Authors: Richard Rowe Barbara Maughan Thalia C Eley
Publish Date: 2006/05/23
Volume: 34, Issue: 3, Pages: 283-292
Abstract
Comorbidity between antisocial behavior and depression in adolescence is widely recognized This paper examines whether links with depressed mood differ among three subtypes of antisocial behavior oppositionality physical aggression and delinquency In addition we examine two possible contributors to these links negative life events that are dependent upon the individuals actions and depressogenic attributional style Data are drawn from the G1219 largescale community twin and sibling sample and include 2409 questionnaire responses from youths aged between 13 and 19 living in the United Kingdom Depressed mood was independently associated with both oppositionality and delinquency but not with physical aggression Dependent negative life events were strongly implicated in the association between delinquency and depressed mood whereas depressogenic attributional style was implicated in the associations of both oppositionality and delinquency with depressed mood Oppositionality remained a significant predictor of depressed mood after accounting for attributional style and life events whereas delinquency did not The pattern of associations was largely similar in boys and girls We discuss these results in terms of developmental models of the links between antisocial behavior and depressed moodThe G1219 study was supported by the W T Grant Foundation and a Medical Research Council Training Fellowship to TCE RR and BM were supported by MRC program grant G9901475 We would like to thank the families for their participation and Alessandra Iervolino Maria Napolitano Robert Plomin Pak Sham Abram Sterne and Richard Williamson for input to various stages of the project
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