Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
BMC Psychol. 2019 Aug 2;7(1):50. doi: 10.1186/s40359-019-0326-8.
Previous research has noted trends of increasing internalizing problems (e.g., symptoms of depression and anxiety), particularly amongst adolescent girls. Cross-cohort comparisons using identical assessments of both anxiety and depression in youth are lacking, however.
In this large twin study, we examined trends in internalizing symptoms in samples of 9 year old children and 15 year old adolescents, gathered from successive birth cohorts from 1998 to 2008 (age 9) and 1994-2001 (age 15). Assessments at age 9 were parent-rated, and at age 15 self- and parent-rated. We examined (i) the relation between birth cohorts and internalizing symptoms using linear regressions, and (ii) whether percentages of participants exceeding scale cut-off scores changed over time, using Cochrane Armitage Trend Tests.
Among 9 year old children, a significantly increasing percentage of participants (both boys and girls) had scores above cut-off on anxiety symptoms, but not on depressive symptoms. At age 15, a significantly increasing percentage of participants (both boys and girls) had scores above cut-off particularly on self-reported internalizing symptoms. On parent-reported internalizing symptoms, only girls demonstrated a corresponding trend.
In line with previous studies, we found small changes over sequential birth cohorts in frequencies of depression and anxiety symptoms in children. Further, these changes were not exclusive to girls.
先前的研究注意到内化问题（例如，抑郁和焦虑症状）的趋势有所增加，尤其是在少女中。然而，缺乏使用相同的焦虑和抑郁评估方法对青年进行的跨队列比较。
在这项大型双胞胎研究中，我们研究了 1998 年至 2008 年（9 岁）和 1994 年至 2001 年（15 岁）连续出生队列中 9 岁儿童和 15 岁青少年样本中内化症状的趋势。9 岁时的评估由家长评定，15 岁时由自我和家长评定。我们检查了（i）出生队列与内化症状之间的关系，使用线性回归，以及（ii）使用 Cochrane-Armitage 趋势检验，超过量表临界值的参与者比例是否随时间变化。
在 9 岁儿童中，有显著增加的比例（男孩和女孩）在焦虑症状上的得分超过了临界值，但在抑郁症状上没有。在 15 岁时，有显著增加的比例（男孩和女孩）特别是在自我报告的内化症状上的得分超过了临界值。在家长报告的内化症状上，只有女孩表现出相应的趋势。
与先前的研究一致，我们发现儿童中抑郁和焦虑症状的频率在连续的出生队列中发生了微小的变化。此外，这些变化并非仅限于女孩。
