title: Depressive symptoms in young, urban schoolchildren: environmental, social, and cognitive risk.
abstract: This study examined relations among stressors, perceived social competence, attributional style, and depressive symptoms in young urban schoolchildren. Data were collected from 85 5- to 11-year-olds, mostly African American, who attended a public elementary school in a low-income urban area. Social competence was examined as a potential mediator, and attributional style was examined as a potential moderator of the relation between stressful life events and depressive symptoms. Separate analyses were conducted by age and gender. For older children and girls, main effects were found for stressful life events as predictors of depressive symptoms. Mediational analyses indicated that perceived peer acceptance served as a mediator of the relation between stressful life events and depressive symptoms for girls. In addition, attributional style moderated the relation between stressors and depressive symptoms in the older children. Together, findings suggest that significant relations exist among stressful life events, social and cognitive processes, and depressive symptoms in young urban children and that these relations are influenced by gender and development.
authors: a Pediatrics and Developmental Neuroscience , National Institute of Mental Health , Bethesda , Maryland , USA.
authors: Audrey E
authors: AE
authors: Thurm
authors: Ginger A
authors: GA
authors: Carlson
authors: Aoife L
authors: AL
authors: Lyons
authors: Kathryn E
authors: KE
authors: Grant
authors: Amanda E
authors: AE
authors: Wagstaff
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011203:Poverty; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012307:Risk Factors; D012649:Self Concept; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012938:Social Perception; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014505:Urban Population
keywords: cognitive attributions; depression; social competence; stressors; urban poverty; young children