The architecture of cognitive vulnerability factors to depression in adolescence: A longitudinal network analysis study

Depression is a developmental phenomenon with rates of subsyndromal depression and Major Depression significantly increasing during adolescence. Despite its role as a critical period, adolescence has not been investigated systematically with respect to which mechanisms are more likely to facilitate the onset of depressive symptoms. To bridge this gap, we simultaneously considered the three major cognitive theories for depression, namely the Beck’s Schema Theory, the Hopelessness Theory, and the Response Style Theory. In this four-wave study, we investigated the architecture and the stability of multiple cognitive vulnerability factors, depressive symptoms, and stressful events in 439 adolescents (mean age = 16) over a one-year period. Network analysis was used to unveil the structure of cognitive vulnerability in a data-driven fashion. The analysis revealed that automatic thoughts play the role of hub node in the network and the interplay among vulnerability factors and symptoms is already highly stable during adolescence.