Does Depression Moderate or Mediate the Relations Between Deficits in Competence and Aggression?

Abstract

This study was conducted to examine the role of child depression in the relations between deficits in competence and aggression by replicating and extending the study by Cole et al. (1996). In a two-wave longitudinal study, 6th-grade children ( n = 329) completed self-report measures of three domains of competence (i.e. social, academic, behavioural), depression and aggression. Parents also reported information about their child’s competence in the three domains, depression and aggression. The participants were all residents in lower-middle- to middle-class urban areas in a large southwestern city of Korea. Data were collected through paper/pencil questionnaires administered twice during the school year (near the end of the first and second semesters in 2008) approximately 6 months apart. Hierarchical regression analyses were implemented to examine whether Wave 2 depression moderates or mediates the relations between deficits in Wave 1 competence and Wave 2 aggression. To take account of the domain-specificity of child competence, separate hierarchical regression analyses for the three domains of competence were conducted. Self-reports and parent reports for each variable were standardized and combined into a composite index. The results of the hierarchical regression analyses were summarized as follows. First, depression did not moderate the relations between deficits in competence and aggression. Second, depression served as a mediator only in the relation between deficits in behavioural competence and aggression. In contrast, depression did not mediate the relation between lowered social or academic competence and aggression. The findings of this study provide partial evidence for the competence-based model of childhood depression and for the role of depression as a trigger of aggressive behaviours among children who lack in behavioural competence. The results imply that school psychologists and school counsellors should not overlook deficits in behavioural competence and depression among aggressive children while providing screening and intervention services for these children.