CONSEQUENCES OF DEPRESSION DURING ADOLESCENCE - MARITAL-STATUS AND MARITAL FUNCTIONING IN EARLY ADULTHOOD

In previous studies, depression has been associated with both marital status and marital distress. Unfortunately, given the cross-sectional design of most of this research, the temporal nature of these associat ions is unclear. The authors examined the marital functioning of young adults as a function of whether they received psychiatric diagnoses o f major depressive disorder or nonaffective psychiatric disorder durin g adolescence. Depression during adolescence was found to predict high er rates of marriage among younger women and subsequent marital dissat isfaction. This pattern of results appears to be specific to depressio n: The presence during adolescence of a nonaffective psychiatric disor der was unrelated to subsequent marital functioning. These findings hi ghlight the potentially adverse consequences of depression in adolesce nce and underscore the importance of prevention and early treatment ef forts.