Family Risk Factors for Adult Depressive Symptoms

描述(由申请人提供)：鉴于抑郁症的高患病率和社会成本，确定抑郁症的早期风险因素是很重要的。尽管抑郁通常被认为是起源于家庭的发育根源，但早期家庭特征对抑郁的预期影响很少得到实证检验。为了解决文献中的这一差距，拟议的研究将分析现有纵向研究的数据，以评估青春期观察到的家庭互动对成年后严重抑郁和抑郁症状的预期影响。此外，从原籍家庭到成人婚姻关系的人际互动模式的连续性可能解释这种预期影响的假设将得到检验。也就是说，观察到的婚姻互动模式将被测试为青少年时代家庭互动对成人抑郁症状影响的中介。还将考虑其他途径，如抑郁症状的连续性，这可能会对家庭和婚姻互动产生负面影响。这项研究将为未来的独立研究奠定基础，调查特定家庭和婚姻特征以及互动模式对个体心理健康的纵向影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): It is important to identify early risk factors for depression, given its high prevalence rates and costliness to society. Although depression is often thought to have developmental roots in the family-of-origin, the prospective effects of early family characteristics on depression have rarely been empirically tested. To address this gap in the literature, the proposed study will analyze data from an existing longitudinal study to assess prospective effects of observed family interactions during adolescence on major depression and depressive symptoms in adulthood. In addition, the hypothesis that continuity in interpersonal interaction patterns from the family-of-origin to adult marital relationships may account for this prospective effect will be tested. That is, observed marital interactions patterns will be tested as a mediator of the effect of adolescent-era family interactions on adult depressive symptoms. Alternate pathways, such as the continuity of depressive symptoms, which may negatively impact both family and marital interactions, will also be considered. The proposed study will lay the foundation to future independent research investigating the longitudinal effects of specific family and marital characteristics and interaction patterns on individual mental health.