ERIC Number: EJ944490
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Feb
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0890-8567
EISSN: N/A
Emerging Depression Is Associated with Face Memory Deficits in Adolescent Girls
Guyer, Amanda E.; Choate, Victoria R.; Grimm, Kevin J.; Pine, Daniel S.; Keenan, Kate
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, v50 n2 p180-190 Feb 2011
Objective: To examine the association between memory for previously encoded emotional faces and depression symptoms assessed over 4 years in adolescent girls. Investigating the interface between memory deficits and depression in adolescent girls may provide clues about depression pathophysiology. Method: Participants were 213 girls recruited from a longitudinal, community-based study; the majority were African American. Scores on depressive screening measures at age 8 were used to increase the base rate of depression. Depression symptoms and diagnoses were assessed annually for 4 years. In year 4, when the girls were 12 to 13 years old, a face emotion encoding task was administered during which ratings were generated in response to sad, fearful, angry, and happy faces. A surprise memory task followed whereby participants identified which of two faces, displaying neutral expressions, they had seen previously. Results: Girls with higher depression symptom levels from ages 9 to 12 years evidenced lower accuracy in identifying previously encoded emotional faces. Controlling for IQ, higher depression symptom level was associated with a memory deficit specific to previously encoded sad and happy faces. These effects were not moderated by race. Conclusions: Individual differences in face memory deficits relate to individual differences in emerging, early adolescent depression, and may be vulnerability markers for depression. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)
Descriptors: Females, Preadolescents, Early Adolescents, Memory, Depression (Psychology), Correlation, Emotional Response, Symptoms (Individual Disorders), African Americans, Longitudinal Studies, Age Differences, Visual Perception, Intelligence Quotient, Severity (of Disability), Racial Differences, At Risk Persons
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A