Keywords

major depressive disorder, self-esteem, gender, parental psychopathology

Abstract

Objectives: To examine the association between parental affective disorders and psychoactive substance use disor- ders and the onset of major depressive disorder (MDD) among adolescents and young adults and to determine whether this association is affected by stressful life events, family cohesion, self-esteem, or gender. Method: Prospective cohort study of 804 adolescents, aged 11–17 years, and their parents who were followed for seven consecutive years. The sam- ple was drawn from the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. Parental diagnoses were based on Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R administered during study screening stage. Diagnoses of MDD and age of onset were based on Composite International Diagnostic Interview 2.1 administered during final year of data collection. Results: Of the cor- relates examined, only parental affective disorders, low self-esteem, and gender were significantly related to the onset of MDD. Females were twice as likely as males to experience MDD. Conclusions: The direct association between parental affective disorders and MDD onset was not affected by family cohesion, self-esteem, or stressful life events; thus more research is needed on other factors that may affect this association, such as genetic factors or other family- and intrapersonal- based variables.

Original Publication Citation

Hoffmann, John P., Scott A. Baldwin, and Felicia G. Cerbone. 2003. “The Onset of Major Depressive Disorders among Adolescents.” Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 42(2): 217-224.

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2003-2

Permanent URL

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/6735

Publisher

Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Language

English

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Sociology

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

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