Karen D. Rudolph

A measure of positive and negative affect for children: Scale development and preliminary validation.

A child version of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS: D. Watson, L. A. Clark, & A. Tellegen, 1988), the PANAS-C, was developed using students in Grades 4-8 (N = 707). Item selection was based on psychometric and theoretical grounds. The resulting Negative Affect (NA) and Positive Affect (PA) scales demonstrated good convergent and discriminant validity with existing self-report measures of childhood anxiety and depression; the PANAS-C performed much like its adult namesake. Overall, the PANAS-C, like the adult PANAS, is a brief, useful measure that can be used to differentiate anxiety from depression in youngsters. As such, this instrument addresses the shortcomings of existing measures of childhood anxiety and depression.

Age and Gender as Determinants of Stress Exposure, Generation, and Reactions in Youngsters: A Transactional Perspective

The present study used a contextual and transactional approach to examine age and gender differences in the experience and consequences of life stress in clinic-referred preadolescents and adolescents. Eighty-eight youngsters and their parents completed the Child Episodic Life Stress Interview, a detailed semistructured interview assessing the occurrence of stressful events in multiple life domains. Interviews were coded using a contextual threat rating method to determine event stressfulness and dependence. Youngsters also completed the Childrens Depression Inventory and the Revised Child Manifest Anxiety Scale to assess self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety. Consistent with predictions, age- and gender-related patterns of life stress varied across the type and context of stressors. Most notably, adolescent girls experienced the highest levels of interpersonal stress, especially stress and conflict that they generated within parent-child and peer relationships. Preadolescent girls experienced the highest levels of independent stress and conflict in the family context. Adolescent boys experienced the highest levels of noninterpersonal stress associated with self-generated events. Girls demonstrated particular vulnerability to depressive responses to dependent stress. The results build on and extend previous theory and research on age and gender differences in close relationships and stress, and illustrate the value of more refined conceptual models and more sophisticated methodologies in child life stress research.

Gender differences in emotional responses to interpersonal stress during adolescence

A frequently recognized hallmark of the transition to adolescence is the onset of new biological, psychological, and social challenges. Although “storm and stress” theories of adolescence have been called into question [1], youth undoubtedly are faced during this time with a variety of novel experiences that may tax their coping resources and may jeopardize their well-being. Indeed, research has demonstrated that the transition into adolescence is characterized by a “pileup” of stressful events and circumstances [2–4]. Exposure to stress has, in turn, been linked to a range of psychological and physical difficulties [5,6]. How these challenges of adolescence are negotiated has critical implications for long-term health and development [7]. Drawing from stress and coping models of development, researchers have begun to consider the role that stress exposure and reactivity play in the emergence of gender differences in emotional distress [4,8–11]. One of the most robust findings in psychopathology research concerns the increased vulnerability to anxiety and depression in females compared to males. This vulnerability becomes particularly salient during adolescence, and continues through adulthood [10,12]. The central proposal of the present paper is that gender differences in the experience of stress and in emotional reactions to stress, particularly within an interpersonal context, contribute to the development of gender differences in anxiety and depression during adolescence. The paper begins with an overview of a model that links gender differences in interpersonal stress processes with gender differences in emotional distress. Next, empirical evidence that upholds this model is summarized. Finally, several new directions are proposed for future investigations in this area, accompanied by a discussion of recent research that provides support for an expanded model of gender differences in interpersonal stress and emotional distress.

Toward an interpersonal life-stress model of depression: The developmental context of stress generation

The validity of a developmentally based life-stress model of depression was evaluated in 88 clinic-referred youngsters. The model focused on (a) the role of child-environment transactions, (b) the specificity of stress-psychopathology relations, and (c) the consideration of both episodic and chronic stress. Semistructured diagnostic and life-stress interviews were administered to youngsters and their parents. As predicted, in the total sample child depression was associated with interpersonal episodic and chronic stress, whereas externalizing disorder was associated with noninterpersonal episodic and chronic stress. However, the pattern of results differed somewhat in boys and girls. Youngsters with comorbid depression and externalizing disorder tended to experience the highest stress levels. Support was obtained for a stress-generation model of depression, wherein children precipitate stressful events and circumstances. In fact, stress that was in part dependent on childrens contribution distinguished best among diagnostic groups, whereas independent stress had little discriminative power. Results suggest that life-stress research may benefit from the application of transactional models of developmental psychopathology, which consider how children participate in the construction of stressful environments.

DETERMINANTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF CHILDREN'S COPING IN THE MEDICAL SETTING : CONCEPTUALIZATION, REVIEW, AND CRITIQUE

The recent burgeoning of theory and research on how children cope with painful medical stressors warrants close scrutiny. The authors examine the prominent typologies of coping and the research on child adjustment and outcomes stimulated by those typologies. They focus on what researchers know and need to know about moderators (characteristics of the child and the environment that influence coping and outcome) and mediators (mechanisms linking stress, coping, and adjustment). It is argued that important advances can be achieved through efforts to (a) conceptualize and study pain and coping within a multidisciplinary framework; (b) clearly distinguish among coping responses, goals, and outcomes; and (c) replace simplistic conceptualizations with transactional and goodness-of-fit models.

