The prevalence of transitional object use in adolescence: is there a connection between the existence of a transitional object and depressive symptoms?

• Published in: European child & adolescent psychiatry 2009-07, Vol.18 (7), p.400-406
• Main Authors: Erkolahti, Ritva, Nyström, Marjaana
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescent girls; Adolescents; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Attachment; Biological and medical sciences; Borderline personality disorder; Breastfeeding & lactation; Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; Child development; Children & youth; Depression; Depression - diagnosis; Depression - epidemiology; Depression - psychology; Female; Gender; Gender differences; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental depression; Mood disorders; Object Attachment; Original Contribution; Play and Playthings - psychology; Prevalence; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Sadness; Sex Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teenagers; Transitional objects
• ISSN: 1018-8827; 1435-165X
• DOI: 10.1007/s00787-009-0747-7

Objective The purpose of the study was to investigate the prevalence of the use of a transitional object (TO) in adolescence and its connection with depressive symptoms and mental distress in youth by gender. Method The study group consisted of 1,054 adolescents (465 boys, 589 girls) from normal comprehensive schools in Turku, a Finnish town with approximately 175,000 inhabitants. The mean age of both gender groups was 14.5 years (SD 0.5); respondents came from all social classes. Background and TO information was collected with questionnaires. Depressive symptoms and mental distress were explored by the children’s depression inventory (CDI) and its subscales: low self-confidence, anhedonia and sadness. Results Of all respondents, 29% ( n  = 285) had a TO: 37% of girls and 18% of boys. The difference between genders was statistically significant. There was also a statistically significant gender difference in the character of the TO reported: 72 % of girls with a TO had a soft toy, whereas 49% of boys with a TO used hard objects, such as pens, hard toys or books. TO-users showed more depressive symptoms than non-users, but the difference was not statistically significant ( P  = 0.053). Significant differences were found in the CDI subscales: TO-users had more sadness than non-users and girls using a TO showed more sadness than non-using girls. TO-using boys did not differ from non-using boys with regard to sadness or the other CDI-subscales. Conclusions The use of a TO seems to be common in adolescence. Adolescents with more depressive symptoms more often used a TO. The sadness of girls using TOs requires attention.