Negative life events as a risk factor for developing depressive symptoms among young people with a parental history of mood disorders.

Abstract

Identifying factors in intergenerational transmission of depressive symptoms is crucial for young people with a parental history of mood disorders, since they are at a heightened risk of developing depression. This study explores the impact of negative life events (NLEs) and maladaptive coping on depressive symptoms. Additionally, it explores the potential moderating effect of maladaptive coping on the association between NLEs and depressive symptoms. We observed 200 young people (10-25 years) with a parental history of mood disorders. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Youth Self Report (YSR) in participants aged 10-17 years and the Adult Self Report (ASR) in participants aged 18-25 years. Maladaptive coping was measured using the Utrecht Coping lijst (UCL). Both NLEs and maladaptive coping were individually associated with depressive symptoms. However, an interaction effect of maladaptive coping on the association between NLEs and depressive symptoms was not found. This study emphasizes the significance of maladaptive coping and NLEs in understanding the intergenerational transmission of depressive symptoms in young people with a history of mood disorders. Maladaptive coping had a stronger impact on depressive symptoms compared to NLEs, possibly because only a small number of NLEs were experienced in this sample. Future research should investigate the relationship between depressive symptoms and negative life events more extensively to enhance (preventative) interventions for depressive symptoms in young people with a heightened risk of depression due to their parental history of mood disorders.