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Objective: This is the first prospective study of the reciprocal association between sleep restriction and weight among adolescents. Evidence on sleep duration and obesity in youth is sparse and the results have been equivocal.Methods: Data are from a community-based, two-wave cohort study. The setting was a metropolitan area with a population of over 4 million. The cohort consisted of 4175 youths 11-17 at baseline and 3134 of these followed up a year later. Obesity was defined as body mass index >95th percentile for children of the same age and sex. Sleep restriction was defined as 6 or fewer hours of sleep per night on weeknights or on both weekends and weeknights. Covariates examined were age, gender, family income and depression.Results: Results clearly demonstrated that there was no association between sleep restriction and obesity at baseline. In prospective analyses, sleep restriction did not increase future risk of obesity, nor did obesity increase risk of future sleep restriction.Conclusions: These findings call into question previous research based primarily on cross-sectional data suggesting a positive correlation between sleep restriction and obesity. However, the results for adolescents in this study are supported by one study of adolescents and by studies of adults using prospective designs. At this point, there appears to be little evidence for a temporal relation between sleep duration and obesity among adults or adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: No studies of adolescents have examined the prospective, reciprocal association between insomnia and major depression. Methods: A two-wave, community-based cohort of 3134 youths aged 11–17 at baseline. Major depression was assessed using DSM-IV criteria. Three measures of insomnia were used also following DSM-IV: P 1, any symptom of insomnia; P 2, any symptom plus impairment; P 3, P 2 with no comorbid mood, anxiety or substance use disorders. Results: In general, the association between insomnia and depression was stronger and more consistent for major depression than for symptoms of depression. Baseline insomnia (P 1 and P 2) increased subsequent risk of major depression 2–3-fold and P 1 2-fold in multivariate analyses. Major depression increased risk for subsequent insomnia 2–3-fold for P 1 and P 2 2-fold for P 2 in multivariate analyses. Results varied by measure of insomnia used. Limitations: Only symptoms of insomnia were assessed, so we could not examine the effects of comorbid sleep disorders nor did we have objective or biological measures of disturbed sleep. We also did not collect data on parental reports of youth depression nor insomnia or sleep problems. Conclusion: Our results provide the first prospective data on insomnia and major depression among adolescents indicating the two are reciprocally related. More studies are needed examining trajectories of insomnia and major depression in childhood and adolescence. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

As a first step in developing a reliable and culturally sensitive instrument to assess depression in Korean-American youths, this community-based methodological study was designed to evaluate the characteristics of the DSM Scale for Depression (DSD). A total of 104 Korean Americans, 11 to 13 years, participated in this study, and the response patterns of this group were compared with Korean- (n = 20) and Anglo- (n = 557) American youths assessed by the Teen Life Changes Survey (TLCS). Overall, Korean-American youths showed significantly higher mental distress scores than Anglos. The DSD was found to be a culturally appropriate instrument for Korean Americans with good reliability (α = .92) and validity demonstrated by correlating with related constructs (loneliness, self-esteem, coping, social support, mastery, and somatic symptoms). The highest correlation coefficient was observed between depression and somatic symptoms (r = .61). These findings are informative for the design of further studies of mental health of Korean-American youths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does obesity affect mental health? Two waves of data from a panel study of community residents 50 years and older were used to investigate the association between obesity and eight indicators of mental health: happiness, perceived mental health, life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect, optimism, feeling loved and cared for, and depression. For none of the eight mental health outcomes examined did we observe a protective effect for obesity. Either no association was observed between obesity and psychological functioning, or the obese were worse off. Using 1994-1999 prospective data, the obese were at increased risk for poorer mental health on five of the outcomes examined using bivariate analyses. However, controlling for mental health problems at baseline and using statistical controls for covariates, the increased relative risk was limited to depression. There has been sufficient disparity of results thus far to justify further research on this question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provides additional data on the role of sleep disturbance in the occurrence of depression among older persons. Effects of age, gender, education, marital status, social isolation, functional impairment, financial strain and alcohol use; Symptoms of major depressive episodes such as mood disturbance and thoughts of death as stronger predictors of future major depression.

Explores the age differences among Japanese based on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Four factors for each age group; Stability of positive-affect cross-culturally; Uniqueness of the interpersonal+negative for Japanese indicating the association of interpersonal relations with depressive mood in Japanese.

Investigates the relations among depression, acculturation and socioeconomic status (SES) in a young-adult Latino sample. Measuring instruments used in the study; Procedures of the study; Depression findings; Symptoms of depression and acculturation; Depression and ethnic group status; Conclusions.

Presents a population-based study which investigated the relation between depression and cardiovascular disease, assessing depressive symptoms and increased stroke mortality risk over a 29-year period. Examination of the role of depression in stroke mortality; Methodology used to conduct study; How depressive symptoms were assessed; Findings of the study.

Examines the symptoms of major depressive episodes, using data from the Alameda County Study. Public health problem posed by depression in the United States; Factors which determines depression; Question of whether increasing age constitutes to depression; Details on the study.

Presents an analysis of associations between two forms of religiosity and depression, as well as the extent to which religiosity separates relationships between stressors and depression. Methodology of study using the 1994 Alameda County Study; Results of both forms of religiosity; Effect of religiosity on non-family stressors and family crises.

