Young individuals experience a couple of changes that affect their behaviors and the way they interact with other people around them. During their adolescent period over 20% of young individuals experience depression disorders, which ends up influencing their mood, makes them pull away from joyful activities that individuals their age should engage in and have a negative attitude towards other people, events, and objects. According to Milne and Lancaster (2001), depression hails from various things such as failure of individuals to distinguish themselves from other people, distrustful relationships, and lack of proper parental care among others. This paper explains that distrustful relationship or rather insecure attachments among adolescents, demonstrate high levels of depression linked tendencies and behaviors compared to adolescents in secure relationships (Nordstrom, Arinell, and Knorring, 1999).
Following the research by Salzman (1996), the studies possess two specific queries that broaden the reliability of the research that was undertaken. Initially, the study instigates whether group, 18 to 21 would align with quality and frequency to patterns. Secondly, the study asks if personality traits enhance secure associate with behavior traits. The research examines adolescence social association majorly on maternal, by use of interviews of the selected sample size. The research shows a positive strong connection, between securely attached adolescent women and their mothers. They also exhibit higher self-esteem and lower depression levels. On the other hand, females with insecure attachments show a poor negative connection with their mothers. This is unique highlight that can shed import insights if investigated closely. There seem to be an association between the insecure attachments and one’s connection ability.
The sample included 101 randomly selected students from one college, though after screening to gain the most credible results from the research in all categories the sample size was reduced to 28.
The results gathered from the study did not dissuade from the assumption that proportions of the association would be similar to those cited by studies. The individuals in insecure attachments were put in two groups the ambivalently and the avoidant. This is to enhance the evaluation to establish if the two groups presented differences.
According to the study, 73% were secure, 16% presented ambivalent association and 10% avoidant associated (Salzman, 1996). These distinct groups showed a sharp difference in their personality characteristics. From the sample size, the females who belonged to the ambivalent attachment category reported that they had great low self-esteem levels than their counterparts who had secure attachments. The avoidant on the other hand showed an equilibrium between the two sides in relation to depression and self-esteem levels though they did not show a sharp difference between the two categories. The females who were securely proved to have a positively great maternal identification that their ambivalent counterparts, while the avoidant female adolescents still remained in between.
Following the results from the report, it is right to say that the assumption regarding constructive attitude (Salzman, 1996). Even though the findings seem to agree well with the hypothesis, this study has a drawback, as it is not longitudinal. The study focused its finding on the current state of the adolescent females it did not base its findings from the time this individuals were born to their current age. Another evident drawback is that this study focuses its findings on women alone; the results would have been very different if males were involved.
This paper also focuses to bring the link between depression and social networks among adolescents. In his article Olsson, et al. (1999), possess two questions to aid the research. This study gives out results that compare how depressed and non-depressed adolescents engage or portray themselves in the social network platform. A group of 177 pairs of individuals aged 16 to 17, both males and females were used as the sample size in the study. When the sample was taken under the initial screening, there were five categories that were formed out of the 177 pairs.
Following the results, individuals whom suffer from high levels of depression differ greatly from the controls; this means that they lack deficiencies in their social interactions and attachment to family ties. It is not clear how this finding came about but some people are less affected by depressive thinking. The study also shows adolescent individuals with double depression express that their caregiver is available but not as much as the controls and they consider the family climate to be negative compared to the existing controls (Olsson, et al. 1999; Achenbach, 1980). The research however has several drawbacks including one that clearly shows that the findings were based on the information provided by the adolescent without involving their parents. Another drawback is that the results regarding the controls were acquired after screening of the sample where the results where chosen from adolescents who had low score of depression.
Milne and Lancaster (2001), do a research to investigate the procedures that are associated to depression. They came up with a model, which included parent attachment, separation individuation, parental representation, peer attachment, self- critical and interpersonal concerns. The model shows how when all these factors are combined affect the depression rates in adolescents. The multiple factors seem to cause serious consequences due to addictive effect. The factors combine to affect individuals making the record high levels of depression (Shenderey, 2004; Young, 2010).
The sample was made up of 59 females secondary students, aged 14 to 16. It was considered that past parenting would affect depression result of the adolescent in current time while peer attachment would relate to present attachment. The results showed that female adolescent result to high levels of depression when they lack maternal care. In addition, there are instances where maternal care may enhance depression to female adolescents making this result to go contrary to the hypothesis (Milne and Lancaster, 2001). The research and it model had some limitations one of them being that the researchers used other measures due to time con9straint and the other one is that the study only used females and the attachment they had with their mothers alone.
These researches show that attachment goes along way and plays a big part on the depression of an adolescent (Muris et al 1996; Allen, Hauser & Borman-Spurrell, 1996; Hazell, 2007; Perera, 2008). The adolescents who have great attachment to their caregiver tend to show low levels of depression. This is due to the essence that such individuals are free with their caregivers, thus feel open to share their problems freely with them. It can be concluded that infant or child attachment patterns and styles play a big role in future attachments psychological wellbeing and behaviors of an adolescent either male or female.
References
Achenbach, T. (1980). Depression in children and adolescents. Psyccritiques, 25(12). http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/019458
Allen, J. P., Hauser, S. T. , & Borman-Spurrell, E. (1996). Attachment theory as a framework for understanding sequelae of severe adolescent psychopathology: An 11-year follow-up study. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64, 254-263.
Hazell, P. (2007). Depression in adolescents. BMJ, 335(7611), 106-107. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39265.581042.80
Milne, L. C. & Lancaster, S. (2001). Predictors of depression in female adolescents Adolescence, 36, 207-223.
Muris, P., Meesters, C., Melick, M., & Zwambag, L (2001). Self-reported attachment style, attachment quality, and symptoms of anxiety and depression in young adolescents. Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 809-818.
Olsson, G. I., Nordstrom, M. , Arinell, H.m & Knorring, A. (1999) Adolescent depression: Social network and family climate- a case-control study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 40, 227-237.
Perera, H. (2008). Depression in children and adolescents. Ceylon Med. J., 53(2). http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/cmj.v53i2.238
Salzman, J. P. (1996). Primary attachment in female adolescents: Association with depression, self –esteem, and maternal identification. Psychiatry: Interpersonal & Biological Process, 59, 20-33.
Shenderey, K. (2004). Treating major depression in children and adolescents: Depressed adolescents may lose out. BMJ, 328(7438), 525-525. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.328.7438.525
Young, J. (2010). Screening and managing depression in adolescents. AHMT, 87. http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/ahmt.s7539
