Expanding our understanding of the relationship between negative life events and depressive symptoms in black and white adolescent girls.
BACKGROUND
Little is known about the extent to which negative life events predict depressive symptoms in ethnically diverse groups or whether this relationship is proximal or enduring.


METHODS
The relationship between negative life events in adolescence and depressive symptoms in young adulthood was studied in a sample of over 1300 black and white female adolescents. Five domains of life events were assessed at age 16 years and depressive symptoms were measured at age 18 and again at age 21 years. Questions of interest included whether the association continued over time and whether there were specific domains of life events that predicted symptoms better than others.


RESULTS
The total number of negative life events at time 1 predicted depressive symptoms at both time 2 and time 3. Interpersonal loss events and other adversities, however, predicted depressive symptoms only at time 2, whereas at time 3, only interpersonal trauma was a significant predictor. No ethnic differences were found, indicating that the relationship between life events and depressive symptoms appears to be similar for black and white adolescent girls.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that negative life events and some specific type of stressorsincrease the likelihood of the onset of depression symptoms in future years, for both black and white girls. Early preventive efforts should be directed at adolescents who experience loss due to death of a significant other, traumatic events, and psychosocial adversities to forestall the development of depressive symptoms.
Franko
Debra L
DL
Department of Counseling & Applied Educational Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115-5000, USA. d.franko@neu.edu
Striegel-Moore
Ruth H
RH
Brown
Kathleen M
KM
Barton
Bruce A
BA
McMahon
Robert P
RP
Schreiber
George B
GB
Crawford
Patricia B
PB
Daniels
Stephen R
SR
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D044383:Black People / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008016:Life Change Events; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D010552:Personality Assessment; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012649:Self Concept; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology*