![]() Depressed youth generally show elevated negative affect and reduced positive affect (e.g., Dietz et al., 2008 Sheeber, Allen et al., 2009). For example, mothers tend to show greater displays of negative affect, and conflict, as well as lower social support and positive affect in problem solving interactions with depressed youth. Previous research has indicated support for a variety of disruptions in affective functioning among families of youth with depression. The goal of this study was to provide a thorough characterization of several aspects of affective functioning among families of early adolescents at high familial risk for depression as a means to provide insights into affective processes that reflect elevated risk, and may serve as key targets for prevention or early intervention. Patterns of familial affective functioning may reflect the presence of subdiagnostic or clinical symptoms among one or more family members, and/or may be one pathway through which maladaptive affect regulation tendencies are transmitted to vulnerable youth through modeling, social contingencies, or transactional co-regulatory processes (e.g., Silk, Shaw, Forbes, Lane, & Kovacs, 2006). ![]() Depressive disorders are often severe in this population, including an earlier age of onset, longer duration of episodes, higher social impairment, and higher rates of suicide relative to other depressed adolescents ( Beardslee, Keller, Lavori, & Staley, 1993).Īffective functioning (defined as motivational, behavioral, and subjective aspects of emotions) in the family context appears to represent a critical dimension of this high risk profile. Relative to low risk peers, youth at high familial risk evidence a 3-4 fold increased risk for developing depression ( Beardslee, Versage, & Gladstone, 1998), with the highest period of incidence occurring during the adolescent period ( Weissman et al., 2006). ![]() ![]() Findings are discussed in concert with attention to affect flexibility, contextual and transactional factors.Įarly adolescence marks the start of a dramatic increase in depression rates (e.g., Kessler, Avenevoli, & Merikangas, 2001), and youth at high familial risk for depression–defined as youth with a biological parent who has reported experiencing at least one clinical episode of depression–are particularly vulnerable. transactional processes (e.g., negative escalation). increased negativity in a positive, but not negative, context) and individual vs. In contrast to prior studies focusing on negative affect that did not support disruptions in negative affect, the data from this study suggest variability by context: (i.e. The high risk group showed a relatively consistent pattern for low positive affect across negative and positive contexts at both the individual and transactional level. ![]() Primary analyses compared never-depressed youth at high (n=44) and low (n=57) familial risk for depression. Interactions among early adolescents (ages 9-14) and their mothers were coded for affective behaviors across both positive and negative contexts. This study aimed to characterize affective functioning in families of youth at high familial risk for depression, with particular attention to features of affective functioning that appear to be critical to adaptive functioning but have been underrepresented in prior research including: positive and negative affect across multiple contexts, individual and transactional processes, and affective flexibility. ![]()
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