Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 62-03, Section: B, page: 1575.

Director: Alan E. Kazdin.

This study examined two indices of competence, academic and peer, as related to delinquent behavior and depressive symptoms among a sample of suburban adolescents. Integrating past research on the multidimensional nature of competence and the adaptive roles served by some symptoms during adolescence, it was predicted that the relationships between symptoms and adjustment would differ depending upon both the domain of competence and the type of symptoms under consideration. This study aimed to better understand the interaction of specific symptoms with specific areas of competence by exploring linear and curvilinear models as prescribed by theory. Evaluating adolescents' functioning in multiple areas of their lives and clarifying the relationships between symptoms and competence is requisite to identifying youth with emotional difficulties in need of services and to preventing adults from over-pathologizing those adolescents experiencing mild developmental difficulties.

Four specific relationships were predicted and explored. First, it was hypothesized that a curvilinear association would describe the relationship between delinquent behavior and peer relations such that moderate delinquency would be associated with greater popularity relative to little or high delinquency. Second, a negative linear relationship was predicted between grades and delinquency. Third, a similar negative relationship was predicted between popularity and depressive symptoms. Finally, the association between depressive symptoms and grades was predicted to be curvilinear such that mild symptom levels would be associated with better grades than would relatively low or high scores.

Two hundred and forty high school students were assessed when they were sophomores and again when they were juniors. Both cross-sectional and prospective analyses were conducted. Results supported the hypotheses regarding delinquency. Specifically, moderate levels of delinquent behavior were associated with greater popularity than were low or high levels of delinquency, and as delinquent behavior increased, grades decreased. Delinquent behavior, within reason, served a positive function with regard to peer relations but not with regard to grades. No significant relationships were found between depressive symptoms and either domain of competence. Findings are discussed in terms of developmental perspectives related to adolescent functioning, and implications for future research are noted.