Behavioral Problems After Early Life Stress: Contributions of the Hippocampus and Amygdala

BACKGROUND Early life stress (ELS) can compromise development, with higher amounts of adversity linked to behavioral problems. To understand this linkage, a growing body of research has examined two brain regions involved with socioemotional functioning-amygdala and hippocampus. Yet empirical studies have reported increases, decreases, and no differences within human and nonhuman animal samples exposed to different forms of ELS. This divergence in findings may stem from methodological factors, nonlinear effects of ELS, or both. METHODS We completed rigorous hand-tracing of the amygdala and hippocampus in three samples of children who experienced different forms of ELS (i.e., physical abuse, early neglect, or low socioeconomic status). Interviews were also conducted with children and their parents or guardians to collect data about cumulative life stress. The same data were also collected in a fourth sample of comparison children who had not experienced any of these forms of ELS. RESULTS Smaller amygdala volumes were found for children exposed to these different forms of ELS. Smaller hippocampal volumes were also noted for children who were physically abused or from low socioeconomic status households. Smaller amygdala and hippocampal volumes were also associated with greater cumulative stress exposure and behavioral problems. Hippocampal volumes partially mediated the relationship between ELS and greater behavioral problems. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests ELS may shape the development of brain areas involved with emotion processing and regulation in similar ways. Differences in the amygdala and hippocampus may be a shared diathesis for later negative outcomes related to ELS.

Conceptions of Relationships in Children with Depressive and Aggressive Symptoms: Social-Cognitive Distortion or Reality?

This research tested skill-deficit and cognitive-distortion models of depression and aggression in 615 fifth- and sixth-grade children. Children completed a measure of their generalized conceptions of relationships in the peer domain and their level of depressive symptoms. Teachers completed measures of social competence, social status, and aggression. As anticipated, children with higher levels of depressive symptoms, either alone or in combination with aggression, demonstrated more negative conceptions of both self and peers than did nonsymptomatic children. Conceptions of relationships did not differentiate between aggressive and nonsymptomatic children. Children with depressive symptoms and children with aggressive symptoms displayed unique profiles of social competence deficits and problematic status in the peer group. Analysis of the accuracy of childrens conceptions of relationships revealed support for both skill-deficit and cognitive-distortion models. Consistent with a skill-deficit model, children with depressive and depressive-aggressive symptoms were sensitive to actual differences in their social status. In contrast, aggressive children showed an insensitivity to social cues. Consistent with a cognitive-distortion model, children with depressive and depressive-aggressive symptoms had more negative conceptions than would be expected given their social status, whereas aggressive-unpopular children demonstrated a self-enhancement bias. These findings indicate the importance of integrated cognitive-interpersonal models of depression and aggression that incorporate multiple pathways among social-cognitive, interpersonal, and emotional functioning.

The emerging sex difference in adolescent depression: Interacting contributions of puberty and peer stress

This research investigated the developmental stages (pubertal status) and contexts (early or late timing relative to peers, and a context of stressful versus supportive peer relationships) in which the sex difference in depression unfolds. A sample of 158 youth (ages 9.6-14.8) and their caregivers provided information at two waves, 1 year apart, on puberty, peer stress, and depression. Pubertal status and timing (actual and perceived) interacted with sex to predict depression. Sex differences in depression were evident at particular levels of pubertal status and timing, both actual and perceived. Depression was associated with more mature pubertal status and early timing (both actual and perceived) in girls, but with less mature pubertal status and late timing (actual and perceived) in boys. These patterns held concurrently, and often over time, particularly in a context of stressful peer relationships (peer stress moderated sex-differentiated associations between puberty and depression). Of note, there were no significant sex differences in depression at any particular age. Thus, this research highlights important distinctions among the contributions of age, pubertal status, pubertal timing, and perceived timing to the sex difference in adolescent depression. More broadly, these findings contribute to our growing understanding of the interactions among physical, social, and psychological processes involved in the sex difference in adolescent depression.

The context of depression in clinic-referred youth : Neglected areas in treatment

OBJECTIVE To review the empirical, methodological, and conceptual limitations of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy for childhood and adolescent depression and to present descriptive data on key characteristics of a depressed sample to illustrate gaps in treatment. METHOD Interview-based assessment of psychiatric features and psychosocial functioning, family psychopathology and marital adjustment, and child and parent stressful life events was performed in a sample of 43 depressed youngsters seeking outpatient treatment. RESULTS The empirical and conceptual review indicated that treatments based on downward extensions of adult procedures are limited in number and success. Also, the treatments generally neglect the following characteristics revealed in the descriptive data: depressed youngsters have high rates of recurrent depression and comorbid conditions, impaired academic and social functioning, exposure to high rates of parental psychopathology, parental assortative mating, severe marital dysfunction, and high rates of severe stressors. CONCLUSIONS Treatments need to be informed by and address the actual characteristics of depressed youngsters and their environments, which are highly dysfunctional.

Longitudinal Associations Among Youth Depressive Symptoms, Peer Victimization, and Low Peer Acceptance: An Interpersonal Process Perspective

A longitudinal investigation was conducted to explicate the network of associations between depressive symptoms and peer difficulties among 486 fourth through sixth graders (M = 9.93 years). Parent and teacher reports of depressive symptoms; peer, self, and teacher reports of victimization; and peer reports of peer acceptance were obtained. A systematic examination of nested structural equation models provided support for a symptoms-driven model whereby depressive symptoms contributed to peer difficulties; no evidence was found for interpersonal risk or transactional models. Analyses further revealed that victimization mediated the association between prior depressive symptoms and subsequent peer acceptance. Results extend knowledge about the temporal ordering of depressive symptoms and peer difficulties and elucidate one process through which depressive symptoms disrupt peer relationships.