Conducted studies to identify psychosocial correlates of depressive symptoms among adolescents. Batteries of psychosocial instruments were administered twice to 2000 students in four different high schools one month apart. As with adults, dysphoria was correlated with a wide range of difficulties, with girls reporting significantly more symptoms. From the two self-reports of depression, four groups were formed: high-high, high-low, low-high, and low-low. Girls were disproportionately represented among the high-high group. Some variables were concomitants of dysphoria. Others were more stable characteristics of adolescents either resistant or prone to becoming depressed, or were either risk or protective factors for increased dysphoria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses data from a survey conducted in 1974 to compare rates of depressive symptoms among married couples (N = 752) differentiated by the traditional or nontraditional sex-role relationship (division of labor) in the family. Wives reported more symptoms of depression than husbands in both nontraditional (in which both husband and wife work) and traditional relationships. Within-sex analyses show that the employment status of the wife has no significant effect on depression scores. Although these results corroborate some earlier findings regarding sex differences in depression, e.g., that women have higher rates, they do not corroborate the data (collected in 1965) reported by Rosenfield (1980), in which the males in nontraditional relationships have higher rates of depression than the females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Depressive symptoms display heterogeneous trajectories across adolescence and early adulthood. Identifying risk and protective factors for distinct trajectory groups, and their respective outcomes, may provide insight into the etiological underpinnings of different symptom courses and inform the targets and timing of intervention. Methods: A school-based sample of 719 adolescents completed four diagnostic evaluations and up to 7 annually mailed questionnaires assessing psychiatric symptoms and psychosocial risk and protective factors. Parental history of psychiatric disorder was assessed. Growth mixture modeling (GMM) was used to identify latent depressive symptom trajectories from mid-adolescence through age 30, as well as their predictors in mid-adolescence and adult outcomes. Results: A three class model consisting of high stable (32%), moderate decreasing (44%), and low decreasing (24%) depressive symptom trajectories emerged as the preferred solution. Demographic, psychosocial, and psychiatric characteristics differentiated the low and high symptom classes, and provided support for interpersonal models of depression chronicity. Members of the moderate and high symptom classes evidenced the worst psychosocial and psychiatric outcomes by age 30, with members of the high symptom class showing the greatest levels of impairment. Limitations: Cross-sectional measurement and floor effects of several predictor variables may have obscured the relations between those predictors and trajectory class membership. Conclusion: These findings suggest that prevention and intervention strategies may specifically target young women and those who experience poor interpersonal functioning in an effort to alter the course of depressive symptoms through early adulthood. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Longitudinal trajectories of depressive symptoms, perceived support from family, and perceived support from friends were examined among 816 emerging adults (480 women: 59%). In the context of a larger longitudinal investigation on the predictors and course of depression, data were drawn from eight self-report questionnaire assessments that roughly spanned the third decade of life. An age-based scaling approach was used to model trajectories of depressive symptoms and perceived social support between the ages of 21 and 30. Associative models of the relations between depressive symptoms and perceived social support from family and friends were tested. Results indicated that depressive symptoms decreased and perceived social support increased during the study period. Associative models suggested that among women, higher initial levels of perceived support from family predicted slower decreases in depressive symptoms (b = .34, p < .01). Among men, higher initial levels of depressive symptoms predicted slower increases in perceived family support (b = -.23, p < .05). Cross-domain predictive effects were not observed for perceived support from friends and depressive symptoms. Implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stress generation and stress exposure models of the relations among depressive symptoms, minor hassles, and major event stress were investigated among 815 community-dwelling participants. Autoregressive latent trajectory models were constructed to examine latent growth patterns from ages 15 years to 30 years and to test 1-year lagged, reciprocal paths between depressive symptoms and stress constructs. Results indicated significant cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between depressive symptoms and both stress constructs at the latent level. At the manifest level, lagged paths from hassles at 1 year to depressive symptoms at the next year were significant between ages 17 years and 24 years. Significant cross-sectional paths between major events and depressive symptoms were found between ages 24 years and 28 years, and modest support was found for lagged paths from depressive symptoms to major events 1 year later. Findings generally suggest a high degree of eovariation in depressive symptoms and stress concunently and over time. One-year lagged predictive effects net of the associations between individuals' latent trajectories appear to be weak, constrained to specific time periods, and most consistent with a Stress exposure effect of hassles on depressive symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most previous studies of the depression-mortality association have not examined distinct depressive symptom clusters. This ex post facto study examined which aspects of depression may account for its association with mortality. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was administered to 3,867 community dwelling adults. Cox proportional hazards procedures estimated the risk of mortality as a function of depression status and each of 4 CES-D factor scores. Depressed participants (CES-D ⩾ 16) had a 1.23-fold higher risk of mortality (95% CI 1.03-1.49), adjusting for sociodemographics. Somatic Complaints (SC) was the only factor to predict mortality (HR 1.19, 95% CI 1.03-1.38). After excluding SC, CES-D scores no longer predicted mortality (HR .98, 95% CI .79-1.2 1). The association between CES-D depressive symptoms and mortality appears to be a function of the SC factor. The association between non-somatic depressive symptoms and mortality may not be as robust as past findings suggest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]