1. The chicken or the egg? Aggression and depression in adolescent romantic relationships. Rebecca Furr, Laura Widman & Deborah Welsh University of Tennessee

2. Abstract We examine the nature of aggression and depression in adolescent romantic relationships. Specifically, this longitudinal study seeks to tease apart whether depression is more likely to precede aggressive behavior, or whether aggressive behavior predicts later depression. 209 adolescent dating couples participated, 351 members of which completed a follow-up. Those who reported higher depressive symptomatology at Time 1 reported perpetrating more partner aggression at Time 2 (t = 2.45, p <.05), even when controlling for aggressive behavior at Time 1. Those who reported perpetrating partner aggression at Time 1 reported more depressive symptoms at Time 2 (t = 2.59, p =.01 ), although this effect was no longer significant when controlling for depression at Time 1. Discussion explores the implications that depression is one pathway leading to aggressive behavior in romantic relationships.

3. Introduction There have been various studies examining the relationship between aggression and depression in adolescent romantic relationships:  Depression in adolescents has been found to predict aggression in a longitudinal study of at-risk males in romantic relationships (Kim & Capaldi, 2004).  In addition, male partner aggression has been cited as a risk factor for later development of depression in females (O’Leary, 1999).

4. Aims Explore the temporal relationship between depression in adolescents and aggression within their romantic relationships.

5. Sample The data for this project comes from The Study of Tennessee Adolescent Romantic Relationships (STARR), funded by NICHD. 209 adolescent dating couples 1  102 couples between 14-17 yrs old  107 couples between 17-21 yrs old Couples dating a minimum of 4 weeks  (range: 4 weeks – 260 weeks; mean: 45 weeks) 1 Couples recruited from a previous study of 2201 high school students from 17 different high schools representing geographic (rural, urban, suburban) and economic diversity

6. Procedures Time 1: Couples came to the laboratory for data collection which lasted approximately three hours. Participants were paid $30 each. Time 2: Approximately one year after Time 1, participants were mailed a shorter follow-up questionnaire and were paid $15 upon completion (N = 351).

7. Measures (Collected at Time 1 and 2) Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) – (Radloff, 1977); 20-item screening tool commonly used to assess depressive symptomatology in the general population (alpha =.85). Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS; modified) –(Straus, 1979); modified 13-item scale used to assess individuals’ perpetration of aggression towards their partner, as well as reports of received aggression from their partner.

8. Measures (cont.) Aggression: coded as present if participant reported that either couple member had ever engaged in any of the following acts in the context of their relationship: -pushed, grabbed or shoved -hit the other partner with a fist -hit or tried to hit the other partner with something hard

9. Descriptives Of the 351 couple members who completed the follow-up at Time 2, 250 were in a romantic relationship:  160 were still dating their partner from Time 1.  90 were dating someone new. At Time 1: -59 people reported self aggression (14.1%) -59 people reported partner aggression (14.1%) -Mean CES-D score = 13.3 At Time 2: -44 people reported self aggression (17.3%) -36 people reported partner aggression (14.3%) -Mean CES-D score = 14.3

10. Results Predicting aggression: Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) analyses revealed that those who reported higher depressive symptomatology at Time 1 were more likely to perpetrate partner aggression at Time 2 (t = 2.45, p <.05), even when controlling for aggression at Time 1. There was no significant relationship between depressive symptoms at Time 1 and being the victim of partner aggression at Time 2.

11. Results Predicting depression: HLM analyses also revealed that those who reported perpetrating partner aggression at Time 1 reported more depressive symptoms at Time 2 (t = 2.59, p =.01), although this effect was no longer significant when controlling for depression at Time 1. Reports of being the victim of partner aggression at Time 1 was not predictive of depression at Time 2. No gender differences were found in any of the models.

12. Discussion Our results suggest that depression is one pathway leading to aggressive behavior in romantic relationships. Aggression does not appear to be a good predictor of Time 2 depression when controlling for Time 2 aggression.

13. Discussion Aggression has been examined recently as a detrimental, though surprisingly commonplace, aspect of adolescent romantic relationships. Depression, which is negative in its own right, has even more negative consequences for adolescents’ romantic relationships. Intervention programs targeting adolescents must address depressive symptomatology in order to help both the depressed individual as well as his/her romantic partner.