Social Functioning Variables Research Articles

Predicting the One-Year Course of Adolescent Major Depression

To identify specific clinical and social functioning variables that predict persistence of major depression over a 1-year period of follow-up. The sample consisted of 67 adolescents with major depression, drawn from consecutive referrals to psychiatric clinics in a defined, geographic catchment area. Clinical interviews and questionnaires measuring behaviors, symptoms, and social functioning were administered to both the adolescent and a parent at inception and at follow-up. Discriminant function analyses were used to identify inception variables that predicted clinical course independent of severity of depressive symptoms and global functioning. At 1-year follow-up, major depression remitted in 66% of subjects. Persisters were characterized at inception as older, more likely to have substance use or anxiety disorders, less involved with fathers, and less responsive to mother's discipline compared with remitters. The effect of these prognostic factors was independent of symptom severity and global functioning. These variables appear to reflect perpetuating and ameliorating factors influencing the short-term course of major depression. The findings suggest that treatments for adolescent depression that aim to enhance parent-adolescent relationships, and that specifically target coexisting disorders, should be evaluated for effectiveness.

Skills Training in a Program for Problem-Drinking Offenders:

This report describes and evaluates a correctional program for problem-drinking offenders based on social learning principles and skill training. Offenders were screened for alcohol problems at the adult male correctional institutions, and, on a random basis, 90% of the applicants were admitted for treatment. The control group consisted of 40 subjects who had been randomly deselected at screening and were released in the same time-frame as the experimental group. The experimental group was composed of 167 subjects who completed the six-week prograrm during its first year of operation. Follow-up interviews were conducted at three, six, and 12 months from release to parole supervision or discharge. The interviews measured a number of drinking and social functioning variables. Analysis of these data indicates a moderate program impact at the first and last follow-up periods. In general, the experimental group reported drinking less, getting jobs sooner, and earning more. They tended to maintain these gains while the control group reported deterioration on several drinking variables.