Research report Stressful life events and depressive problems in early adolescent boys and girls: The influence of parental depression, temperament and family environment ☆ Esther M.C. Bouma a, ⁎ , Johan Ormel a , Frank C. Verhulst b , Albertine J. Oldehinkel a,b a Department of Psychiatry and School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands b Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands Received 1 December 2006; received in revised form 9 May 2007; accepted 10 May 2007 Available online 14 June 2007 Abstract Background: Stressful life events increase the probability of depressive problems in early adolescence. Several genetic and environmental risk factors may change individual sensitivity to the depressogenic effect of these events. We examined modification by parental depression and gender, and mediation of the former by temperament and family environment. Methods: Data were collected as part of a longitudinal cohort study of (pre)adolescents (n = 2127). During the first assessment wave at approximately age 11, we assessed parental depression, family functioning, perceived parenting behaviours, and temperamental frustration and fearfulness. At the second wave, about two and a half years later, stressful life events between the first and second assessment were assessed. Depressive problems were measured at both waves. Results: Adolescents with parents who had a (lifetime) depressive episode were more sensitive to the depressogenic effect of stressful events than adolescents without depressed parents. Furthermore, girls are more sensitive to these effects than boys. The modifying effect of parental depression was not mediated by temperament, family functioning and perceived parenting. Limitations: Life events were assessed without consideration of contextual information. Depressive problems were measured by questionnaires that did not directly represent DSM-IV criteria. The measure of parental depression was unspecific regarding severity and timing of depressive episodes. Conclusion: The results suggest that gender and parental depression are associated with increased sensitivity to depression after experiencing stressful life events during adolescence. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Adolescent depressive problems; Stressful life events; Parental depression; Gender; Mediated modification 1. Introduction Depressive problems in adolescence can be persistent and recurrent (Angst et al., 2000) and represent a potential cause for psychopathology and poor psycho- social adjustments in adult life (Goodyer et al., 2000). Journal of Affective Disorders 105 (2008) 185 – 193 www.elsevier.com/locate/jad ☆ E.M.C. Bouma analysed the data and wrote the paper supervised by A.J. Oldehinkel. J. Ormel and F.C. Verhulst gave valuable suggestions in the final stages of the paper. All authors contributed to and have approved the final manuscript. ⁎ Corresponding author. Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Centre Groningen, P.O. Box 30.000, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands. Tel.: +31 50 3612774; fax: +31 50 361 9722. E-mail address: E.M.C.Bouma@med.umcg.nl (E.M.C. Bouma). 0165-0327/$ - see front matter © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2007.05.007