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Assessing Secondary Control and its Association with Youth Depression Symptoms

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Abstract

Extensive research has linked youth depression symptoms to low levels of perceived control, using measures that reflect primary control (i.e., influencing objective conditions to make them fit one’s wishes). We hypothesized that depressive symptoms are also linked to low levels of secondary control (i.e., influencing the psychological impact of objective conditions by adjusting oneself to fit them). To test the hypothesis, we developed the Secondary Control Scale for Children (SCSC), examined its psychometrics, and used it to assess the secondary control-depression symptomatology association. In a large adolescent sample, the SCSC showed factorial integrity, internal consistency, test-retest stability, convergent and discriminant validity, and accounted for more than 40% of the variance in depression symptoms. Consistent with evidence on risk and gender, depression symptoms were more strongly associated with secondary control in girls and primary control in boys. Assessing secondary control may help us understand youth depression vulnerability in girls and boys.

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Notes

  1. Interested readers may obtain the full SCSC and scoring key from the first author by email (jweisz@jbcc.harvard.edu).

  2. In response to the concerns of some school officials, we followed a procedure used in numerous studies of depression in school-aged youth, excluding items from the YSR and CDI that asked about suicide and self-harm.

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Acknowledgments

We are greatly indebted to the staff and teachers of the participating schools, and to the children who were participants in the study. The study was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (R01 MH68806) and the Norlien Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Harvard University, 33 Kirkland Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

    John R. Weisz

  2. Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada

    Sarah E. Francis

  3. Judge Baker Children’s Center, Harvard Medical School, 53 Parker Hill Avenue, Boston, MA, 02125, USA

    John R. Weisz & Sarah Kate Bearman

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  1. John R. Weisz
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Correspondence to John R. Weisz.

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Weisz, J.R., Francis, S.E. & Bearman, S.K. Assessing Secondary Control and its Association with Youth Depression Symptoms. J Abnorm Child Psychol 38, 883–893 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-010-9440-z

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