Rejection Sensitivity as a Moderator of the Link between Adolescent Close Relationships and Depressive Symptoms over Time Joanna M. Chango Joseph P. Allen

Rejection Sensitivity as a Moderator of the Link between Adolescent

Close Relationships and Depressive Symptoms over Time

Joanna M. ChangoJoseph P. AllenMegan SchadEmily Marston

University of Virginia

Copies of this and related papers are available at:WWW.TEENRESEARCH.ORG

Background• Depression during adolescence

– Increase in incidence (Lewinsohn et al., 1998)

– Increase in prevalence (Lewinsohn et al., 1993)

Background• Problematic interpersonal relationships

• Adolescent depression associated with:– Poor family relationship quality (e.g., Eberhart & Hammen, 2006)

– Problems establishing autonomy with parents (e.g., Allen et al., 1994)

– Lack of connection with peers (e.g., Allen et al., 2006)

– Broad markers of peer difficulties (e.g., Galambos et al., 2004; Prinstein & Aikins, 2004)

Background• Rejection Sensitivity: anxiously expect, readily

perceive, and intensely react to rejection by significant others (Ayduk et al., 2003; Downey et al., 2003)

• Associated with:– Social anxiety, withdrawal (London et al., 2007)

– Maladaptive interpersonal behaviors (Downey et al., 1998)

– Depressive symptoms (Ayduk et al., 2001; Harper et al., 2006)

• Is rejection sensitivity consistently related to depression?

Background• Diathesis Stress Model of Depression (e.g., Zuckerman,

1999)

– Sensitivity to stressful life events depend on genetic or biological makeup

– Neither the predisposition nor the environmental stressor alone is sufficient to cause depression

– Supported by behavioral genetics research (e.g., Kendler et al., 1995)

Diathesis:Rejection Sensitivity X

Depressive Symptoms

Stress:Problematic

Relationships

Background

Research Questions• 1) How does rejection sensitivity relate to

depressive symptoms over time?

• 2) How does rejection sensitivity operate in the context of maternal autonomy and relatedness struggles to predict depression?

• 3) How does rejection sensitivity operate in the context of seeking support from close friends to predict depression?

Sample• 184 Adolescents, their Parents, and Best Friends

• Intensive Interviews and Observations with all parties

• Assessed Annually, utilizing Ages 16-18

• Equal numbers of Males and Females

• Socio-economically Diverse (Median Family Income= $40- $60K)

• Racially Diverse (31% African American; 69% European American)

• Very low Attrition





Measures• Rejection Sensitivity

– Self-reported on revised version of the Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire (Downey et al., 1998).

– Assessed once, age 16

• Depressive Symptoms– Self-reported on the Childhood Depression

Inventory and the Beck Depression Inventory (Beck & Steer, 1987; Kovacs & Beck, 1977).

– Assessed annually ages 16-18

Stability of Depressive Symptoms

Age 16 Age 17 Age 18

Depressive Symptoms

Depressive Symptoms

Depressive Symptoms

β = .58*** β = .51***

Gender

Income

Depressive symptoms show moderate stability over 3 year period

Cross-sectional Association between Rejection Sensitivity and Depression

RejectionSensitivity

DepressiveSymptoms

β = .35***

Age 16 Age 16

Gender

Income

Rejection sensitivity cross-sectionally predicts depressive symptoms at 16

Predicting depressive symptoms from rejection sensitivity

Age 16 Age 17

Gender

Income

Depressive Symptoms

Depressive Symptoms


β = .51***

β = .22**

Rejection sensitivity predicts increases in depressive symptoms at 17

Predicting depressive symptoms from rejection sensitivity

Age 16 Age 18

Gender

Income

Depressive Symptoms

Depressive Symptoms


β = .22**

NS

But, by age 18, rejection sensitivity no longer predicts depressive symptoms





Measures• A key social-developmental task:

– Establish autonomy while learning to maintain connection in close relationships

• Maternal undermining of teen’s autonomy and relatedness

– Assessed during observed disagreement task between adolescent and mother at 16 (Allen et al., 2000)

• Behaviors undermining autonomy: – avoiding conflict/recanting position– blurring the boundary between person and position– pressuring

• Behaviors undermining relatedness: – distracting/ignoring– hostility towards teen

Interaction of Rejection Sensitivity and Maternal Undermining of Autonomy & Relatedness Predicting Future

Depression Adolescent DepressionAdolescent Depression

(Age 18)(Age 18)

EntryEntry

FinalFinal RR22

Total Total RR22

Step II.Step II. Baseline Depression (16)Baseline Depression (16) .27***.27*** .23**.23** .07***.07*** .09*.09*

Step III. Step III.

