Anger and depression are connected from the late teens to early midlife

What is it about?

Anger is often overlooked as an underlying issue in the development of depression. This study looked at the connection between symptoms of anger and depression in a community sample of individuals surveyed six times over 25 years from their late teens to early 40s. The researchers asked (1) Is there a significant association of higher anger with higher depression at age 18 and is that relation maintained to age 43? (2) Does anger lead to increased depression in the future or does depression lead to increased anger? (3) Is social support a predictor of future anger and depression or an outcome of earlier anger and depression? The researchers found that individuals who reported stronger feelings of anger were also more likely to experience depressive symptoms, a connection already established by age 18 and maintained for 25 years to age 43. In light of this highly stable anger-depression connection, earlier anger did not predict future depression nor did depression predict increased anger. Although social support was not a predictor of later anger and depression, in the late teens higher anger and depression predicted increased social support one or two years later.

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Why is it important?

Anger and depressive symptoms are negative emotions with serious implications for mental health across the lifespan. Understanding that these symptoms appear together by the late teens and that their connection does not diminish by midlife speaks to the importance of identifying signs of anger and depression as early as possible so that both can be addressed. Prevention and intervention efforts should enhance broad emotion regulation skills and draw or improve upon social support before ineffective strategies for managing negative emotions become entrenched and when programming may be most impactful.