Depression and Anti-Social Behavior

Emotions and genetic features work together to form personal identity and shape one’s actions. A person’s life from conception, infancy, childhood, and adolescence all have an impact on physical and emotional well-being. This paper will look at the diathesis-stress model, Dodge’s Social Information Processing and the factors that may affect depression and antisocial behaviors. The diathesis-stress model talks about the relationship between potential causes of depression, and the degree to which people may be vulnerable to react to those causes.

The diathesis-stress model suggests that people have predispositions for developing depression. The vulnerabilities are referred to as diatheses. Some people may have more of these diatheses for developing depression than other people. However, having a predisposition towards developing depression alone is not enough to trigger the illness. An individual's diathesis must interact with stressful life events in order to prompt the onset of the illness (Nemade, R. Ph. D. , Reiss, N. S. Ph. D. , Dombeck, M. Ph. D. , 2007).

Following the diathesis-stress model, the difference in genetic predisposition along with the different life experiences accounts for why some adolescents become antisocial when others do not. Death or other losses such as job layoffs, relationship difficulties like divorce, normal milestones such as puberty, marriage, or retirement; alcoholism or drug abuse, neurochemical and hormonal imbalances, and infections can all be powerful enough to cause depressive symptoms in someone with a diathesis (Nemade et al, 2007). In some cases stress from the environment reacts with someone’s predisposition for depression resulting in a breakdown.

Dodge’s Social Information-Processing Model helps to explain why people who feel attacked react aggressively. The model describes the cognitive steps that are necessary in order to react appropriately in a social setting. Dodge’s model says that, “at a young age people should learn to: (1) observe social cues, (2) interpret behavior, (3) generate responses, (4) choose appropriate response after evaluating potential consequences, and (5) perform the chosen response. ” (Dodge, K. A. , 1986, p. 72) People who are highly emotional but have low emotional control often have difficulty perceiving people’s intentions.

The factors affecting depression and antisocial behavior are external and internal, biological and environmental. As seen throughout the text book, life is a delicate interaction of nature and nurture. Attachment, parenting, family, friendships, personality, self-esteem, and psychopathology all interrelate and depend on one another. In a secure, emotionally open mother-child relationship, children develop a more positive, less biased understanding of others, which then promotes more positive friendships (“University of Illinois,” 2009).

Research shows that children who were securely attached at age three showed more open emotional communication with mothers and better language ability (“University of Illinois,” 2009). This finding suggests that the way children interpret other people's behavior may begin to develop in the context of early relationships in the family, and these interpretations may be important for a child's ability to get along with friends later on (“University of Illinois,” 2009). A child's early attachment relationships are close and emotionally intense.

For that reason, those relationships may be important in guiding children's thinking about and functioning in other close relationships (“University of Illinois,” 2009). Significantly higher levels of antisocial behavior were found in seven-year-old children whose mothers were depressed during the child's first five years of life (“Journal of American Medical,” 2005). "Children of depressed mothers have elevated conduct problems, presumably because maternal depression disrupts the care giving environment. (“Journal of American Medical,” 2005, para. 7) Researchers have identified three possible explanations for the association between a mother's depression and antisocial behavior (ASB) in their children: (1) depressed women are likely to have antisocial personality traits related to depression, (2) are likely to bear children with antisocial men, (3) and the children of depressed mothers may inherit a genetic predisposition for antisocial disorders (“Journal of American Medical,” 2005).

Maternal depression combined with symptoms of antisocial personality disorder in mothers is the greatest risk for children's ASB (“Journal of American Medical,” 2005). "From birth, parents can nurture and help develop these social competencies by making eye contact with their babies, offering toys and playing with them, and encouraging them to interact with other children as soon as they are developmentally able to do so. ” (“Society for Research,” 2007, para. 1) Children who are consistently shy while growing up are particularly likely to be raised by stressed-out par ents, and to possess a genetic variant associated with stress sensitivity (“Association for Psychological Science,” 2007). Many studies show low income, having little education, and being a single parent lead to increases in parental stress (“Association for Psychological Science,” 2007). Home life has a huge impact on the child’s physical and mental health, relationships, and abilities.

