Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-r6qrq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T05:35:19.386Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Exploring depressive personality traits in youth: Origins, correlates, and developmental consequences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 October 2009

Karen D. Rudolph  and
Daniel N. Klein
Karen D. Rudolph*
Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign
Daniel N. Klein
Affiliation:
State University of New York at Stony Brook
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Karen D. Rudolph, Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, 603 East Daniel Street, Champaign, IL 61820; E-mail: krudolph@illinois.edu.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Research suggests that depressive personality (DP) disorder may represent a persistent, trait-based form of depression that lies along an affective spectrum ranging from personality traits to diagnosable clinical disorders. A significant gap in this area of research concerns the development of DP and its applicability to youth. The present research explored the construct of DP traits in youth. Specifically, this study examined the reliability, stability, and validity of the construct, potential origins of DP traits, and the developmental consequences of DP traits. A sample of 143 youth (mean age = 12.37 years, SD = 1.26) and their caregivers completed semistructured interviews and questionnaires on two occasions, separated by a 12-month interval. The measure of DP traits was reliable and moderately stable over time. Providing evidence of construct validity, DP traits were associated with a network of constructs, including a negative self-focus, high-negative and low-positive emotionality, and heightened stress reactivity. Moreover, several potential origins of DP traits were identified, including a history of family adversity, maternal DP traits, and maternal depression. Consistent with hypotheses regarding their developmental significance, DP traits predicted the generation of stress and the emergence of depression (but not nondepressive psychopathology) during the pubertal transition. Finally, depression predicted subsequent DP traits, suggesting a reciprocal process whereby DP traits heighten risk for depression, which then exacerbates these traits. These findings support the construct of DP traits in youth, and suggest that these traits may be a useful addition to developmental models of risk for youth depression.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 21 , Issue 4: Precursors and Diverse Pathways to Personality Disorder in Children and Adolescents: Part 2 , November 2009 , pp. 1155 - 1180
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. A. (2001). Manual for ASEBA school-age forms & profiles. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth, and Families.Google Scholar
Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Akiskal, H. S. (1983). Dysthymic disorder: Psychopathology of proposed chronic depressive subtypes. American Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 11–20.Google ScholarPubMed
Akiskal, H. S. (1989). Validating affective personality types. In Robins, L. & Barrett, J. (Eds.), The validity of psychiatric diagnosis (pp. 217–227). New York: Raven Press.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., text revision). Washington, DC: Author.Google Scholar
Arnett, J. J. (1999). Adolescent storm and stress, reconsidered. American Psychologist, 54, 317–326.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bemporad, J. (1976). Psychotherapy of the depressive character. Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis, 4, 347–372.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berliner, B. (1966). Psychodynamics of the depressive character. Psychoanalytic Forum, 1, 244–251.Google Scholar
Brooks-Gunn, J., Warren, M. P., Rosso, J., & Gargiulo, J. (1987). Validity of self-report measures of girls' pubertal status. Child Development, 58, 829–841.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, G. W., & Harris, T. (1978). Social origins of depression: A study of psychiatric disorders in women. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Caspi, A., & Shiner, R. L. (2006). Personality development. In Eisenberg, N., Damon, W., & Lerner, R. M. (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3. Social, emotional, and personality development (6th ed., pp. 300–365). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.Google Scholar
Chaplin, T. M., & Cole, P. M. (2005). The role of emotion regulation in the development of psychopathology. In Hankin, B. L. & Abela, J. R. Z. (Eds.), Development of psychopathology: A vulnerability–stress perspective (pp. 49–74). New York: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Cohen, D. J. (Eds.). (2006). Developmental psychopathology (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.Google ScholarPubMed
