Presenter(s): Theemeshni Govender—Psychology
Faculty Mentor(s): Jennifer Pfeifer, Marjolein Barendse
Session: Prerecorded Poster Presentation
The prevalence of depressive episodes has been steadily increasing over the past few years, with adolescent girls being twice as likely to report depressive symptoms or present a clinical diagnosis of depression in comparison to adolescent boys . This study uses data from an ongoing longitudinal project, TAG (Transitions in Adolescent Girls) to examine the effects of social support (i .e . friends versus family) and self-complexity on depressive symptoms in a sample of adolescent girls (N= 174) aged 10 to 13 . We believe that a larger decrease in family support (and to a lesser extent friend support) and a large change in self-complexity between waves 1 and 2 will predict a greater increase in depressive symptoms, while controlling for depressive symptoms at wave 1 . There will also be a significant interaction, such that decreasing social support (both friends and family) and
a large change in self-complexity will predict increased risk for depressive symptoms . However, we predict that there will be a larger effect size when looking at the interaction with family support in comparison to friend support . Exploratory analyses will be used to examine whether positive and negative self-complexity have differential effects on depressive symptoms and the effect ethnicity/ race as well as socioeconomic status may have on these interactions . Looking at the intersection of these combined frameworks can provide a better understanding of risk and protective factors for specifically adolescent girls in relation to the development of depressive symptoms and contribute to better serving them .