Predictors of depression in female adolescents

Depression during adolescence has been associated with a number of factors, including failure to individuate (Blos, 1968), insecure attachments (Armsd en, McCauley, Greenberg, Burke, & Mitchell, 1990), negative parental repres entations, and object relations that lack self-other differentiation (Blatt , Wein, Chevron, & Quinlan, 1979). The present study examined factors assoc iated with symptoms of depression in 59 nonclinical female adolescents. Spe cifically, the relationship between a number of theoretically related measu res - separation-individuation, interpersonal concerns, self-critical conce rns, attachment style, parental representations -and symptoms of depression was investigated. The model developed was able to explain the interrelatio nships of the variables involved in the psychological process of adolescenc e, and their demonstrated ability to predict symptoms of depression in norm al female adolescents.