Rejection Sensitivity (16)Rejection Sensitivity (16) .17.17 .17.17 .02.02 .11*.11*Step IV. Step IV.

Maternal Undermining A/RMaternal Undermining A/R

(Teen age 16)(Teen age 16)

.23*.23* .13.13 .05*.05* .16**.16**

Step V. Step V.

Rejection Sensitivity XRejection Sensitivity X

Maternal Undermining A/RMaternal Undermining A/R

.30***.30*** .30***.30*** .09***.09*** .25***.25***

Interaction of Rejection Sensitivity and Maternal Undermining of Autonomy & Relatedness

Predicting Future Depression

Interaction of Rejection Sensitivity and Maternal Undermining of Autonomy & Relatedness

Predicting Future Depression

Highly rejection sensitive teens appear particularly vulnerable to negative maternal

conflict behaviorβ = .35***

Summary (so far)• Rejection sensitivity is not a direct predictor of

depressive symptoms at age 18

• Rejection sensitivity may be a risk factor for depression only in the context of stressful parental relationships

• What about friendships?





Measures• Best friend positive support

– Assessed during observed Supportive Behavior Interaction Task (Allen et al., 2004)

– Coded for friends’ level of engagement with teen and level of understanding of teen’s problem• Engagement:

– Listening closely– non-verbal signs of engagement– following up on what teen is saying

• Understanding: – Explicitly making clear he/she has interpreted problem

correctly– Non-verbal signs of understanding

Interaction of Rejection Sensitivity and Best Friend Positive Support Predicting Future Depression

Adolescent DepressionAdolescent Depression

(Age 18)(Age 18)

EntryEntry

FinalFinal RR22

Total Total RR22

Step II.Step II. Baseline Depression (16)Baseline Depression (16) .27***.27*** .23**.23** .07***.07*** .09*.09*

Step III. Step III.

Rejection Sensitivity (16)Rejection Sensitivity (16) .17.17 .17.17 .02.02 .11*.11*Step IV. Step IV.

Best Friend Positive SupportBest Friend Positive Support

(Teen Age 16)(Teen Age 16)

-.16-.16 .13.13 .03.03 .14**.14**

Step V. Step V.

Rejection Sensitivity XRejection Sensitivity X

Best Friend Positive SupportBest Friend Positive Support

-.24**-.24** -.24**-.24** .05**.05** .19**.19**



Highly rejection sensitive teens

appear particularly vulnerable to friends’ supportive behavior

β = -.42***

Limitations• Non-experimental data

• Sample not high in psychopathology

• Important to follow teens into adulthood

Conclusions• Rejection sensitivity as a risk for

depressive symptoms in adolescence?

– Probably not on its own

– Probably so in the face of problematic interpersonal relationships such as:• Maternal autonomy and connection struggles

with teens• Poor support giving behavior from best friends

Conclusions• Is rejection sensitivity similar to the 5-

HTTLPR gene?

– Caspi et al. (2003)’s influential finding robustly supports diathesis stress model

• Overall, rejection sensitivity may not inevitably lead to depression for all adolescents because it really only matters in the context of stressful relationships

Ackowledgments• Thanks to all of my lab collaborators:

Joseph P. Allen Kathleen McElhaney Nell Manning Emily MarstonErin Miga Dave SzwedoAmanda Hare Megan SchadJennifer Heliste Amanda LeTardKaty Higgins

• I would also like to thank the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development for funding awarded to Joseph P. Allen, PI (Grant # 9R01HD058305-A11) to conduct and write-up this project.

Copies of this and related papers are available at:WWW.TEENRESEARCH.ORG

Documents

Rejection Sensitivity as a Moderator of the Link between Adolescent Close Relationships and Depressive Symptoms over Time Joanna M. Chango Joseph P. Allen