Clark, L. A., Watson, D., & Mineka, S. (1994). Temperament, personality, and the mood and anxiety disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103, 103–116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cole, D. A., Martin, J. M., Peeke, L. G., Seroczynski, A. D., & Hoffman, K. (1998). Are cognitive errors of underestimation predictive or reflective of depressive symptoms in children: A longitudinal study. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 107, 481–496.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Compas, B. E., Connor-Smith, J. K., & Jaser, S. S. (2004). Temperament, stress reactivity, and coping: Implications for depression in childhood and adolescence. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 33, 21–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Compas, B. E., Connor-Smith, J. K., Saltzman, H., Thomsen, A. H., & Wadsworth, M. E. (2001). Coping with stress during childhood and adolescence: Problems, progress, and potential in theory and research. Psychological Bulletin, 127, 87–127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Conley, C. S., & Rudolph, K. D. (2009). The emerging sex difference in adolescent depression: Interacting contributions of puberty and peer stress. Development and Psychopathology, 21, 593–620.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Connor-Smith, J. K., Compas, B. E., Wadsworth, M. E., Thomsen, A. H., & Saltzman, H. (2000). Responses to stress in adolescence: Measurement of coping and involuntary stress responses. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68, 976–992.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crick, N. R., Murray-Close, D., & Woods, K. (2005). Borderline personality features in childhood: A short-term longitudinal study. Development and Psychopathology, 17, 1051–1070.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crick, N. R., Woods, K., Murray-Close, D., & Han, G. (2007). The development of borderline personality disorder: Current progress and future directions. In Freeman, A. & Reinecke, M. A. (Eds.), Personality disorders in childhood and adolescence (pp. 341–384). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.Google Scholar
Davila, J., Hammen, C., Burge, D., Paley, B., & Daley, S. E. (1995). Poor interpersonal problem solving as a mechanism of stress generation in depression among adolescent women. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 104, 592–600.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Clercq, B., & DeFruyt, F. (2007). Childhood antecedents of personality disorder. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 20, 57–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dorn, L. D., Susman, E. J., Nottelmann, E. D., Inoff-Germain, G., & Chrousos, G. P. (1990). Perceptions of puberty: Adolescent, parent, and health care personnel. Developmental Psychology, 26, 322–329.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Nyman, M., Bernzweig, J., & Pinuelas, A. (1994). The relations of emotionality and regulation to children's anger-related reactions. Child Development, 65, 109–128.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fergusson, D. M., Horwood, L. J., Ridder, E. M., & Beautrais, A. L. (2005). Subthreshold depression in adolescence and mental health outcomes in adulthood. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 66–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
First, M. B., Spitzer, R.L., Gibbon, M., & Williams, J. (1996). Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV Axis I Disorders—Non-patient edition (SCID-IV/NP Version 2.0). New York: New York State Psychiatric Institute, Biometrics Research Department.Google Scholar
Flynn, M., & Rudolph, K. D. (2007). Perceptual asymmetry and youths' responses to stress: Understanding vulnerability to depression. Cognition and Emotion, 21, 773–788.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Geiger, T. C., & Crick, N. R. (2001). A developmental psychopathology perspective on vulnerability to personality disorders. In Ingram, R. E. & Price, J. M. (Eds.), Vulnerability to psychopathology (pp. 57–102). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Graber, J. A. (2003). Puberty in context. In Hayward, C. (Ed.), Gender differences at puberty (pp. 307–325). New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammen, C. L., Burge, D., Daley, S. E., Davila, J., Paley, B., & Rudolph, K. D. (1995). Interpersonal attachment cognitions and prediction of symptomatic responses to interpersonal stress. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 104, 436–443.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hammen, C., Shih, J. H., & Brennan, P. A. (2004). Intergenerational transmission of depression: Test of an interpersonal stress model in a community sample. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72, 511–522.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hankin, B. L., & Abramson, L. Y. (2001). Development of gender differences in depression: An elaborated cognitive vulnerability-transactional stress theory. Psychological Bulletin, 127, 773–796.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hankin, B. L., Fraley, R. C., Lahey, B. B., & Waldman, I. D. (2005). Is depression best viewed as a continuum or discrete category? A taxometric analysis of childhood and adolescent depression in a population-based sample. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 114, 96–11CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Higgins, E. T. (1991). Development of self-regulatory and self-evaluative processes: Costs, benefits, and tradeoffs. In Gunnar, M. R. & Sroufe, L. A.. (Eds.), Self processes and development: The Minnesota Symposia on Child Development (Vol. 23, pp. 125–166). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Huprich, S. K. (1998). Depressive personality disorder: Theoretical issues, clinical findings, and future research questions. Clinical Psychology Review, 18, 477–500.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Joiner, T. E., Catanzaro, S. J., & Laurent, J. (1996). Tripartite structure of positive and negative affect, depression, and anxiety in child and adolescent psychiatric inpatients. