1. Objectifs

Intentions :
« The goal of the current study was to provide a prospective test of the vulnerability and contagion hypotheses of Joiner and colleagues’ extension of Coyne’s (1976) interpersonal theory of depression (Joiner, 1994a; Joiner et al., 1999; Joiner, Metalsky et al., 1999a) in a sample of children and early adolescents. Given that the transition from childhood to early adolescence represents a time characterized by immense change in school environment, social relationships, academic activities, cognitive development, and physiological development, it is likely that age-related differences in the relationship between excessive reassurance seeking and depressive symptoms emerge during this transition period. » (pp. 172-173)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
« The final sample consisted of 140 children (69 boys and 71 girls) and one of their parents (88 mothers and 14 fathers). In all cases, the participating parent met criteria for either a current (n = 48) or past (n = 54) major depressive episode as assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV (First, Gibbon, Spitzer, & Williams, 2001). » (p. 174)

Instruments :
-« Reassurance-Seeking Scale for Children (RSSC; Joiner, 1999) » (p. 174)
-« Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI; Kovacs, 2003) » (p. 174)
-« Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck & Steer, 1987) » (p. 174)
-« Hassles Scale for Children (CHAS; Kanner, Feldman, Weinberger, & Ford, 1987) » (p. 174)
-« Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV (SCID-I; First et al., 2001) » (p. 175)

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

« The current study examined whether excessive reassurance seeking serves as a vulnerability factor to depression in a sample of high-risk youth using a multiwave longitudinal design. At Time 1, 140 children (aged 6–14) of affectively disordered parents completed measures assessing reassurance seeking and depressive symptoms. In addition, every 6 weeks during the following year, children and parents completed measures assessing depressive symptoms and the occurrence of hassles. In line with hypotheses, the results of contemporaneous analyses indicated that children with high levels of reassurance seeking reported greater elevations in depressive symptoms following elevations in either hassles or parental depressive symptoms than children with low levels. At the same time, the results of time-lagged analyses indicated that both these relationships were moderated by age with excessive reassurance seeking being associated with greater elevations in depressive symptoms following elevations in either hassles or parental depressive symptoms in older but not younger children. » (p. 171)