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The longitudinal effects of stressful life events on adolescent depression are buffered by parent–child closeness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2009

Xiaojia Ge ,
Misaki N. Natsuaki ,
Jenae M. Neiderhiser  and
David Reiss
Xiaojia Ge*
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
Misaki N. Natsuaki
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
Jenae M. Neiderhiser
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
David Reiss
Affiliation:
Austen Riggs Center
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Xiaojia Ge, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, 51 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455; E-mail: gexj@umn.edu.
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Abstract

This study investigated the prospective links of negative life events and parent–child closeness with depressive symptoms among siblings using a multilevel modeling approach with a genetically informative design. The sample consisted of 756 adolescents (378 sibling pairs) who participated in two waves of the Nonshared Environment in Adolescent Development Project. Sibling pairs with varying degree of genetic relatedness (i.e., monozygotic, dizygotic, full siblings, half siblings, and genetically unrelated siblings) were included. The results showed that negative life events, both personal and family life events, and parent–child closeness at Time 1 were significantly associated with depressive symptoms at Time 2 after accounting for the intrapair correlations between siblings. The effects remained significant after controlling for the levels of preexisting depressive symptoms. More importantly, closeness with mothers, but not with fathers, moderated the effects of both personal and family negative life events on subsequent depressive symptoms.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 21 , Issue 2 , May 2009 , pp. 621 - 635
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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