Dysphoric Adolescents as Young Adults: A Prospective Study of the Psychological Sequelae of Depressed Mood in Adolescence

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Abstract
The longitudinal implications of age-18 dysphoric mood were evaluated in 23-year-old young adults using a prospective multidata, multi-informant design. Dysphoric mood was measured using both initial Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) scores and residual CES-D scores from which the contributions of concurrent age-18 anxiety and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) IQ were partialed. Elevated initial CES-D scores predicted chronic depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation in both genders. In young men, initial CES--D scores were also prospectively related to observer evaluations of interpersonal antagonism, repressive tendencies, anxious self-preoccupation, undercontrol of impulse as well as to self-reported hostility and anger. In young women, initial CES-D scores were also prospectively related to both observer- and self-report of anxious self-preoccupation as well as to self-reported interpersonal antagonism, low self-esteem, and insecure romantic attachment. Once the contributions of age-18 anxiety and intelligence were both statistically removed, residual CES-D scores were substantially more strongly associated with subsequent psychological maladjustment in young women than in young men. The results indicate that adolescent dysphoric mood is an important predictor of psychological distress in young adults, especially in young adult women for whom the prospective correlations of adolescent dysphoria are more independent of prior anxiety and IQ than in young adult men.