Parental schemas in youngsters referred for antisocial behaviour problems demonstrating depressive symptoms

Abstract

Based on schema theory, this study aimed to investigate parental schemas in a sample of depressed and non-depressed youngsters referred for antisocial behaviour problems and in a non-depressed non-referred control group. A sample of 82 children and adolescents (aged 8 – 18 years) filled out the Children's Depression Inventory and the Young Parenting Inventory Mother (YPI-Mother) and Father (YPI-Father). On both the YPI-Mother and the YPI-Father, differences between groups were situated in the schema domain disconnection/rejection. On the YPI-Mother the referred depressed group scored higher than both non-depressed groups for the maladaptive schema defectiveness/shame. On the YPI-Father, the referred depressed group scored higher than both non-depressed groups for the maladaptive schemas abandonment/instability, emotional deprivation, and defectiveness/shame. Referred antisocial youngsters who demonstrate depressive symptoms perceive their parents as more cold, instable, unreliable, and unpredictable than do non-depressed controls. In treatment of antisocial youngsters the existence of a depressive subgroup characterized by specific parental schemas should be recognised.

Keywords:

• Antisocial behaviour
• depression
• comorbidity
• youth
• parenting
• cognitive theory

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a doctoral fellowship on information processing in children and adolescents with depressive symptoms, awarded to the first author by the Special Research Fund of Ghent University (Belgium) and by a fund awarded to the first author by the Fund for Scientific Research – Flanders (Belgium) on maladaptive schemas in youth.

Notes

1 Although depression can be seen as a categorical variable, some authors draw attention to the fact that youngsters can be undiagnosed but seriously impaired (Angold, Costello, Farmer, Burns, & Erkanli, 1999). According to Timbremont and colleagues (2004), the CDI is an adequate screening instrument for depressive symptomatology. Therefore, antisocial youngsters who received no mood disorder diagnosis on the clinical interview but who exhibited severe depressive symptomatology (CDI score ≥ 13) were also included in the referred symptomatic group.