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 105, 401–409.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klein, D. N. (1990). Depressive personality: Reliability, validity, and relation to dysthymia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 99, 412–421.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klein, D. N. (1999). Depressive personality in the relatives of outpatients with dysthymic disorder and episodic major depressive disorder and normal controls. Journal of Affective Disorders, 55, 19–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klein, D. N., & Bessaha, M. L. (2009). Depressive personality disorder. In Blaney, P. H. & Millon, T. (Eds.), Oxford textbook of psychopathology (2nd ed., pp. 738–751). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Klein, D. N., Clark, D. C., Dansky, L., & Margolis, E. T. (1988). Dysthymia in the offspring of parents with primary unipolar affective disorder. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 97, 265–274.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klein, D. N., Durbin, C. E., & Shankman, S. A. (2009). Personality and mood disorders. In Gotlib, I. H. & Hammen, C. L. (Eds.), Handbook of depression and its treatment (2nd ed., pp. 93–112). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Klein, D. N., & Miller, G. A. (1993). Depressive personality in nonclinical subjects. American Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 1718–1724.Google ScholarPubMed
Klein, D. N., Ouimette, P. C., Kelly, H. S., Ferro, T., & Riso, L. P. (1994). Test–retest reliability of team consensus best-estimate diagnoses of Axis I and II disorders in a family study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 1043–1047.Google Scholar
Klein, D. N., & Shih, J. H. (1998). Depressive personality: Associations with DSM-III-R mood and personality disorders and negative and positive affectivity, 30-month stability, and prediction of course of Axis I depressive disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 107, 319–327.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kovacs, M. (1992). Children's Depression Inventory manual. North Tonawanda, NY: Multi-Health Systems.Google Scholar
Krackow, E., & Rudolph, K. D. (2008). Life stress and the accuracy of cognitive appraisals in depressed youth. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 37, 376–385.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kraepelin, E. (1921). Manic depressive insanity and paranoia. Edinburgh: Livingstone.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kwon, J. S., Kim, Y.-M., Chang, C.-G., Park, B.-J., Kim, L., Yoon, D.J., et al. (2000). Three-year follow-up of women with the sole diagnosis of depressive personality disorder: Subsequent development of dysthymia and major depression. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 1966–1972.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Laptook, R. S., Klein, D. N., & Dougherty, L. R. (2006). Ten-year stability of depressive personality disorder in depressed outpatients. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 865–871.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Laughlin, H. P. (1967). The neuroses. Washington, DC: Butterworths.Google Scholar
Lengua, L. J., & Long, A. C. (2002). The role of emotional and self regulation in the appraisal-coping process: Tests of direct and moderating effects. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 23, 471–493.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDermut, W., Zimmerman, M., & Chelminski, I. (2003). The construct validity of depressive personality disorder. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 112, 49–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mervielde, I., De Clercq, B., De Fruyt, F., & Van Leeuwen, K. (2005). Temperament, personality, and developmental psychopathology as childhood antecedents of personality disorders. Journal of Personality Disorders, 19, 171–201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morris, N. M., & Udry, J. R. (1980). Validation of a self-administered instrument to assess stage of adolescent development. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 9, 271–280.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Muller, D., Judd, C. M., & Yzerbyt, V. Y. (2005). When moderation is mediated and mediation is moderated. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 852–863.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ørstavik, R. E., Kendler, K. S., Czajkowski, N., Tambs, K., & Reichborn-Kjennerud, T. (2007). Genetic and environmental contributions to depressive personality disorder in a population-based sample of Norwegian twins. Journal of Affective Disorder, 99, 181–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orvaschel, H. (1995). Schedule of Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children— Epidemiologic version (5th ed.). Ft. Lauderdale, FL: Nova Southeastern University.Google Scholar
Petersen, A. C., Crockett, L., Richards, M., & Boxer, A. (1988). A self-report measure of pubertal status: Reliability, validity, and initial norms. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 17, 117–133.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Phillips, K. A., Gunderson, J. G., Hirschfeld, R. M. A., & Smith, L. E. (1990). A review of the depressive personality. American Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 830–837.Google ScholarPubMed
