Relations among symptoms of depression over time in at-risk youth

Depression consists of symptoms that may relate to each other in ways that go beyond simple co-occurrence. For example, some symptoms may precede and possibly contribute to the emergence of others. The present study examined several potential relations among the symptoms of depression. The overarching goals were to better understand how depression may unfold and to identify potential targets for intervention. The sample included 120 offspring of depressed parents. Youths' symptoms of depression were rated across 89 weeks. First, we investigated which symptoms preceded and potentially contributed to other symptoms 1 week later. This model revealed that sleep disturbance predicted the occurrence of other symptoms (e.g., sad mood, fatigue), and the occurrence of sad mood was predicted by other symptoms (e.g., worthlessness/guilt, psychomotor symptoms, sleep disturbance). Second, we investigated the within-person question of which symptoms tended to co-occur at the same time point. This model identified sad mood, irritability, and anhedonia as symptoms that tended to co-occur with each other and with many other depressive symptoms. Third, we investigated the between-person question of which symptoms tended to co-occur when averaged across time. This model identified worthlessness/guilt, fatigue, and anhedonia as symptoms strongly associated with other depressive symptoms across people irrespective of timing. Results indicate that the relations among the symptoms of depression vary, such that some symptoms preceded others by 1 week, some symptoms occurred at the same time, and other symptoms co-occurred in individuals. This more detailed view of the connections among depressive symptoms informs our understanding of depression as a dynamic set of unique indicators. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).