INTERPERSONAL FUNCTIONING AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS IN CHILDHOOD - ADDRESSING THE ISSUES OF SPECIFICITY AND COMORBIDITY

Research has supported linkages between depression and social impairme nt in youngsters, but has often focused on depressive symptoms in isol ation. We collected data on depressive, anxiety, and externalizing sym ptoms in 161 school children. Information about interpersonal competen ce was gathered from several sources, including children, teachers, an d behavioral observations. Depressive symptoms were found to be relate d to difficulties in multiple areas of competence, including maladapti ve social problem-solving styles, conflict-negotiation and affect-regu lation deficits, and peer rejection. Comparisons of the relative contr ibutions made by depressive and anxiety symptoms to the prediction of functioning yielded some evidence for a specific relation between depr essive symptoms and impairment. Children with cooccurring internalizin g and externalizing symptoms generally suffered from the most social d ysfunction. If replicated in clinical samples, findings such as these may help to guide intervention efforts with depressed children.