Adolescent Context and Depressive Symptom Trajectories in a National Sample: Ages 13 to 34

• In Event: 4266 - Section on Aging and the Life Course Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: 11. Transitions to Adulthood

Abstract

Background: Group-based trajectory examinations of depressive symptoms are often
conducted with convenience samples, over limited developmental periods, or with a
limited set of predictors concerning the adolescent context. Further examination of risk
and protective factors in national samples is needed.
Aims: Using an ecological approach, identify key relational and contextual factors
associated with risk for elevated depressive symptoms through the age of 34.
Method: 12,248 respondents in the National Study of Adolescent to Adult Health
(Waves 1, 3, and 4) are analyzed with a group-based, cohort sequential design to
identify trajectory classes, shapes, and adolescent (Wave 1) risk and protective factors
for depressive symptom trajectories.
Results: A four-class, quadratic solution is identified. Close attachment to parents are
strongly associated with decreased odds of membership on elevated trajectories; no
parental relationship at all is associated with better mental health than a poor
relationship. Peer support, teacher support, and educational achievement are highly
protective. Romantic relationships, number of sexual partners, and religious prayer and
attendance have modest associations with depressive burden. Pregnancy is
associated with increased depressive burden later in life relative to the teenage years.
Conclusions: An ecological approach demonstrates several persistent benefits/risks for
depressive symptoms over time.

Authors

• Blake Victor Kent, MGH/Harvard Center on Genomics, Vulnerable Populations, and Health Disparities

• Matt Bradshaw, Baylor University