Relatedness, self-definition, and early adolescent adjustment

Concerns of young adolescents with interpersonal relatedness and self-definition assessed by the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire for Adolescents, were examined in relation to measures of maladjustment (internalizing and externalizing problems) and adaptive capacities (multiple dimensions of social competence and quality of relationships with parents and peers). Participants were four hundred ninety nine 6th and 7th grade students attending a large, ethnically and socioeconomically diverse, urban school. Factor analysis of the DEQ-A resulted in a factor structure similar to that obtained in previous research with older adolescents and adults. Prior findings of associations between DEQ-A factors and internalizing and externalizing problems, after controlling for levels of depressive symptoms, were also replicated in this sample. Furthermore, associations were found linking adolescents' interpersonal concerns, self-criticism and efficacy, as assessed on the DEQ-A, with measures of social competence and quality of relationships with parents and peers.