Malnutrition in the first few years of life leads to antisocial and aggressive behavior throughout childhood and late adolescence (“University of Southern California,” 2004). Effects of low income at an early age often present antisocial behavior, conduct such as bullying, being cruel, breaking things, cheating or telling lies persist as children get older while the effects of starting off in a low-income household on child depression lessen as time goes on, regardless of later income levels (“University of Alberta,” 2006). These findings might mean that antisocial behavior is an example of biological embedding--it is possible that poverty early in life helps to set into motion a consistent pattern of antisocial behaviors that are difficult to change once learned. " (“University of Alberta,” 2006, p. 3) It appears there is a strong connection between closeness to at least one sibling during childhood and having a lower risk of depression in adulthood (“Brigham and Women’s Hospital,” 2007). Quality of relationships with siblings during childhood may be a predictor of depression later in life (“Brigham and Women’s Hospital,” 2007).

Forming friendships is a very important life-long skill. Girls who were victimized in kindergarten were more likely to engage in antisocial behavior at home as they got older, while they acted more and more depressed at school if their victimization increased (“Center for the Advancement of Health,” 2003). "When kids feel comfortable talking about their emotions, especially their negative emotions, it increases their social competence with classmates and leads to closer friendships. " (“University of Illinois,” 2009, para. 3) When early friendships are successful, young children get the chance to master difficult social and emotional skills (“Society for Research,” 2007). Early friendships also predict future capability in other sorts of relationships and in certain forms of personal well-being. For example, they have fewer behavior problems or less depression or anxiety later in life (“Society for Research,” 2007). Rejection contributes to the risk that children won't have friends. Children who are rejected early in elementary school are more likely to not have friends later in elementary school (“Society for Research,” 2007).

Girls' antisocial behavior, on the other hand, made them more likely targets for victimization in the short and long term (“Center for the Advancement of Health,” 2003). Both rejection and a lack of friends in elementary school put children at risk for adjustment problems in adolescence. Children who are rejected in elementary school are more likely to be lonely as adolescents and depressed as teenagers (“Society for Research,” 2007). Behavior problems in early grades to lead to peer rejection and a lack of friends in elementary school.

This leads to early adolescent depression and loneliness (“Society for Research,” 2007). Children who were disruptive in early childhood are more likely to be rejected and lack friends in elementary school. Anxious children also tend to have fewer friends, although they are not more likely to be rejected by their peers (“Society for Research,” 2007). “The brains of young that suffer from anxiety and severe shyness in social situations consistently respond more strongly to stress, and show signs of being anxious even in situations that others find safe. (“Association for Psychological Science,” 2007, para. 1) Parenting, family relationships, and friendships affect self-image or self-esteem. “There are several different sources of strength that the girls need to enable them to withstand the stress. These include having a greater say in one's own everyday life and getting emotional support. ” (“Public Library of Science,” 2008, para. 5) Body weight affects children's self esteem as does school performance (“Public Library of Science,” 2008).

Recreational and cultural activities were also found to be important sources of strength (“Public Library of Science,” 2008). Perhaps the area where biological features and environment working together can be most closely observed would be in psychopathic disease. Children and teens of parents with disorders have an increased risk of early-onset disease, mood disorders and anxiety disorders (“Journal of American Medical,” 2005). Identifying the condition early may improve long-term outcomes, potentially preventing high psychosocial and medical costs (“Journal of American Medical,” 2005).

Suicidal thoughts are more frequent in those aged 16 – 24. Most frequently people who are not married, cohabiting or who are widowed; people with low levels of social support or who have experienced several stressful life events; those from poor socio-economic backgrounds; and the unemployed are at the highest risk (“University of Bristol,” 2004). Suicidal thoughts and impulsive actions are an indicator of the rapid mood swings and changes in life circumstances that surround the move from childhood to young adulthood (“University of Bristol,” 2004).

As seen from the diathesis and stress theory, Dodge’s Social Information Processing and the factors affecting depression and antisocial behaviors, unstable attachment to parents early on in life, poor self-image, bad relationships with friends, and psychopathic disease all work together in cases of depression and antisocial behavior. It is important for people to understand the social emotional needs of individuals and be able to relate to them.