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Parent and Adolescent Depressive Symptoms: The Role of Parental Attributions

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Abstract

This study examined whether negative parental attributions for adolescent behaviour mediate the association between parental and adolescent depressive symptoms, and whether this relationship is moderated by adolescent gender. Mothers and fathers and 124 adolescents (76 girls and 48 boys; ages 14 to 18) participated. Adolescents were primarily Caucasian, and varied in the level of depressive symptoms (with 27% of the sample meeting diagnostic criteria for a current unipolar depressive disorder). Parents and adolescents completed measures of depressive symptoms, and participated in a videotaped problem-solving discussion. After the discussion, each parent watched the videotape and, at 20 s intervals, offered attributions for their adolescent’s behaviour. Adolescent gender moderated the relation between parental attributions and adolescent depressive symptoms, with stronger associations for female adolescents. For both mothers and fathers, both parental depressive symptoms and negative attributions about the adolescent’s behaviour made unique contributions to the prediction of depressive symptoms in adolescent females. There also was evidence that negative attributions partially mediated the link between depressive symptoms in mothers and adolescent daughters. The results are interpreted as consistent with parenting as a partial mediator between parental and adolescent depressive symptoms, and suggest that adolescent girls may be particularly sensitive to parents’ negative interpretations of their behaviour.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the families who participated in this study, and Wade Cook, Erin Hutton, and Krista Newbigging for their assistance with the coding of parental attributions. We would also like to thank Dr. Mathew Sanders for his help in designing the VMR protocol. This research was supported by the University of British Columbia Hampton Research Fund PG# 12R78316, and the National Institute of Mental Health Grant #57166.

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Mandy Chen & Charlotte Johnston

  2. Oregon Research Institute, Eugene, OR, USA

    Lisa Sheeber & Craig Leve

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  1. Mandy Chen
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  2. Charlotte Johnston
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  4. Craig Leve
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Correspondence to Mandy Chen.

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Chen, M., Johnston, C., Sheeber, L. et al. Parent and Adolescent Depressive Symptoms: The Role of Parental Attributions. J Abnorm Child Psychol 37, 119–130 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-008-9264-2

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