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Cognitive and Interpersonal Vulnerabilities to Adolescent Depression: Classification of Risk Profiles for a Personalized Prevention Approach

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Abstract

Despite interest in psychosocial vulnerabilities to depression, little is known about reliable and valid individualized risk profiles that can be used to match individuals to evidence-based interventions for depression. This study investigated well-established cognitive and interpersonal vulnerabilities to depression among youth to discern an evidence-based risk classification approach which is being used in a personalized depression prevention randomized clinical trial. Data were drawn from a general community sample of adolescents (N = 467; ages 10–16, mean 13.14, SD = 1.62; 57% females) who were followed prospectively for 3 years. Youth completed measures of cognitive (negative cognitive style, dysfunctional attitudes, rumination) and interpersonal (support and conflict with peers and parents, excessive reassurance seeking, social competence, co-rumination) risks to depression, and then were followed longitudinally for onset of depression. Principal axis factor analyses showed that three latent factors--cognitive vulnerability, interpersonal support, and interpersonal conflict--optimally represented the structure of these risk factors. Clinically practical and meaningful cutoffs, based on tertile cut-off scores on cognitive and interpersonal risk measures, were used to categorize youth into relatively balanced high and low cognitive and interpersonal risk groups. These risk classification groups exhibited validity (AUC > 0.70) by predicting prospective onsets of depressive episodes at 18-months follow-ups. These findings demonstrate a reliable and valid approach to synthesize psychosocial vulnerabilities to depression, specifically cognitive and interpersonal risks. Results are discussed in terms of using these risk classifications profiles to test personalized prevention of depression during adolescence.

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Notes

  1. Please contact the first author for specifics of these analyses and results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 603 E Daniel St, Champaign, IL, 61820, USA

    Benjamin L. Hankin

  2. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Jami F. Young

  3. West Chester University, West Chester, PA, USA

    Robert Gallop

  4. Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

    Judy Garber

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  1. Benjamin L. Hankin
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  2. Jami F. Young
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  3. Robert Gallop
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  4. Judy Garber
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Correspondence to Benjamin L. Hankin.

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Funding

The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funders. This research has been supported by NIMH grants R01MH077195, R01MH105501, and R21MH102210 to B.L. Hankin; Jami Young NIMH grant R01MH077178.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest

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Ethical approval and informed consent were approved by Rutgers University and University of Denver's IRB.

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Hankin, B.L., Young, J.F., Gallop, R. et al. Cognitive and Interpersonal Vulnerabilities to Adolescent Depression: Classification of Risk Profiles for a Personalized Prevention Approach. J Abnorm Child Psychol 46, 1521–1533 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-018-0401-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-018-0401-2

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