A 6-Year Longitudinal Study of Adolescents and Mothers Depression Symptoms and their Perception of Support and Conflict

Abstract

Interpersonal theories of adolescent depression assume that adolescent and maternal depression symptoms afect adolescent and maternal perceptions of their relationship quality. However, little attention has been given to examining potential bidirectional prospective associations between both adolescent and maternal perceptions of the mother–adolescent relationship and adolescent and maternal depression symptoms across adolescence. We hypothesized that the longitudinal associations between adolescent and maternal depression symptoms and adolescent and maternal perception of confict and support in the mother–adolescent relationship would be bidirectional. In this 6-year longitudinal study, 497 adolescents (Mage=13.03) and their mothers participated. Each year both adolescents and their mothers completed questionnaires of their depression symptoms and their perception of confict and support in the mother–adolescent relationship. Structural equation modelling cross-lagged panel models were constructed and analyzed. The cross-lagged panel models found bidirectional longitudinal associations between adolescent depressive symptoms and higher adolescent-reported confict and lower adolescent-reported support. In contrast, maternal depressive symptoms were only unidirectionally associated with higher maternal-reported confict, lower maternal-reported support and higher adolescent depression symptoms. Finally, positive bidirectional longitudinal associations were found between adolescent-reported and maternal-reported confict, and between adolescentreported and maternal-reported support. The fndings of this study are discussed in relation to Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depressed Adolescents (IPT-A).