Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T16:31:45.929Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Friendships and Recent Life Events of Anxious and Depressed School-Age Children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Ian Goodyer ,
Caroline Wright  and
Patricia Altham
Ian Goodyer*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2QQ
Caroline Wright
Affiliation:
Booth Hall Children's Hospital, Charlestown Road, Blackley, Manchester
Patricia Altham
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge, Mill Lane, Cambridge
*
∗Correspondence
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The number of moderate to severe undesirable life events and the quality of friendships were compared between a consecutive series of 100 childen aged 7–16 years with emotional disorders and a series of community controls matched for age, sex, and social class. Undesirable events and friendship difficulties exerted independent direct effects of similar magnitude on the probability of developing emotional disorders; 33% of disturbed children experienced both adversities compared with 6% of controls. An additive interaction was found for the two factors. The results were uninfluenced by the sex or pubertal status of the subjects. There appears to be no greater probability of being anxious rather than depressed in the presence of life events, alone or in combinations with friendship difficulties. Recent undesirable life events and friendship difficulties arise through independent social pathways and may exert their effects through different psychological mechanisms.

Type
Lecture
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 156 , Issue 5 , May 1990 , pp. 689 - 698
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1990 

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

Berndt, T. (ed.) (1983) Social cognition, social behaviour and children's friendships. In Social Cognition and Social Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Berndt, T. (1984) Sociometric, social-cognitive and behavioural measures for the study of friendship and popularity. In Friendships in Normal and Handicapped Children (eds Field, T., Roopnarine, J. & Segal, M.). Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex Publishing.Google Scholar
Brown, G. W. (1986) Statistical interaction and the role of social factors in the aetiology of clinical depression. Sociology, 4, 601–606.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, G. W. & Harris, T. (1978) The Social Origins of Depression. London: Tavistock Press.Google Scholar
Brown, G. W. & Harris, T. (1986) Stressor, vulnerability and depression: a question of replication. Psychological Medicine, 16, 739–744.Google Scholar
Field, T., Roopnarine, J. & Segal, M. (1984) Friendships in Normal and Handicapped Children. Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex Publishing.Google Scholar
Fleiss, J. L., Williams, J. B. & Dubro, A. (1986) The logistic regression analysis of psychiatric data. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 20, 145–209.Google Scholar
Goodyer, I. M., Kolvin, I. & Gatzanis, S. (1985) Recent undesirable life events and psychiatric disorders of childhood and adolescence. British Journal of Psychiatry, 47, 517–523.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodyer, I. M., Kolvin, I. & Gatzanis, S. (1987) The impact of recent undesirable life events in psychiatric disorders of childhood and adolescence. British Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 179–184.Google Scholar
Goodyer, I. M., Wright, C. & Altham, P. M. E. (1988) Maternal adversity and recent stressful life events in anxious and depressed children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 29, 651–667.Google Scholar
Goodyer, I. M., Wright, C. & Altham, P. M. E. (1989) Recent friendships in anxious and depressed children and adolescents. Psychological Medicine, 19, 165–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gutterman, E. M., O'Brien, J. & Young, J. G. (1987) Structured diagnostic interviews for children and adolescents: current status and future directions. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 5, 621–630.Google Scholar
Hartup, W. (1983) Peer relations. In Handbook of Child Psychology, vol. IV, Socialisation, Personality and Social Development (ed. Mussen, P.). New York: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Harter, S. (1983) Developmental perspectives on the self system. In Handbook of Child Psychology, vol. IV, Socialisation, Personality and Social Development (ed. Mussen, P.). New York: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Hetherington, M., Cox, M. & Cox, R. (1985) Long-term effects of divorce and re-marriage on the adjustment of children. Journal of the American Academy of Psychology, 25, 518–530.Google Scholar
Higgins, E. T., Ruble, D. N. & Hartup, W. W. (1983) Social Cognition and Social Development – A Sociocultural Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Marshall, W. A. & Tanner, J. M. (1969) Variations in the pattern of pubertal changes in boys. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 44, 291–303.Google Scholar
Marshall, W. A. & Tanner, J. M. (1970) Variations in the pattern of pubertal changes in girls. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 44, 13–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Masten, A. S., Garmezy, N., Tellegen, A., et al (1988) Competence and stress in school children: the moderating effects of individual and family qualities. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 6, 745–764.Google Scholar
Paykel, E. S. (1983) Methodological aspects of life events research. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 29, 341–352.Google Scholar
Parry, G. & Shapiro, D. A. (1986) Social support and life events in working class women. Archives of General Psychiatry, 43, 315–323.Google Scholar
Rubinstein, J. (ed.) (1984) Friendship development in normal children: a commentary. In Normal and Handicapped Children. Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex Publishing.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (1981) Stress, coping and development: some issues and some questions. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 22, 323–356.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (1985) Family and school influences, meanings, mechanisms and implications. In Longitudinal Studies in Child Psychology and Psychiatry (ed. Nicol, A. R.). Chichester: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (1986) The developmental psychopathology of depression - issues and perspectives. In Depression in Young People – Clinical and Developmental Perspectives (eds Rutter, M., Izard, C. & Read, P.). London: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (1987) Resilience in the face of adversity: protective factors and resistance to psychiatric disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 598–611.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (1990) Psychiatric disorder in parents as a risk factor for children. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (in press).Google Scholar
Tanner, J. M. (1962) Growth at Adolescence (2nd edn). Oxford: Blackwell Publications.Google Scholar
Van Eerdewegh, M., Bieri, M., Parilla, R., et al (1982) The bereaved child. British Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 23–29.Google Scholar
Wilson, R. & Cairns, E. (1988) Sex role attributes, perceived competence, and the development of depression in adolescence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 29, 635–651.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.