Negative cognitive style trajectories in the transition to adolescence.

The development of negative cognitive style was examined in a longitudinal study of 366 community youth. Cognitive style and depressive symptoms were evaluated at ages 11, 13, and 15. Latent growth mixture modeling identified three unique trajectory patterns of negative cognitive style. The normative group (71% of the sample) displayed the least negative cognitive style and lowest depression scores at all assessments. The increasing group (22% of the sample) displayed a cognitive style that was comparable to the normative group at age 11 but increased markedly over time; this group displayed the highest depression scores at age 13 and 15, and youth in this group were most likely to have reported clinically significant depressive symptoms during the course of the study. Finally, the decreasing group (7% of the sample) displayed the most negative cognitive style at age 11 but an overall decline in negative cognitive style over time. Child sex, child temperament at age 1, observed maternal feedback to child failure at age 11, mothers' cognitive styles at age 11, and total stress from ages 11 to 15 served as predictors of class membership.