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Childhood Peer Status and Adult Susceptibility to Anxiety and Depression. A 30-Year Hospital Follow-up

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Abstract

This study examined the extent to which sixth grade peer status could predict anxiety and/or depression in 5,242 women and 5,004 men who were born in 1953 and whose hospital records were followed up from 1973–2003. The data used was the Stockholm Birth Cohort Study. While no association could be established for men, results indicated that women who held low peer status positions in childhood were at a considerably higher risk of anxiety and/or depression later in life compared to women in average status positions. Women who held popular positions during childhood did not differ significantly from their average counterparts. These findings persisted after adjusting for family- and child-related problem-load, perceived security at school, family constellation, socioeconomic status as well as the child’s cognitive ability, ninth grade school marks and continuance to upper secondary school.

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  1. Anxiety disorder. ICD 10 (i.e. diagnoses made in 1997–2003): F40.0, F40.1, F40.2, F41.0, F41.1, F42.0, F42.1, F43.0, F43.1; ICD 9 (i.e. diagnoses made in 1987–1996): 300A, 300C, 300D, 308B, 308C, 308D, 308E, 308F, 309.8; ICD 8 (i.e. diagnoses made in 1973–1986): 299, 300.0, 300.2, 300.3, 306.9, 307, 308, 781.5).

    Major depressive disorder. ICD 10: F32, F33; ICD 9: 296.1, 296.6, 296.9, 298.0, 300.4, 311; ICD 8: 296.0, 296.1, 296.2, 296.8, 296.9, 298.0, 300.0, 300.4, 790.2.

  2. Logistic regression of quartiles of classroom-standardized nominations on later anxiety/depression, using Q3 as the reference group (set to 1.0), revealed the following OR:s for women: Q1 (lowest) = 2.01 (p = 0.001); Q2 = 1.40 (p = 0.132); Q4 (highest) = 1.52 (p = 0.072), and the following OR:s for men: Q1 = 1.17 (p = 0.501), Q2 = 0.98 (p = 0.938), Q4 = 0.94 (p = 0.788). An overall significant association was found for women (p = 0.013), but not for men (p = 0.789).

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Acknowledgements

The creation and maintenance of the Stockholm Birth Cohort Data Base is a collaboration between the Centre for Health Equity Study (CHESS) and the Institute for Social Research (SOFI), financed by the Swedish Research Council. Sten-Åke Stenberg (SOFI) prepared the original Metropolitan Data Base, Denny Vågerö (CHESS) the follow-up data for 1980–2002 and Reidar Österman (CHESS) organized the probability matching of the two data sets. We are very grateful to Anna Goodman (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) for valuable input on the manuscript. The Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research financed this study (FAS 2006-1637).

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    Bitte Modin, Viveca Östberg & Ylva Almquist

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Modin, B., Östberg, V. & Almquist, Y. Childhood Peer Status and Adult Susceptibility to Anxiety and Depression. A 30-Year Hospital Follow-up. J Abnorm Child Psychol 39, 187–199 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-010-9462-6

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