Op Volle Kracht: Preventing depressive symptoms in adolescence: Examining cognitive risk factors and evaluating universal and indicated depression prevention

The bidirectional and prospective associations between depressive symptoms and academic, social and emotional self-efficacy from early to mid adolescence were investigated in a cross lagged path model. The sample consisted of 1,341 adolescents (47% girls) with a mean age of 14 years, SD = 0.56. Depressive symptoms and academic, social and emotional self-efficacy levels were assessed every six months over a period of 2.5 years. Depressive symptoms predicted subsequent levels of academic and emotional self-efficacy on all time points, and social self-efficacy on one time point. Self-efficacy subscales did not predict subsequent levels of depressive symptoms. There was no evidence of sex differences in the cross-lagged associations between depressive symptoms and self-efficacy levels. Implications of the findings are discussed. keywords: Depressive symptoms; self-efficacy; adolescence self-efficacy and depressive symptoms 25 Depression is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide (WHO, 2008). During adolescence the lifetime prevalence of depressive disorders increases, from 1.1% at age 11 to 20.7% at age 18 (Thapar, Collishaw, Pine, & Thapar, 2012). In the Netherlands, between 9-21% of adolescents report depressive symptoms, with girls outnumbering boys (Wijga, Scholtens, van Oeffelen, & Beckers, 2010). Experiencing elevated depressive symptoms during adolescence is associated with increased risk for future mood disorders (Roza, Hofstra, van der Ende, & Verhulst, 2003), and suicide (Bridge et al., 2006). Therefore, prevention and treatment of depression is urgently needed (WHO, 2013). In order to design effective prevention programs for adolescent depression, research on potential mechanisms by which depressive symptoms develop during adolescence is pivotal. During adolescence, youngsters face challenges in the social, emotional and academic domain. Their social world changes radically as peers and friends become a major source of support, romantic relationships emerge and their relationship with parents undergoes important transitions (Collins, 2003; Steinberg, 2001). At the same time, adolescents face more stressful life events compared to children, but the cognitive capacities and the emotion regulation strategies to cope with these stressors are still developing during adolescence (Steinberg, 2005b). In addition, academic development and achievement is an important developmental task with which many adolescents struggle (Steinberg, 2005a). A crucial factor for adolescents’ emotional well-being is their belief in their own capacities to face those challenges. In the literature these beliefs have been defined as self-efficacy beliefs. According to Bandura’s social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1977), self-efficacy is the belief in one’s own abilities to perform the actions that are needed to obtain a desired goal. Self-efficacy beliefs guide behavior both directly, and indirectly through personal goals, expectations regarding the outcome of certain behavior, and environmental influences (Bandura, 2012). In the social cognitive theory several possible pathways through which self-efficacy can be acquired are described (Bandura, 1998, 2012). First, self-efficacy builds through overcoming obstacles and experiencing success; success that depends on a person’s own actions or contributions. Second, seeing similar others overcome obstacles and attain their goals may also contribute to self-efficacy. Third, self-efficacy can be promoted through social persuasion in which others tell a person that he or she is competent. Importantly, self-efficacy is fairly independent of a person’s actual skills, but individuals with high selfefficacy beliefs show more perseverance when facing obstacles (Bandura, 2012). Although people have a general sense of their own abilities – general self-efficacy –, their self-efficacy beliefs may also vary across contexts (Pastorelli et al., 2001). That is, a person may experience different levels of self-efficacy across various domains: a high level of selfefficacy with respect to academic functioning, but a low level of self-efficacy in the social domain. Based on the work of Muris (2001), the current study investigates academic, social and emotional self-efficacy. Academic self-efficacy refers to the degree to which a person feels he/she is able to fulfill academic expectations and to cope with academic challenges