With a Little Help From my Friends : The Role of Personality in the Relationship between Social Support and Adolescent Depression

Abstract

Relationships provide young people with a sense of integration and personal worth. The ability of adolescents to acquire and maintain support from their social networks is of clinical interest as inadequate social support is posited to be a primary causal factor in the onset of adolescent depression. The literature analysing adolescent depression has been extensive and has suggested that depressed young people are less rewarding for social contact, which results in a reduction of their social networks and support systems. The current thesis argues that traditional interpersonal theories of adolescent depression have failed to take into account the intersection between normative and atypical development, the continuous transition between young people and their environments, as well as the long term effect of an episode of depression on personality formation. The current work suggests that an integrated interpersonal theory of adolescent depression needs to investigate potential mechanisms for the onset, maintenance and consequences of youth depression. Two studies explored the relationship between the main variables using the three interacting pathways presented by the cognitive vulnerability transactional stress model (CVTSM). The model posits firstly that cognitive vulnerability and stressors are predictors of depressive symptoms (vulnerability model), secondly, that depressive symptoms and cognitive vulnerabilities are predictors of stressors (stress generation model). Finally, that depressive symptoms and stressors as predictors of future vulnerabilities (consequence model). Study one provides insight into the relationship among the main variables and their relationship to adolescent depression. The study demonstrated that the relationship between neuroticism and stress was the most robust risk factor for depression. The small protective effect of social support is also discussed as well as additional pathways to depression. Study two demonstrated that initial depression resulted in heightened levels of stress two years later. This relationship was apparent even when depression was in remission, and independent of personality, suggesting that stress generation which stems from depression may be potential mechanism for relapse. The results were consistent with pathway one and two of the CVTSM, however no support was found for the third pathway. The manner in which the results support the CVTSM and interpersonal theories of depression is explored as well as the theoretical and practical implications of the research. It is concluded that personality vulnerabilities, stress and depression have a reciprocal relationship which transacts to provide insight into the onset and maintenance of youth depression.