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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2021 Aug:91:1-14.
doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2021.07.001. Epub 2021 Jul 9.

Adolescent depressed mood and difficulties with emotion regulation: Concurrent trajectories of change

Annamarie B Defayette  1 , Emma D Whitmyre  2 , Roberto López Jr  2 , Bradley Brown  3 , Jennifer C Wolff  4 , Anthony Spirito  4 , Christianne Esposito-Smythers  2
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Adolescent depressed mood and difficulties with emotion regulation: Concurrent trajectories of change

Annamarie B Defayette et al. J Adolesc. 2021 Aug.

Abstract

Introduction: Adolescent depression is a significant mental health concern. Emotion regulation difficulties have been associated with subsequent depressive symptoms, though different facets of emotion regulation are rarely compared. This study examined the degree to which trajectories of change in different facets of emotion regulation (goal-directed behavior, impulse control, and regulation strategies) and depressive symptoms were associated across twelve months in a clinical adolescent sample.

Methods: Participants included 110 adolescents from the US who were enrolled in a randomized trial that tested a cognitive-behavioral treatment for youth with co-occurring mental health and substance use concerns (Mage = 15.71 years; 57.3% male). Assessments were conducted at baseline, 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-ups. Three separate bivariate latent basis growth curve analyses were conducted. Correlations between latent intercepts and latent slopes, as well as overall model fit, were examined.

Results: Impulse control and goal-directed behavior were each associated with depressive symptoms at baseline. Additionally, change in impulse control over time was significantly associated with change in depressive symptoms. However, the same was not true for goal-directed behavior. Overall fit indices for models of emotion regulation strategies were below acceptable levels and thus could not be interpreted.

Conclusions: Findings from the present study indicate that adolescents' depressive symptoms appear to improve as their perceived ability to control impulses improves. These results suggest that addressing impulse control difficulties may be an important step in treating adolescent depression and co-occurring disorders.

Keywords: Adolescence; Depression; Emotion regulation; Impulse control.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Bivariate latent basis growth curve model. This is a simplified depiction of the structural equation model used to estimate the latent basis growth curves of adolescent depressive symptoms (DP) and each facet of emotion regulation (ER). Covariates (age, sex, treatment group) on the latent intercepts and slopes are not depicted. The error structure is not shown.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Univariate latent basis growth curve model. This depicts the structural equation model used to estimate the latent basis growth curve of adolescent depressive symptoms (DP). This model was also used for univariate latent basis growth curves for each facet of emotion regulation. The error structure is not shown.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Trajectories of growth over time in adolescent depression and facets of emotion regulation. Modeled growth trajectories across twelve months for adolescent depressive symptoms, difficulties engaging in goal-directed behavior, impulse control difficulties, and limited access to emotion regulation strategies. Trajectories presented here are based on the nonlinear univariate latent growth curve models.
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