Reynolds, C. R., & Richmond, B. O. (1978). What I think and feel: A revised measure of children's manifest anxiety. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 6, 271–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rhode, P., Lewinsohn, P. M., & Seeley, J. R. (1994). Are adolescents changed by an episode of major depression? Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 33, 1289–1298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, B. W., & DelVecchio, W. F. (2000). The rank-order consistency of personality traits from childhood to old age: A quantitative review of longitudinal studies. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 25–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rothbart, M. K., & Bates, J. E. (2006). Temperament. In Eisenberg, N., Damon, W., & Lerner, R. (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3. Social, emotional, and personality development (6th ed., pp. 99–166). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.Google Scholar
Rudolph, K. D. (2008). Developmental influences on interpersonal stress generation in depressed youth. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 117, 673–679.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rudolph, K. D. (2009). The interpersonal context of adolescent depression. In Nolen-Hoeksema, S. & Hilt, L. M. (Eds.), Handbook of depression in adolescents (pp. 377–418). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Rudolph, K. D., & Flynn, M. (2007). Childhood adversity and youth depression: Influence of gender and pubertal status. Development and Psychopathology, 19, 497–521.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rudolph, K. D., Flynn, M., Abaied, J. L., Groot, A., & Thompson, R. (2009). Why is past depression the best predictor of future depression? Stress generation as a mechanism of depression continuity in girls. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 38, 473–485.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rudolph, K. D., & Hammen, C. (1999). Age and gender as determinants of stress exposure, generation, and reactions in youngsters: A transactional perspective. Child Development, 70, 660–677.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rudolph, K. D., Hammen, C., Burge, D., Lindberg, N., Herzberg, D., & Daley, S. (2000). Toward an interpersonal life-stress model of depression: The developmental context of stress generation. Development and Psychopathology, 12, 215–234.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rudolph, K. D., Kurlakowsky, K. D., & Conley, C. S. (2001). Developmental and social-contextual origins of depressive control-related beliefs and behavior. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 25, 447–475CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryder, A. G., Bagby, M. R., Marshall, M. B., & Costa, P.T. Jr., (2005). The depressive personality: Psychopathology, assessment, and treatment. In Rosenbluth, M., Kennedy, S. H., & Bagby, M. R. (Eds.), Depression and personality: Conceptual and clinical challenges (2nd ed., pp. 65–94). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing.Google Scholar
Schlossberger, N. M., Turner, R. A., & Irwin, C. E. (1992). Validity of self-report of pubertal maturation in early adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 13, 109–113.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schneider, K. (1958). Psychopathic personalities. London: Cassell.Google Scholar
Shea, M. X., & Hirschfeld, R. M. A. (1996). Chronic mood disorder and depressive personality. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 19, 103–120.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shih, J. H., Eberhart, N. K., Hammen, C. L., & Brennan, P. A. (2006). Differential exposure and reactivity to interpersonal stress predict sex differences in adolescent depression. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 35, 103–115.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shiner, R. L. (2005). A developmental perspective on personality disorders: Lessons from research on normal personality development in childhood and adolescence. Journal of Personality Disorders, 19, 202–210.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shiner, R. L., Masten, A. S., & Roberts, J. M. (2003). Childhood personality foreshadows adult personality and life outcomes two decades later. Journal of Personality, 71, 1145–1170.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shrout, P. E., & Bolger, N. (2002). Mediation in experimental and nonexperimental studies: New procedures and recommendations. Psychological Methods, 7, 422–445.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sobel, M. E. (1982). Asymptotic intervals for indirect effects in structural equations models. In Leinhart, S. (Ed.), Sociological methodology 1982 (pp. 290–312). San Francisco, CA: Jossey–Bass.Google Scholar
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., Weber, K., Assenheimer, J. S., Strauss, M. E., & McCormick, R. A. (1995). Testing a tripartite model: II. Exploring the symptom structure of anxiety and depression in student, adult, and patient samples. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 104, 15–25.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weichold, K., Silbereisen, R. K., & Schmitt-Rodermund, E. (2003). Short-term and long-term consequences of early versus late physical maturation in adolescents. In Hayward, C. (Ed.), Gender differences at puberty (pp. 241–276). New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar