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Updated: Jun 21, 2025
07:57
A New Method for Inducing a Depression-Like Behavior in Rats
Published on: February 22, 2018
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Exploring the relationship between depression and delinquency: a sibling comparison design using the NLSY.
Emma E Sims1, Jonathan D Trattner2, S Mason Garrison1
1Department of Psychology, Wake Forest University, Winston Salem, NC, United States.
Frontiers in Psychology
|July 16, 2024
Summary
Adolescent depression and delinquency are linked, but not causally. This study found the association between major depression disorder and delinquent behavior is a product of selection, not a direct cause or consequence.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Developmental Psychology
- Criminology
Background:
- Adolescents with major depression disorder are incarcerated at higher rates than the general population.
- Research is mixed on whether depression causes, is a consequence of, or is selected for by delinquency.
- Aggression can worsen depressive symptoms, while depression is linked to antisocial behaviors like delinquency.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between depression and delinquent behavior in adolescents.
- To differentiate between causal, consequential, and selection-based associations.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the discordant kinship model with sibling pair data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth 1979.
- Modeled within- and between-family variance to control for genetic and shared environmental factors.
Main Results:
- The relationship between depression and delinquency was found to be non-causal.
- Results indicate the association is a product of selection.
Conclusions:
- The link between adolescent depression and delinquency is not a direct cause-and-effect relationship.
- Selection mechanisms likely explain the observed association between major depression disorder and delinquent behavior.
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