Childhood social withdrawal, interpersonal impairment, and young adult depression: A mediational model

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Shaina J. Katz, University of California Los Angeles; Christopher C. Conway, University of California Los Angeles; Constance L. Hammen, University of California Los Angeles; Patricia Brennan, Emory University; Jake M. Najman, University of Queensland
• Language: English
• Date: 2011-11-01
• Publisher: Springer (part of Springer Nature): Springer Open Choice Hybrid Journals
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10802-011-9537-z
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology
• ISSN: 0091-0627
• Volume: 39
• Issue: 8
• Start Page: 1227
• End Page: 1238
• Grant/Funding Information: This research was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Mater Misericordiae Mothers’ Hospital in Queensland, Australia, and the National Institute of Mental Health grant R01 MH52239.
• Keywords: Female; Child; Surveys and Questionnaires; Social Isolation; Child Behavior; Child, Preschool; Sex Factors; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Humans; Models, Psychological; Depression; Interpersonal Relations; Young Adult; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Adolescent
• Research Categories: Sociology, Public and Social Welfare; Psychology, Behavioral

Abstract

Building on interpersonal theories of depression, the current study sought to explore whether early childhood social withdrawal serves as a risk factor for depressive symptoms and diagnoses in young adulthood. The researchers hypothesized that social impairment at age 15 would mediate the association between social withdrawal at age 5 and depression by age 20. This mediational model was tested in a community sample of 702 Australian youth followed from mother's pregnancy to youth age 20. Structural equation modeling analyses found support for a model in which childhood social withdrawal predicted adolescent social impairment, which, in turn, predicted depression in young adulthood. Additionally, gender was found to moderate the relationship between adolescent social impairment and depression in early adulthood, with females exhibiting a stronger association between social functioning and depression at the symptom and diagnostic level. This study illuminates one potential pathway from early developing social difficulties to later depressive symptoms and disorders.