The Prospective Associations between Self-Efficacy and Depressive Symptoms from Early to Middle Adolescence: A Cross-Lagged Model

Over the course of adolescence, an increasing number of adolescents experience depression. In order to effectively target depression, identifying risk factors for depressive symptoms is pivotal. Since low levels of self-efficacy were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms in previous s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of youth and adolescence 2017-04, Vol.46 (4), p.744-756
Main Authors: Tak, Yuli R., Brunwasser, Steven M., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, Anna, Engels, Rutger C. M. E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic Achievement
Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior - psychology
Adolescents
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Behavioral Sciences
Beliefs
Child and School Psychology
Child development
Child psychology
Clinical Psychology
Depression - psychology
Depressive Disorder - psychology
Developmental Psychology
Developmental Tasks
Emotional regulation
Emotions
Empirical Research
Empowerment
Epistemology
Female
Females
Health Psychology
Health Status
History of Psychology
Humans
Individual Characteristics
Law and Psychology
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Mental depression
Occupational Aspiration
Parents
Peers
Prospective Studies
Psychology
Psychopathology
Resistance (Psychology)
Risk Factors
Self Concept
Self Efficacy
Sex differences
Social Problems
Social research
Stress
Symptoms
Teenagers
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Summary:Over the course of adolescence, an increasing number of adolescents experience depression. In order to effectively target depression, identifying risk factors for depressive symptoms is pivotal. Since low levels of self-efficacy were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms in previous studies, the current study investigated the bidirectional and prospective associations between depressive symptoms and academic, social and emotional self-efficacy from early to mid adolescence in a cross-lagged path model. The sample consisted of 1,341 adolescents (47 % girls) with a mean age of 14 years, SD = 0.56. Depressive symptoms and self-efficacy levels were assessed every 6 months over a period of 2.5 years. Depressive symptoms predicted subsequent levels of academic and emotional self-efficacy on all time points, and social self-efficacy on one time point. Self-efficacy did not predict subsequent levels of depressive symptoms. There was no evidence of sex differences in the cross-lagged associations between depressive symptoms and self-efficacy levels. Implications of the findings are discussed.
ISSN:0047-2891
1573-6601
DOI:10.1007/s10964-016-0614-z