Longitudinal Coupling of Depression in Parent–Adolescent Dyads: Within- and Between-Dyads Effects Over Time. (November 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Griffith, Julianne M.; Young, Jami F.; Hankin, Benjamin L.
• Is Part Of: Clinical psychological science. Volume 9:Number 6(2021)
• Page Start: 1059
• Page End: 1079
• Publication Date: 2021-11
• Subjects: depression -- adolescence -- intergenerational risk -- random intercept cross-lagged panel model -- preregistered; Clinical psychology -- Periodicals; 616.89
• DOI: 10.1177/2167702621998313
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2167-7026

Abstract

In the present work, we evaluated reciprocal, within-dyads associations between parents' and adolescents' depressive symptoms across two independent samples ( N = 327 and N = 435 dyads; approximately 85% biological mothers) assessed every 3 months for 2 years (Study 1) to 3 years (Study 2). Results of random intercept cross-lagged panel models converged to support positive contemporaneous patterns of cofluctuation in parental and adolescent depression such that within-persons deviations in parental depression were associated with same-direction within-persons deviations in adolescent depression at the same time point. In contrast, within-persons fluctuations in parental depression did not prospectively predict within-persons fluctuations in adolescent depression, or vice versa, across the follow-up period. Results held across boys and girls, as well as dyads with and without a parental history of depressive disorder. Overall, findings advance knowledge by demonstrating that after accounting for between-persons/dyads variance, parental and adolescent depression demonstrate contemporaneous cofluctuations but do not demonstrate within-dyads reciprocity over time.