Adolescents’ beliefs about what symptoms constitute depression

Are more expansive definitions helpful or harmful

Bibliographic Data

ID21257614
AuthorsIsaac Ahuvia (0000-0003-4558-2123, Stony Brook University, corresponding author), Kathryn R Fox (0000-0002-2697-7771, University of Denver), Jessica L Schleider (0000-0003-2426-1953, Stony Brook University)
Year2023
Volume4
Pages100259
Publication date2023-12-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSSM - Mental Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2666-5603 • E-ISSN: 2666-5603
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.ssmmh.2023.100259
PMID38188868
OpenAlexW4386270558
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited29

What symptoms do people think constitute “depression”? In a mental health literacy framework, knowing more of depression's nine core symptoms (per formal psychiatric diagnostic criteria) is thought to help people identify and seek help for depression. However, the common-sense model of self-regulation suggests that more expansive beliefs about what symptoms constitute an illness may be maladaptive, whereby viewing more symptoms as characterizing a disorder predicts greater functional impairment. We collected data from N = 281 U.S. adolescents experiencing elevated depression symptoms, recruited via social media. Symptom beliefs were assessed descriptively and with a latent profile analysis to test associations with other variables. Adolescents’ beliefs about what symptoms constitute depression varied widely, and only 49% endorsed all DSM-5 depression symptoms as characterizing the disorder. Adolescents who identified more symptoms as belonging to depression had more severe depression symptoms (p = .004), reported more hopelessness (p = .021), and were more pessimistic about the permanence of depression (p = .007); they were also more likely to rate medication as potentially helpful (p = .001). These findings simultaneously support and challenge elements of both the common-sense model and the mental health literacy framework. Future research on mental health literacy may examine why adolescents with more psychiatrically-accurate understandings of depression experience worse clinical outcomes. Likewise, future research on the common sense model should explore whether more expansive depression symptom beliefs may be adaptive as well as maladaptive

Expansive · Mental health · Mental health literacy · Mental illness · Pessimism · Psychiatry · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Clinical Psychology · Mental Health Research Topics · Mental Health Treatment and Access · Psychology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access