋友共同反刍对抑郁风险的影响是通过青少年反刍水平的增加来介导的。此外，我们预测，这种综合模型，其中包括人际和认知的组成部分，将有助于解释女孩的抑郁症的风险增加，从青春期开始。主要目的2是在青少年社交网络的背景下评估这些影响。理论家们假设，同伴之间观察到的行为相似性（包括抑郁症状）可能归因于选择与自己相似的同伴（选择效应）和采用或发展同伴的行为（传染效应）。到目前为止，抑郁症的同伴传染的研究主要局限于二元同伴背景。这项研究将应用社会网络模型来绘制青少年同伴网络更大背景下的抑郁传染效应。社会网络分析的一个关键创新是能够找到焦虑的青少年在他们的同伴网络中的位置，并确定个人的特征，这些特征更容易受到焦虑同伴的同伴传染效应的影响。在这项研究中，我们将评估共同反刍作为青少年社交网络中抑郁症同伴传染机制的作用。此外，我们将确定共同反刍对同伴传染效应的影响是否是特定于抑郁症与外化行为。这项研究的结果将有助于确定高危青少年的具体风险机制，这是为那些抑郁症风险最高的人设计更有针对性的干预措施的必要步骤。 公共卫生相关性：青少年的友谊特征可能会增加他们患抑郁症的风险，特别是在青春期女孩中。这项研究是了解抑郁风险的同伴背景的重要一步，并将提供有关特定机制的信息，可能有助于解释青春期抑郁症的性别差异。因此，这项研究的结果可能会为那些风险最大的人制定更有针对性的预防/早期干预计划提供信息，其目标是预防抑郁症发作和培养更健康的友谊。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Although peer friendships provide the basis of support for most adolescents, characteristics of these friendships may also confer risk to depression, and may help to explain the emergence of gender differences in depression during adolescence. Theorists have hypothesized that the tendency to co-ruminate with one's friends may reflect a mechanism by which peers inadvertently foster cognitive vulnerability for depression amongst themselves, while simultaneously bolstering the friendship. Therefore, it may be a socially reinforcing tendency that increases risk for depression in adolescents. Previous research has supported the hypothesis that co-rumination increases risk for depression; however, the mechanisms by which this risk is conveyed remain unclear. The proposed study seeks to integrate cognitive and interpersonal models of risk in a prospective study of adolescent freshmen during their first semester transition into high school. Primary Aim 1 is to extend prior work on co- rumination by examining both adaptive and maladaptive outcomes in adolescents. We hypothesize that friends who co-ruminate will report higher-quality friendships while also reporting more depressive symptoms over time. In addition, we predict that the impact of co-ruminating with one's friends for depression risk is mediated by increased levels of rumination in adolescents. Further, we predict that this integrated model, which incorporates both interpersonal and cognitive components, will help to account for girls' heightened risk for depression beginning in adolescence. Primary Aim 2 is to evaluate these effects within the context of adolescents' social networks. Theorists have hypothesized that the similarity of behaviors observed between peers (including depressive symptoms) may be attributed to both selecting peers similar to oneself (selection effects) and adopting or developing peers' behaviors (contagion effects). To date, research on peer contagion for depression has been largely limited to the dyadic peer context. The proposed study will apply social network modeling to map depression contagion effects in the larger context of adolescents' peer networks. A key innovation of social network analyses is the ability to locate where dysphoric adolescents lie within their peer networks and to identify characteristics of individuals who are more versus less vulnerable to peer contagion effects from dysphoric peers. In the proposed study, we will evaluate the role of co-rumination as a mechanism for peer contagion of depression within adolescents' social networks. Further, we will determine whether the impact of co-rumination on peer contagion effects is specific to depression versus externalizing behaviors. The results of the proposed study will help to determine specific mechanisms of risk in at-risk adolescents, which is a necessary step in designing more focused interventions for those at greatest risk for depression. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Characteristics of adolescents' friendships may increase their risk for depression, particularly among adolescent girls. The proposed study represents an important step in understanding the peer context of depression risk, and will provide information on a specific mechanism that may help to explain the emergence of gender difference in depression during adolescence. Results from this study, therefore, may inform the development of more targeted prevention/ early intervention programs for those at greatest risk with the goal of both preventing depression onset and fostering healthier friendships.