Latent class profiles of depressive symptoms from early to middle childhood: predictors, outcomes, and gender effects

Abstract

Background There has been little available data to inform the predictors and outcomes of latent class trajectories of depressive symptoms beginning during preschool and continuing throughout school age. Further, the extant literature in this domain has been limited by the use of parent report checklists of non-specific ‘internalizing’ psychopathology rather than diagnostic interviews for depression. Methods To address these gaps in the literature, the current study applied growth mixture modeling to depressive symptom severity endorsed by children and/or their caregivers (N = 348) during a structured clinical interview, in a ten-year longitudinal dataset spanning from preschool into late school age. Results Three distinct trajectories of depressive symptom severity were found in boys and girls. For boys, but not girls, the high depression severity latent class increased in depressive symptoms from preschool through school age, followed by a decline in depressive symptom severity during later school age. For girls, the high depression severity latent class remained stable across time. Early childhood social adversity, familial history of affective disorder, preschool-onset ODD/CD, and school age functional impairment differentiated high-risk trajectory classes among both boys and girls. Conclusions Extending the literature on trajectories of depressive symptoms to the preschool period, these findings incorporate structured clinical interviews of depressive symptom severity and indicate gender differences as well as psychosocial predictors and functional outcomes among children in high severity latent classes. The findings from this study suggest that increased attention to screening for depressive symptoms in early childhood is of significant public health importance.

Using a “child's‐eye view” of social success to understand the importance of school readiness at the transition to formal schooling

“…Such a framework would allow, for example, an exploration of whether the identified negative association between school readiness and social preference in boys persists beyond Reception age. As noted by previous research, longitudinal investigations reveal more behavioural problems and poorer academic attainment in boys compared to girls during early childhood (Dekker et al, ; Maguire et al, ; Moffitt, ; Thomson et al, ; Whalen et al, ). Thus, it appears that boys are more vulnerable in the school context and had the current study included multiple time‐points, it may have been possible to establish whether lower school readiness inhibits social preference in boys only initially, or whether the effect is more pervasive.…”

Depression and Anxiety in Preschoolers

“…Specifically, boys in the high severity class evidenced an increase in symptoms from preschool through early school-age followed by a decline in later school age, whereas girls in the high severity latent class remained stable and high in depressive symptoms across time. Early childhood social adversity, familial history of affective disorder, preschool-onset ODD/CD, and school age functional impairment differentiated high-risk trajectory classes among both boys and girls 45 .…”

“…However, evidence also suggests that preschool depression predicts anxiety disorders and ADHD in later childhood as well 41,44 . Using structured clinical interviews across time, one study found gender differences in depressive symptom severity from preschool through early adolescence 45 . Specifically, boys in the high severity class evidenced an increase in symptoms from preschool through early school-age followed by a decline in later school age, whereas girls in the high severity latent class remained stable and high in depressive symptoms across time.…”

Latent Class Profiles of Anxiety Symptom Trajectories From Preschool Through School Age

“…Caregiver report of being unable to meet the family’s financial needs. A previous confirmatory factor analysis supported a single factor model with acceptable model fit (Whalen et al, 2016). Cronbach’s alpha in the current study was .36.…”