1-043 - Exploring Mechanisms of the Depression-Delinquency Link During Adolescence

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Depression and conduct problems are some of the most common mental health issues experienced during adolescence. Importantly, these problems appear to be linked, as early depression symptoms are a significant risk factor for later delinquency and externalizing behaviors, such as substance use.

The present symposium explores the intricate relation between depression and delinquency across the span of adolescence using unique samples and advanced statistical techniques. Paper 1 uses a large longitudinal study to examine the relation between adolescent depression, substance use, and peer substance use over time in a sample of typically-developing adolescents. Discrete time event history models are used to predict adolescents’ risk of substance use from their depression symptoms, friends’ substance use, and the interaction of these variables. Paper 2 examines how depression predicts reoffending behavior among serious, largely felony-level, adolescent offenders and proposes a mechanism to explain this relation. Finally, paper 3 uses structural equation modeling to explore how internalizing problems mediate the association between interpersonal victimization and offending among adjudicated adolescents. All three studies examine the depression-delinquency association among both male and female adolescents; gender differences related to depression and delinquency will be addressed. Discussion will focus on interactions with and mechanisms of the depression-delinquency link, as well as propose future directions for this field of research.

Sub Unit

• Developmental Psychopathology

Chair

• April Gile Thomas, University of California, Irvine

Individual Presentations

• Early Adolescent Depression, Peer Substance Use, and the Onset of Substance Use - Presenting Author: Sonja Siennick, Florida State University; Alex O. Widdowson, Florida State University; Mark Ethan Feinberg, Penn State Univ

• Depression and Reoffending Among Serious Delinquents Across Seven Years - Presenting Author: April Gile Thomas, University of California, Irvine; Elizabeth Cauffman, University of California - Irvine

• Internalizing Problems as a Mechanism Connecting Interpersonal Victimization and Offending among Adolescent Juvenile Offenders - Presenting Author: Emma Espel, University of Denver; Julia Dmitrieva, University of Denver