Developmental trajectories of internalising behaviour in the prediction of adolescent depressive symptoms

Abstract

Using a community‐based Australian birth cohort, groups with distinct longitudinal profiles (trajectories) of internalising behaviour from early childhood through mid‐adolescence were identified for boys and girls from parent ratings. Six internalising trajectories were identified for both genders, comprising stable, decreasing, and increasing pathways. Hierarchical regression models predicted the contribution of internalising trajectories to self‐reported age 17 depressive symptoms for males (n = 557) and females (n = 633), after controlling for the effects of a range of adolescent precursors. Internalising trajectories and adolescent psychosocial factors, each contributed to the prediction of subsequent depressive symptoms, with girls and boys on increasing internalising trajectories and boys on a fluctuating high trajectory particularly at risk. Results suggest that parent ratings can identify coherent internalising behaviour pathways that originate early in life and influence subsequent adjustment.