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Interaction patterns of adolescents with depression and the important adults in their lives.

Draucker CB

Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, USA.

The purpose of this study is to describe common interaction patterns between adolescents who are depressed and the important adults in their lives, with special attention given to interactions that influence the course of the teens' depression. Data are drawn from an ongoing grounded theory study of the management strategies and service usage patterns of adolescents who are depressed. The sample includes 52 young adults between the ages of 18 and 21 who experienced depressive symptoms as adolescents, 4 of their parents, and 8 professionals who work with youths. All participants discussed how both adolescents and adults ignore, hide, or minimize the adolescents'distress by putting up a façade. The three common interaction patterns that were identified (maintaining the façade, poking holes in the façade, breaking down the façade) are responses to the façade. The author discusses interaction patterns and their influence on the course of the adolescents' depression.

Published 11 August 2005 in Qual Health Res, 15(7): 942-63.
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