A longitudinal study of children's depressive symptoms, self-perceptions, and cognitive distortions about the self.
This longitudinal study examined how depressive symptoms relate to children's self-perceptions and to estimates of children's cognitive distortions about the self in a nonclinical sample of children who were followed from 4th grade (n = 248) through 6th grade (n = 227). Report card grades measured children's academic competence, and teachers' ratings of children's level of peer acceptance at school indicated social acceptance. Self-reported depressive symptoms predicted a change in children's negative views of the self. Moreover, the self-perceptions of children who exhibited more symptoms of depression appeared to reflect an underestimation of their actual competence. Children's negative self-perceptions and underestimations about the self were not associated with a subsequent change in depressive symptoms. The implications of the findings for cognitive theories of depression and future research with this population are discussed.
McGrath
Emily P
EP
Neuropsychiatric Institute, Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles 90095-1563, USA. emcgrath@ucla.edu
Repetti
Rena L
RL
D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires