COGNITIVE, BEHAVIORAL, AND FAMILY FACTORS IN THE DIFFERENTIATION OF DEPRESSIVE AND ANXIETY DISORDERS DURING CHILDHOOD

Contribution of cognitive, behavioral, and family environment variable s to the differentiation of depressive and anxiety disorders in childr en was explored. Fifty-nine children from Grades 4-7 (14 diagnosed wit h a depressive disorder, 16 diagnosed with depressive and anxiety diso rders, 11 diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, and 18 nondisturbed cont rols) completed measures of the depressive cognitive triad, depressive cognitions, social skills, family environment, and maladaptive family messages. Results of a stepwise discriminant function analysis indica ted that 2 discriminant functions composed of 7 variables from the cog nitive, behavioral, and family environment domains accounted for 91% o f the between-groups variance. Results suggest that depressive disorde rs can be distinguished from anxiety disorders on the basis of ratings of cognition, social skills, and family environment. Implications for existing research and a model of depression during childhood are disc ussed.