When Depression Mediates the Relationship Between Entity Beliefs and Performance

David Da Fonseca (1) , François Cury (2) , Andreia Santos , Vincent Payen (3) , Lënda Bounoua (2) , Jeanick Brisswalter (3) , Marcel Rufo (4) , Francois Poinso (4) , Christine Deruelle (5)

1 Hôpitaux Sud - Hôpital Sainte-Marguerite [CHU - APHM]
2 LPC - Laboratoire de psychologie cognitive
3 HANDIBIO - Laboratoire de Biomodélisation et Ingénierie des Handicaps - EA 4322
4 Unité d'Hospitalisation Parents-enfants
5 INPC - Institut de neurosciences physiologiques et cognitives

The aim of this study was to determine whether depression can explain the negative relationship between academic performance and the belief that intelligence is a fixed trait, i.e., entity belief. A sample of 353 French volunteer adolescents (age 11–16) completed questionnaires assessing entity theory and depressive symptoms (Children Depression Inventory: CDI). Academic performance was assessed by math performance while controlling for baseline level of math ability. Results of this study revealed that entity theory is a significant negative predictor of academic performance and a significant positive predictor of depression. Importantly, our findings also show that depression plays a significant mediating role between entity theory and academic performance. Our findings indicate that individuals who consider their abilities to be non-malleable are more likely to develop depressive symptoms which, in turn, decrease academic performance. These findings contribute to tailoring specific prevention and treatment programs for childhood and adolescent depression.

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Human health and pathology

David Da Fonseca, François Cury, Andreia Santos, Vincent Payen, Lënda Bounoua, et al.. When Depression Mediates the Relationship Between Entity Beliefs and Performance. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 2008, 40 (2), pp.213--222. ⟨10.1007/s10578-008-0122-9⟩. ⟨hal-01342027⟩