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The Relationship of Early Risk and Current Mediators to Depressive Symptomatology in Adolescence

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Abstract

In an ongoing 10-year longitudinal study in a lower-middle-class community, 21 % of 378 fifteen-year-olds studied through interviews and questionnaires reported high levels of depressive symptoms on the Children's Depression Inventory. Girls were twice as likely to express depressive symptoms as boys. Early risk factors for high levels of depressive symptomatology included serious preschool illness, anxiety expressed at age 9, and death of a parent for girls but not boys. Mediators of high depressive symptoms at adolescence consisted of family cohesiveness and satisfactory social supports as well as adolescents' positive self-perceptions of popularity, attractiveness, and intellectual competence.

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    This research was supported by Grant MH41569 from the National Institute of Mental Health. The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance provided by Dr. Myron Belfer, Dr. Craig Edelbrock, Dr. Deborah Walker, and Dr. Christine Waternaux.

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