Abstract
Objective
To investigate whether psychosocial risk factors such as parental separation, parental unemployment and experiences of sexual abuse are associated with adolescent depression, and whether shaming experiences (defined as experiences of being degraded, or ridiculed by others) may account for such an association.
Method
A total of 5048 Swedish adolescents answered the Survey of Adolescent Life in Vestmanland 2004 (SALVe—2004) during classhours. The survey included questions about depressive symptoms, parental separation, parental unemployment and experiences of sexual abuse.
Results
The psychosocial risk factors studied were all associated with depression, but several of these associations became non-significant when a factor for shaming experiences was entered into the models. The explained variance for depression furthermore increased from approximately 4–7% to 17–20% when shame was included.
Conclusion
Shaming experiences may mediate part of the association between psychosocial risk factors and depression. These findings may have important implications for the understanding of psychotherapeutic treatment of the effects of risk factors in depressed patients.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Psychiatric Association (2000) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders—text revision, 4th edn. American Psychiatric Association Press, Washington, DC
Brewin CR, Andrews B, Gotlib IH (1993) Psychopathology and early experience: a reappraisal of retrospective reports. Psychol Bull 113:82–98
Brown GW, Harris TO, Hepworth C (1995) Loss, humiliation and entrapment among women developing depression: a patient and non-patient comparison. Psychol Med 25:7–21
Feiring C, Taska L, Lewis M (1996) A process model for understanding adaptation to sexual abuse: the role of shame in defining stigmatization. Child Abuse Neglect 20:767–782
Fergusson DM, Horwood LJ, Woodward I (2000) The stability of child abuse reports: a longitudinal study of the reporting behavior of young adults. Psychol Med 30:529–544
Goodman E, Adler NE, Kawachi I, Lindsay Frazier A, Huang B, Colditz GA (2001) Adolescents’ perceptions of social status: development and evaluation of a new indicator. Pediatrics 108:2 [Electronic version]
Jumper SA (1995) A meta-analysis of the relationship of child sexual abuse to adult psychological adjustment. Child Abuse Neglect 19:715–728
Kendall-Tackett K, Becker-Blease K (2004) The importance of retrospective findings in child maltreatment research. Child Abuse Neglect 28:723–727
Kendler KS, Hettema JM, Butera F, Gardner CO, Prescott CA (2003) Life event dimensions of loss, humiliation, entrapment, and danger in the prediction of onsets of major depression and generalized anxiety. Arch Gen Psychiatry 60:789–796
Lewinsohn PM, Rohde P, Seeley JR (1998) Major depressive disorder in older adolescents: prevalence, risk factors and clinical implications. Clin Psychol Rev 18:765–794
Needham BL, Crosnoe R (2005) Overweight status and depressive symptoms during adolescence. J Adolesc Health 36:48–55
Nettle D (2004) Evolutionary origins of depression: a review and reformulation. J Affective Disord 81:91–102
Nussbaum M (2004) Hiding from humanity—disgust, shame and the law. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Paolucci EH, Genuis ML, Violato C (2001) A meta-analysis of the published research on the effects of child sexual abuse. J Psychol 135:17–36
Raphael KG, Widom CS, Lange G (2001) Childhood victimization and pain in adulthood: a prospective investigation. Pain 92:283–293
Reimer MS (1996) “Sinking into the ground”: the development and consequences of shame in adolescence. Dev Rev 16:321–363
Retzinger SM (1991) Violent emotions. Shame and rage in marital quarrels. Sage Publications, London
Rutter M, Caspi A, Moffitt TE (2003) Using sex differences in psychopathology to study causal mechanisms: unifying issues and research strategies. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 22:1092–1115
Scheff TJ (1992) Emotion and illness: anger, bypassed shame and heart disease. Perspec Soc Problems 3:117–134
Scheff TJ (1990) Microsociology. Discourse, emotion, and social structure. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Scheff TJ (2003) Shame in self and society. Symbolic Interact 26:239–262
Silberg J, Rutter M, Neale M, Eaves L (2001) Genetic moderation of environmental risk for depression and anxiety in adolescent girls. Br J Psychiatry 179:116–121
Sjöberg RL, Lindblad F (2002) Limited disclosure of sexual abuse in children whose experiences were documented by videotape. Am J Psychiatry 159:312–314
Sjöberg RL, Nilsson KW, Leppert J (2005) Obesity, shame, and depression in school-aged children: a population-based study. Pediatrics 116:e389–392
Sjöberg RL, Nilsson KW, Nordquist N, Öhrvik J, Leppert J, Lindström L, et al. (2006) Development of depression: Sex and the interaction between environment and a promoter polymorphism of the serotonin transporter gene. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 9(4):443–449
Sloman L, Gilbert P, Hasey G (2003) Evolved mechanisms in depression: the role and interaction of attachment and social rank in depression. J Affect Disord 74:107–121
Spiegel D (1987) Trauma, dissociation and memory. Ann N Y Acad Sci 821:225–237
Stucke TS, Sporer SL (2002) When a grandiose self-image is threatened: Narcissism and self-concept clarity as predictors of negative emotions and aggression following ego-threat. J Pers 70:509–532
Svanborg P, Ekselius L (2003) Self-assessment of DSM-IV criteria for major depression in psychiatric out- and in-patients. Nord J Psychiatry 57:291–296
Terr LC (1991) Childhood traumas: an outline and overview. Am J Psychiatry 148:10–20
Tulisalo UK, Aro HM (2000) Paternal remarriage as a modifier of proneness to depression in young adulthood. J Affect Disord 57:179–184
Widom CS, Weiler BL, Cottler LB (1999) Childhood victimization and drug abuse: a comparison of prospective and retrospective findings. J Consult Clin Psychol 67:867–880
Wilkinson RG (1999) Health, hierarchy and social anxiety. Ann N Y Acad Sci 896:48–63
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Åslund, C., Nilsson, K.W., Starrin, B. et al. Shaming experiences and the association between adolescent depression and psychosocial risk factors. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 16, 298–304 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-006-0564-1
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-006-0564-1