Dysphoric interpersonal schemata and preadolescents' sensitization to negative events

• Published in: Journal of clinical child psychology Vol. 27; no. 1; pp. 54 - 68
• Main Authors: Shirk, Stephen R., Boergers, Julie, Eason, Anne, Horn, Melissa Van
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc 01.03.1998
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; Adolescent; Adolescent Psychiatry; Child; Child Psychiatry; Children; Depression; Depressive Disorder - etiology; Female; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Interpersonal relationships; Male; Prospective Studies; Self Concept; Social Adjustment; Social Perception; Strategies; Stress, Psychological
• ISSN: 0047-228X; 1532-7639
• DOI: 10.1207/s15374424jccp2701_7

Addresses the hypothesis that interpersonal schemata sensitize dysphoric youngsters to negative social information and contribute to the application of depressive symptoms. Sensitization was conceptualized as involving multiple components, including heightened anticipation, selective focus, and rapid information processing. Four studies with separate samples of preadolescents and early adolescents were conducted. Results from 3 laboratory-based studies indicated that depressed and dysphoric youngsters evince relatively negative interpersonal schemata, and that these schemata are related to the 3 components of sensitization. A short-term-prospective study examined the hypothesis that dysphoric interpersonal schemata moderate the emotional impact of a normative social stressor, the transition to high school. Results indicated that youngsters who entered the transition with relatively negative schema experienced the transition as more stressful than youngsters with relatively positive schema, and that negative interpersonal schema amplified the effects of stress on depressive symptoms.