Time Spent with Parents Predicts Change in Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder.

Time Spent with Parents Predicts Change in Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2019 Mar 07;: Authors: Manczak EM, Ordaz SJ, Singh MK, Goyer MS, Gotlib IH Abstract Research with community samples suggests that non-affective features of families, such as the amount of time parents and adolescents spend together, affect depressive symptoms in adolescents. It is possible, however, that spending time with parents not only protects against the onset of depressive symptoms, but also reduces symptoms in adolescents who are already depressed. The current study was designed to test this formulation while also examining whether affective dimensions of family functioning - specifically parental warmth - accounted for or moderated observed associations. Finally, we tested the reverse direction of the associations, examining whether greater severity of depression in adolescents results in parents spending less time with them. Forty-one adolescents (ages 14 to 17 years) who met criteria for a current major depressive episode participated in the present study with one parent. Once each month for six time points, dyads completed reports of depressive symptoms and the amount of time parents and adolescents spent with each other. Participants also completed measures of parental warmth. Results of lagged multilevel modeling indicated that spending more time with a parent predicted fewer depressive ...
Source: Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: J Abnorm Child Psychol Source Type: research