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. 2024 Mar;2(1):55-65.
doi: 10.1016/j.jaacop.2023.10.001. Epub 2023 Oct 25.

Sex-Specific Depressive Symptom Trajectories Among Adolescents in Los Angeles County, 2013 to 2017

Catherine Gimbrone  1 , Samuel E Packard  1 , Megan C Finsaas  1 , Nadav L Sprague  1 , Ahuva Jacobowitz  1 , Adam M Leventhal  1 , Andrew G Rundle  1 , Katherine M Keyes  1
Affiliations

Sex-Specific Depressive Symptom Trajectories Among Adolescents in Los Angeles County, 2013 to 2017

Catherine Gimbrone et al. JAACAP Open. 2024 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: After remaining stable for many years, the prevalence of depression among adolescents increased over the past decade, particularly among girls. In this study, we used longitudinal data from a cohort of high school students to characterize sex-specific trajectories of depressive symptoms during this period of increasing prevalence and widening gender gap in adolescent depression.

Method: Using data from the Health and Happiness Cohort, a longitudinal 8-wave study of high school students residing in Los Angeles County from 2013 to 2017 (N = 3,393), we conducted a multiple-group, latent class growth analysis by sex to differentiate developmental trajectories in depressive symptoms scores measured by the Center for Epidemiological Studies- Depression (CES-D) scale (range, 0-60).

Results: A 4-class solution provided the best model fit for both girls and boys. Trajectories among girls included low stable (35.1%), mild stable (42.8%), moderate decreasing (16.2%), and high arching (5.9%). Trajectories among boys included low stable (49.2%), mild increasing (34.7%), moderate decreasing (12.2%), and high increasing (3.9%). Average scores consistently exceeded or crossed the threshold for probable depression (≥16). Across comparable sex-specific trajectory groups, the average CES-D scores of girls were higher than those of boys, whose average scores increased over time.

Conclusion: In a diverse cohort of students in Los Angeles County, depressive symptom trajectories were comparable to prior time periods but with a higher proportion of students in trajectories characterized by probable depression. Trajectories differed by sex, suggesting that future research should consider differential severity and onset of depression between boys and girls.

Keywords: adolescent development; adolescent mental health; depression; depressive symptoms; symptom trajectories.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: Drs. Finsaas, Leventhal, Rundle, and Keyes, Ms. Gimbrone, and Messrs. Packard, Sprague, and Jacobowitz have reported no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Observed and Predicted Mean Center for Epidemiological Studies–Depression (CES-D) Scale Sum Scores by Latent Class Among Adolescents Residing in Los Angeles County From 2013 to 2017
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