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Self-Perceived Competence as a Mediator Between Maternal Feedback and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents

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Abstract

Self-report, other-report, clinical interview, and behavioral observations of evaluative maternal feedback (e.g., positive feedback, criticism), adolescent depressive symptoms, and self-perceived competence were obtained from 72 adolescents and their mothers. Most path analyses supported the hypothesis that adolescent self-perceived competence completely mediates the relation between negative maternal feedback and adolescent depressive symptoms, even after controlling for prior levels of depression. Consistent with Cole's competency-based model of depression (D. A. Cole, 1990), these results suggest that high levels of negative maternal feedback (coupled with low levels of positive feedback) are associated with adolescent negative self-perceptions, which in turn place adolescents at risk for depressive symptoms.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee

    Farrah Jacquez & David A. Cole

  2. University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana

    Barbara Searle

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  1. Farrah Jacquez
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  2. David A. Cole
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Jacquez, F., Cole, D.A. & Searle, B. Self-Perceived Competence as a Mediator Between Maternal Feedback and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents. J Abnorm Child Psychol 32, 355–367 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JACP.0000030290.68929.ef

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