Prospective trajectories of depression predict mortality in cancer patients.

An ever-growing body of empirical evidence has demonstrated the relationship between depression and cancer. The objective of this study was to examine whether depression trajectories predict mortality risk above and beyond demographics and other general health-related factors. Participants (n = 2,345) were a part of the Health and Retirement Study. The sample consisted of patients who were assessed once before their cancer diagnosis and thrice after. Depressive symptoms and general health-related factors were based on self-reports. Mortality risk was determined based on whether the patient was alive or not at respective time points. Latent Growth Mixture Modeling was performed to map trajectories of depression, assess differences in trajectories based on demographics and general health-related factors, and predict mortality risk. Four trajectories of depression symptoms emerged: resilient (69.7%), emerging (13.5%), recovery (9.5%), and chronic (7.2%). Overall, females, fewer years of education, higher functional impairment at baseline, and high mortality risk characterized the emerging, recovery, and chronic trajectories. In comparison to the resilient trajectory, mortality risk was highest for the emerging trajectory and accounted for more than half of the deaths recorded for the participants in emerging trajectory. Mortality risk was also significantly elevated, although to a lesser degree, for the recovery and chronic trajectories. The data highlights clinically relevant information about the depression-cancer association that can have useful implications towards cancer treatment, recovery, and public health.

Are there reciprocal interplays among Chinese adolescents', fathers', and mothers' depression at the within-family level? A family systems perspective.

Controversy surrounds the reciprocity between adolescent and parental depression. Limited studies rigorously tested the transactional model of depression from a family systems perspective considering the involvement of all family members, particularly in non-Western nations, using advanced modeling approaches that disentangle between- and within-unit (i.e., family) variances (e.g., random intercept cross-lagged panel model [RI-CLPM]). This population-based multi-informant longitudinal study applied RI-CLPM to evaluate the temporal dynamics of the interrelations among adolescent, maternal, and paternal depression in 1,733 Chinese families assessed biannually. Findings from two large independent samples (primary sample [N = 1,733]; replication sample [N = 989]) converged to suggest, in macro timescales: (a) more depressed parents-especially mothers-generally have more depressed adolescents (between-family associations); (b) a family member becoming more depressed than usual co-occurred with other members becoming more depressed than usual in the same wave (within-family cofluctuations), with the mother-adolescent dyads exhibiting greater concordance than the father-adolescent dyads; and (c) a family member becoming more depressed than usual did not prospectively predict other members becoming more depressed than usual (i.e., no within-family reciprocal effects). While patterns of cross-lagged effects were consistently null across contexts, cofluctuations were stronger in rural than urban families and stronger in families with older adolescents. Overall, findings suggest that in macro timescales, the previously identified associations between adolescent and parental depression likely occurred at the trait-like between-family level and state-like within-family cofluctuations. Future studies employing micro timescales (e.g., daily) can complement macro-timescale analysis to provide greater temporal resolution of the within-family interplays of affective symptoms between family members. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Longitudinal impacts of adverse childhood experiences on multidimensional health outcomes: Predicting trajectories in mental, physical, and behavioral health.

BACKGROUND: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) elevate the risk of poor health later in life. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to provide a more comprehensive investigation of the multidimensional health risks associated with ACEs, to address a gap in the understanding of their longitudinal impact on mental, physical, and behavioral health domains. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: This study included 6, 504 participants (51.61 % females) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (1994-2018). METHODS: We utilized latent class growth analysis to identify trajectories from adolescence to adulthood in three health domains: depression (Mental Health, MH), self-report physical health (SRH), and binge drinking frequency (BDF). Binary logistic regression was then used to assess the unique contributions of different types of ACEs to these longitudinal health trajectories. RESULTS: Three to four trajectories were identified for MH (consistently low, decreasing, increasing), SRH (consistently low, decreasing, increasing, consistently high), and BDF (consistently low, decreasing, moderate). Regression results showed that experience of emotional abuse and witnessed community violence elevated the risk associated with unfavorable trajectories in the mental health and behavioral health domains, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Individual ACEs differentially predicted mental, physical, and behavioral health trajectories, potentially through various pathways. Prevention of ACEs could mitigate health risks for adolescents and young adults across these domains.