Perceived social inadequacy and depressed mood in adolescents.

The goal of the study was to examine stability in, and the relationship between, perceived social inadequacy and depressed mood in a sample of community adolescents. The Checklist of Adolescent Problem Situations (CAPS) and Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) were administered to 224 high-school students on two occasions 4 months apart. CDI and CAPS scores were positively correlated and test-retest reliability was high in both instruments. Cross-lagged panel correlations, controlled for within-time associations, did not significantly differ. Results indicated that perceived social inadequacy in adolescents is stable over time-independent of its association with depressed mood. Copyright 2002 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.