ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS: LONGITUDINAL AND CONCURRENT RELATIONS

The relations between antisocial behavior and depressive symptoms were examined both longitudinally and concurrently in a sample of Italian early-adolescents. Structural equation modelling was applied to 10-month longitudinal data from a sample of 107 youths (54 girls; mean age at baseline = M = 12.5). Early adolescents completed a questionnaire in which they reported antisocial behaviors and depressive S3rmptoms. Results show temporal stability for both constructs. Moreover, results show a significant longitudinal relation between depression at t l and antisocial behavior at t2. This relation dropped to not significant when controlling for concurrent relations between these two measures of psychosocial adjustment at t2. A multigroup comparison suggests that these findings are similar across gender. Implications ofthe results for theory and intervention are discussed.