부산대학교 도서관

OBJECTIVE:: Parental depressive symptoms have been associated with depressive symptoms and adjustment problems in adolescents. However, longitudinal studies assessing both mothersʼ and fathersʼ depressive symptoms over time and their association with adolescentsʼ outcomes are sparse. METHODS:: Data were obtained from the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. A total of 1364 children and families were followed from the childʼs birth until the age of 15 years. Adolescentsʼ depressive symptoms were evaluated via self-reported questionnaire at ages 11 to 15 years. Adjustment problems at 15 years of age were defined as high internalizing and/or externalizing problems. Parental depressive symptoms were assessed several times during the study period. Trajectories created using partitional clustering analyses were entered in logistic regression models to predict adolescentsʼ outcomes. RESULTS:: After adjusting for sociodemographic variables, adolescentsʼ outcomes were associated with every additional time point of reported maternal (depressive symptoms: odds ratio [OR] = 1.2, p = 0.001; adjustment problems: OR = 1.1, p = 0.003) and paternal depressive symptoms (adjustment problems: OR = 1.2, p = 0.027). When maternal and paternal depressive symptom trajectories were combined, we found adolescentsʼ depressive symptoms to be significantly associated with mother elevated and stable subclinical father scores (OR = 3.3, p = 0.003) and girls (OR = 5.4, p < 0.001). Adjustment problems were associated with father elevated and stable subclinical mother (OR = 1.9, p = 0.003) and mother elevated and stable subclinical father (OR = 2.1, p = 0.001) trajectories. CONCLUSION:: Parental depressive symptoms are an important risk factor for adolescentsʼ outcomes. This highlights the importance of continuously evaluating parentsʼ mental status across child development. The cumulative effect of recurrent depressive symptoms and the combined parental trajectories are especially predictive for the development of adolescentsʼ outcomes.