Some Depressed Adolescents at Greater Risk for Anxiety

Some adolescents who suffer the potentially debilitating symptoms of depression could also be at an increased risk for anxiety, according to a new study.

Researchers from Southern Methodist University, Dallas found that this risk tends to be most severe when looking at three main risk factors, including those who have a pessimistic outlook toward events and circumstances in their lives; those who have mothers with a history of an anxiety disorder; or those who report that the quality of their family relationships is poor.

"Depression or anxiety can be debilitating in itself," said psychologist Chrystyna D. Kouros, an assistant professor in the SMU Department of Psychology, via a press release. "Combined, however, they are an even bigger threat to a child's well-being. That's particularly the case during adolescence, when pre-teens and teens are concerned about fitting in with their peers. Anxiety can manifest as social phobia, in which kids are afraid to interact with friends and teachers, or in school refusal, in which children try to avoid going to school."

The study looked at 240 children from metropolitan schools and their mothers over a six year period. The children were then followed up during the developmental period from sixth to 12^th grade. The study was divided evenly between boys and girls.

The study showed that "symptoms of anxiety were a robust predictor of subsequent elevations in depressive symptoms over time in adolescents." 

"The current study showed that depressive symptoms were followed by elevations in anxious symptoms for a subset of youth who had mothers with a history of anxiety, reported low family relationship quality, or had a more negative attributional style," the authors reported, via a press release.

However, they suggest that further information and research will need to be conducted in order to determine direct links.

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More information regarding the study can be found in Development and Psychopathology.