Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T22:31:22.915Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Emotion regulation and depressive symptoms during adolescence: A functionalist perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2009

Roger Kobak*
Affiliation:
University of Delaware
Rayanne Ferenz-Gillies
Affiliation:
University of Delaware
*
Roger Kobak, Department of Psychology, University of Delaware, Netwark, DE 19716.

Abstract

This paper uses a functionalist view of emotion to consider family factors that create risk for depressive symptoms in adolescents. Two adolescent siblings and their mothers were assessed for emotion regulation during autonomy-related communication tasks, whereas their mother's attachment- and intimacy-related functioning was assessed through interview and self-report. The results indicate that older teens' failure to establish autonomous stances during communication and their mothers' dissatisfaction with intimate relationships increase risk for teenagers reporting depressive symptoms. Further, mothers' preoccupation attachment-related issues was found to be associated with less autonomous communication from older teenagers. Implications of these findings and future directions for investigating the family factors associated with adolescent depression are discussed.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, J., & Hauser, S. (1992). Autonomy and relatedness in adolescent-family interactions as predictors of qualities of models of attachment in young adulthood. Unpublished manuscript, University Virginia, Department of Psychology.Google Scholar
Allen, J., Hauser, S. I., O'Connor, T. G., Bell, K. L., & Eickholt, C. (1990). The autonomy relatedness coding system: A scoring manual. Unpublished manuscript, University of Virginia, Charlottesville.Google Scholar
Angold, A., & Rutter, M. (1992). Effects of age and pubertal status on depression in a large clinical sample. Development and Psychopathology, 4, 528.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1988). The secure base. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Campos, J. (1994, Spring). The new functionalism in emotion. SRCD Newsletter.Google Scholar
Crowell, J., & Feldman, S. (1988). Mothers' internal models of relationships and children's behavioral and developmental status: A study of mother-child interactions. Child Development, 59, 12731285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crowell, J., & Feldman, S. (1991). Mothers' working models of attachment relationships and mother and child behavior during separation and reunion. Developmental Psychology, 27, 597605.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
George, C., Kaplan, N., & Main, M. (1985). The attachment interview for adults. Unpublished manuscript, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Psychology.Google Scholar
Harter, S. (1988). Manual for the Self-Perception Profile for Adults. University of Denver, Department of Psychology.Google Scholar
Harter, S., Marold, D., & Nowakowski, M. (1987). Manual for the dimensions of depression profile for children and adolescents. University of Denver, Department of Psychology.Google Scholar
Kobak, R., Cole, H., Ferenz-Gillies, R., & Fleming, W. (1993). Attachment and emotion regulation during mother-teen problem-solving: A control theory analysis. Child Development, 64, 231245.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kobak, R., & Cole, C. (1994). Attachment and metamonitoring: Implications for adolescent autonomy and psychopathology. In Cicchetti, D. (Ed.), Rochester symposium on development and psychopathology Vol. 5: Disorders of the self (pp. 267297). Rochester, NY: Rochester University Press.Google Scholar
Kobak, R., Ferenz-Gillies, R., & Everhart, E., Seabrook, L. (1994). Maternal attachment strategies and emotion regulation with adolescent offspring. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 4, 553566.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kobak, R., & Duemmler, S. (1994). Attachment and conversation: Toward a discourse analysis of adolescent and adult security. In Perlman, D. & Bartholomew, K. (Eds.), Attachment processes in adulthood: Advances in the study of personal relationships (Vol. 5, pp. 121149). London: Jessica Kingsley.Google Scholar
Kobak, R., Ruckdeschel, K., & Hazan, C. (1994). From symptom to signal: An attachment view of emotion in marital therapy. In Johnson, S. & Greenberg, L. (Eds.), Emotions in marital therapy. New York: Brunner/Mazel.Google Scholar
Main, M., & Goldwyn, R. (in press). Adult attachment classification system. Unpublished manuscript, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Psychology.Google Scholar
Noller, P., & Callahan, C. (1991). The adolescent in the family. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Renouf, A. G., & Harter, S. (1990). Low self-worth and anger as components of the depressive experience in young adolescents. Development and Psychopathology, 2, 293310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russell, D., Peplau, L., & Cutrona, C., (1980). The revised UCLA Loneliness Scale: Concurrent and discriminant validity evidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 472480.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smetana, J. (1988). Concepts of self and social convention: Adolescents' and parents' reasoning about hypothetical and actual family conflicts. In Gunnar, M. & Collins, W. A. (Eds.), Minnesota symposium on child psychology (Vol. 21, pp. 79122). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Steinberg, L. (1990). Autonomy, conflict and harmony in the family relationship. In Feldman, S. S. & Elliott, G. (Eds.), At the threshold: The developing adolescent (pp. 255276). Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Stierlin, H. (1972). Separating parents and adolescents. New York: Aronson.Google Scholar
VanIJzendoorn, M., Kranenburg, M., Zwart-Woudstra, A., Busschbach, A., & Lambermon, W. (1991). Parental attachment and children's socioemotional development: Some findings on the validity of the adult attachment interview in the Netherlands. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 14, 375394.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
VanIJzendoorn, M. H. (1992). Intergenerational transmission of parenting: A review of studies in nonclinical populations. Developmental Review, 12, 7699.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Youniss, J., & Smollar, J. (1985). Adolescents relations with mothers, fathers, and friends. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Zahn-Waxler, C., Cole, P. M., & Barrett, K. C. (1991). Guilt and empathy: Sex differences and implications for the development of depression. In Garber, J. & Dodge, K. A. (Ed.), The development of emotion regulation and dysregulation (pp. 243272). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar