JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, 18(2), 379394

r 2008, Copyrignt the Author(s)

Journal Compilation r 2008, Society for Research on Adolescence

Cognitive Self-Regulation and

Depression: Examining Academic Self-
Efficacy and Goal Characteristics in Youth
of a Northern Plains Tribe
Walter D. Scott
University of Wyoming

Eric Dearing
Boston College

W. Rusty Reynolds
University of South Dakota

Julie E. Lindsay, Grayson L. Baird, and Sarah Hamill

University of Wyoming

The relationship between cognitive self-regulatory processes and depression

was examined in American Indian adolescents from a Northern Plains tribe.
Students completed measures of negative life events, self-efficacy, goals, and
depressive symptoms. Results indicated that academic self-efficacy was
strongly associated with depression. Academic self-efficacy also correlated
with intrinsically motivating goal representations, such that students who
indicated high academic self-efficacy had goals that were more important to
them, goals they thought more about, and goals they viewed as wanted by

Requests for reprints should be sent to Walter D. Scott, University of Wyoming,

Department of Psychology, 1000 E. University Drive, Laramie, WY 82071. E-mail:
wscott@uwyo.edu
380 SCOTT ET AL.

the self instead of as imposed on by others. However, we did not find the
hypothesized mediational model in which academic self-efficacy influenced
depression indirectly by influencing goal characteristics. Rather, this indirect
model varied by grade, and differed from what we expected. Specifically, for
older adolescents, higher levels of academic self-efficacy predicted goals that
were more likely to be identified as the adolescents own, and in turn, these
self- as opposed to other-oriented goals predicted higher levels of depressive
symptoms. Results are discussed as providing support for continued inves-
tigations into the role of specific cognitive self-regulatory processes in youth
adjustment.

A depressive episode in youth derails life paths. This negative impact

results from depressions influence on a number of developmental pro-
cesses and outcomes, including self-concept formation (Cole, Martin,
Peeke, Seroczynski, & Hoffman, 1998), social competence (Blechman,
McEnroe, Carella, & Audette, 1986), and achievement (Lewinsohn et al.,
1994). It is, therefore, critical to understand the processes that contribute to
youth depression.
Although a number of psychosocial variables have been investigated
(Lewinsohn, Rohde, & Seeley, 1998), few studies have focused on possible
relations between self-regulatory processes and youth depression, and
even fewer have focused on the specific cognitive mechanisms linking
self-regulatory efforts and depression. Broadly defined, self-regulation
refers to the ability to exert intentional influence over ones experiences
and actions (Caprara & Cervone, 2000). The importance of self-regulatory
processes for youth mental health has been documented in studies of
childhood resilience (Cicchetti & Rogosch, 1997). Among youth exposed
to severe adversity, those who are confident that they can overcome that
adversity and realize valued futures are the ones most likely to develop
successfully and competently.
Two cognitive mechanisms appear particularly important to self-
regulation: self-efficacy appraisals and goal representations. People reflect
on their abilities to act, in other words their perceived self-efficacy to
produce desired performances. People also construct goals, or mental
representations of desired or undesired future states, and these mental
representations can enable one to direct action towards reaching these
imagined future states. Both of these self-regulatory processes are believed
to relate to well-being and depression (Bandura, 1997).
According to Bandura (1997), one major pathway to depression occurs
when individuals possess a low sense of self-efficacy for performing the
actions required to realize valued goals. There is strong support for a
relationship between efficacy judgments and depression in adults. For
 COGNITIVE SELF-REGULATION AND YOUTH DEPRESSION 381

instance, self-efficacy for parenting (Olioff & Aboud, 1991), coping

(Cozzarelli, 1993), social skills (Holahan & Holahan, 1987), and activities
of personal importance (Olioff, Bryson, & Wadden, 1989) have all been
related, either directly or indirectly, to depressive symptoms (See Band-
ura, 1997). A number of goal characteristics have also been related to
depression, including level of abstractness (Emmons, 1992), intergoal
conflict (Emmons & King, 1988), perceived stressfulness and level of
difficulty (Lecci, Karoly, Briggs, & Kuhn, 1994), and approach or avoid-
ance focus (Dickson & MacLeod, 2006), although at least some of these
goal appraisal and depression relationships appear to be reciprocal
(Salmela-Aro & Nurmi, 1996). Other work has found that self-oriented
goals, as opposed to more externally other-driven goals, are associated
with lower levels of depression (Ryan & Deci, 2000).
Although both self-efficacy and goal representations have been related
to depression, these two self-regulatory processes have reciprocal influ-
ences (Bandura, 1997). For instance, self-efficacy judgments influence goal
representations. If people doubt their abilities, they are less apt to invest
personally in important and challenging goals (Bandura, 1997). Efficacy
appraisals may also influence the extent to which a person views a goal
as intrinsically as opposed to extrinsically motivated. For instance,
Bandura and Schunk (1981) found that possessing high efficacy judgments
for a mathematical task was associated with greater intrinsic interest
for that task.
Although self-efficacy and goal characteristics have been shown to re-
late to important affective, motivational, and behavioral outcomes, few
studies have examined these cognitive processes concurrently in the con-
text of youth depression. Bandura, Pastorelli, Barbaranelli, and Caprara
(1999) did find that self-efficacy for academic performances and
social interactions had both a direct and indirect impact on subsequent
youth depression levels. Other studies from this longitudinal project with
Italian youth have demonstrated how diverse efficacy beliefs, including
those for forming and maintaining social relationships, managing rela-
tionships with parents, regulating mood, and resisting negative peer
pressure, can directly or indirectly influence feelings of well-being, sat-
isfaction, and depression (e.g., Bandura, Caprara, Barbaranelli, Gerbino, &
Pastorelli, 2003; Caprara, Pastorelli, Regalia, Scabini, & Bandura, 2005).
However, none of these studies assessed goal characteristics.
Given the reciprocal relationship between efficacy judgments and goal
representations, they need to be examined in concert. Indeed, it is possible
that efficacys influence on depression may be mediated by goal charac-
teristics. An individual who has a low sense of self-efficacy in an impor-
tant domain may, as a result, be less motivated to construct important and
382 SCOTT ET AL.

self-identified goals in that domain. Lacking such goals due to low efficacy
may be the critical cognitive determinant of depressive feelings.
From a resiliency perspective, it is also critical to examine the role of self-
efficacy appraisals and goal representations in youth at heightened risk,
such as those exposed to exceptional adversity and chronic stress. Beyond
issues of risk and resiliency, it is also important to examine these processes
in diverse developmental contexts. As Magnusson and colleagues have
noted (e.g., Magnusson & Stattin, 1998), the developmental meaningfulness
of self-regulation is best understood in developmental context, because the
cognitive structures that underlie self-regulatory abilities are dependent on
interactions between personenvironment systems.
For these reasons, we investigated cognitive self-regulation and de-
pression in Native American adolescents on a reservation located in the
North American plains. The youth of this tribe are exposed to a wide
variety of stressors, including community-wide poverty with 64% of the
households living below the poverty line and over 70% of the working-age
men unemployed. Although systematic longitudinal studies are lacking
with Native youth populations, depression is widely believed to be related
to a number of other serious health risks in Native youth populations,
including substance use, poor academic performance, conduct problems,
school drop out, and suicide (Fleming & Manson, 1996). However, there
have been no empirical investigations on cognitive self-regulation and
depression in Native American youth.
Although one might expect the relationship between cognitive self-
regulation and depression in Native American youth to mirror findings
from other populations, recent cross-cultural research has shown that the
impact of self-related processes on well-being can vary in individualistic
and collectivistic cultures (Kitayama & Markus, 1999). For instance,
although the experience of pride and self-esteem best predicted subjective
well-being in North America, it was feelings of friendliness and respect
that best predicted subjective well-being in Japan, where cultural
affordances are more geared more toward interdependence and social
harmony. Therefore, despite the presence of some findings supporting a
connection between low self-efficacy and depression in youth, it is plau-
sible that this relationship may differ for Native American youth, who live
in a culture described by most Native American scholars as more inter-
dependent and less individualistic than mainstream North American cul-
ture (Manson, Bechtold, Novins, & Beals, 1997; Trimble, Manson, Dinges,
& Medicine, 1984). In contrast, Bandura (1997) has argued that high self-
efficacy is just as critical to successful collective pursuits as it is for in-
dividual pursuits and thus should bear similar relationships across these
two different culture types.
 COGNITIVE SELF-REGULATION AND YOUTH DEPRESSION 383

In the present study, therefore, we had several goals. First, we inves-

tigated the relationship between two critical cognitive self-regulatory
processes (i.e., self-efficacy and goals) and depression in adolescents who
are members of a North American Plains Indian Tribe. To our knowledge,
there have been no empirical studies investigating these cognitive self-
regulatory variables concurrently, and none assessing either self-efficacy
or goal characteristics in American Indian adolescents. We expected that
self-efficacy would have a direct influence on depressive symptoms, and
possibly an indirect influence through goal characteristics. Specifically, we
expected that inefficacious youth would adopt less important goals that
they thought about less frequently and viewed as more other- as opposed
to self-directed. Further, we also expected that these goal characteristics
would independently predict depressive symptoms. Finally, we also in-
vestigated whether the relationship between self-efficacy, goal character-
istics, and depression would depend on grade level, suspecting that these
relationships would become stronger as students approached the post-
high school transition.

METHOD
Participants

Participants were 112 American Indian adolescents who attended a high

school on an Indian Reservation in the Northern Plains of the United
States. The high school included 9th through 12th grades, with ages rang-
ing from 13 to 19 (M 5 16.0).

Measures

Recent negative life events inventory. We used a recent negative life

event measure that was developed specifically for American Indian
adolescents (Novins, Beals, Roberts, & Manson, 1999). The inventory asks
respondents to indicate whether negative life events had occurred in the
past 6 months. Events ranged from relatively minor stressors (e.g.,
breaking up with a girlfriend or boyfriend), to chronic strains (e.g.,
living with someone who has an alcohol problem), to severe events
(e.g., suicide or death of a family member or close friend).

Personal strivings listing (PSL). An abbreviated version of the PSL

(Emmons, 1986) was used to assess goal characteristics. Participants were
asked to list two personal goals they thought best described what they
384 SCOTT ET AL.

were typically trying to do everyday. Participants rated each goal across

three dimensions on 1- to 7-point Likert scales, including goal orientation or
the degree to which the goal was something others wanted for the
participant or whether it was something the participant wanted for him or
herself, goal importance (i.e., how important is this goal to you?), and goal
activation or the degree to which the participant had thought about the
goal before writing it. Higher scores indicated higher levels of self goal-
orientation, importance, and activation. Although there were only two
items for each goal characteristic, scores were moderately reliable (goal
orientation: .59; goal importance: .63; goal activation: .73).
In addition, goal content was rated by two independent judges. Spe-
cifically, each goal was rated across 14 content domains, including the
three domains assessed by the self-efficacy questionnaire: academic,
social, and resisting negative peer influences.1 The categories were not
mutually exclusive: that is, goals could be rated as meeting multiple con-
tent categories. As 11 participants provided no goals and 9 participants
listed one goal, there were a total of 193 goals that were rated. One of these
goals did not meet any of the 14 content categories and was not coded.
Cohens ks for academic, social, and resisting negative peer influence goal
domains were .91, .75, and .72, respectively. In short, 82.2% of the par-
ticipants had at least one of their goals that involved academic content,
16.6% had at least one of their goals that involved social content, and 17.7%
had at least one of their goals that related to resisting negative peer in-
fluences and staying out of trouble. Clearly, academic goals were the most
frequently mentioned goal in this group of Native American students.

Inventory to diagnose depression (IDD; Zimmerman & Coryell,

1987). To assess level of depressive symptoms, we administered the
IDD. The IDD operationalizes each of the diagnostic criteria for major
depressive disorder. The IDD consists of 22 statements, with each
statement composed of two sections: (a) degree of symptom severity
(1 5 I did not feel like a failure; 5 5 I felt I was a totally worthless
person), and (b) symptom duration (1 5 more than two weeks,
2 5 less than two weeks). One item was eliminated as it was judged
by school officials to be developmentally and culturally inappropriate (i.e.,
item about sexual libido). Students did not respond to the duration section

1
In order of frequency of occurrence, the other seven reliably coded (ks 4.60) content
domains for which we did not have corresponding efficacy scales included the extent to which
the goal related to career (38%), sports (26%), physical health (23%), family (12%), physical
appearance (9%), materials/goods (8%), and traditional Native American cultural practices
(7%). Four content domains did not achieve adequate interrater reliability: recreational, per-
sonal/self, emotion regulation, and community (ks o.55).
 COGNITIVE SELF-REGULATION AND YOUTH DEPRESSION 385

if they had circled a one in the symptom severity portion of the statement.
We calculated a continuous total symptom severity score that summed
across the symptom severity portions of the statements. The IDD has been
found to possess superior internal consistency for a Native American
adolescent population (a 5 .94) and yield depression prevalence estimates
that are closer to the expected rates based on epidemiological studies
(Ackerson, Dick, Manson, & Baron, 1990).

Self-efficacy questionnaire-modified (SEQ-M). We used a subset of

scales from a multidimensional self-efficacy questionnaire (Bandura et al.,
1999). Based on pilot testing and focus groups conducted with Native
American students on the reservation in which this study was conducted,
42 items were used that assessed self-efficacy in three domains: academic
activities, social activities, and resisting negative peer influences. Each
item asked participants how well they could perform a specific behavior
(1 5 not well at all, 7 5 very well) for such activities as learning
various subjects and self-regulating school work, making and keeping
friends, carrying on conversations, and being effectively assertive, and
resisting peer influences for engaging in high risk behaviors, such as using
illegal substances, breaking rules, and having sex. The SEQ has
demonstrated acceptable levels of internal consistency, testretest
reliability, and validity (Bandura et al., 1999). In the present study, the
modified scale demonstrated good to excellent reliability (i.e., academic
self-efficacy 5.95, social self-efficacy 5.86, and resisting negative peer
influences self-efficacy 5.82).

Statistical Analyses

Path analysis was used to estimate the hypothesized direct and indirect
associations between academic self-efficacy, goals, and depressive symp-
toms (see Figure 1). Tests of indirect associations were computed using
bias-corrected bootstrapping for the product of the coefficients (Dearing &
Hamilton, 2006). In addition, we examined whether associations varied as
a function of adolescent grade in school. Specifically, we estimated inter-
actions between adolescent grade and four of the predictors/mediators in
our models: self-efficacy, goal orientation, goal importance, and goal ac-
tivation; then, for statistically significant interactions, we examined con-
ditional direct and indirect effects by estimating slopes of association
between the predictors/mediators and depressive symptoms at varying
levels of adolescent grade (Dearing & Hamilton, 2006).
386 SCOTT ET AL.

Goal
Orientation

.50 .22
Goal
Importance
.52 .05

Goal
.56 Activation .09
Academic Depressive
Self-efficacy .29 Symptoms

FIGURE 1 Standardized path coefficients for the path model in which the direct and
indirect effects linking adolescents academic self-efficacy, goals, and depressive symptoms
were estimated. Significant paths are indicated with solid lines and insignificant paths are
indicated with dotted lines. Although omitted from the figure for purposes of clarity, ad-
olescent grade, gender, GPA, and recent life events were included as covariates for the dis-
played variables. In addition, the errors for the three goals variables were allowed to
correlate.

Across all students, 74.3% of participants had complete data. Maximum

likelihood estimation using an EM algorithm was used to replace missing
data, because this method is a recommended alternative to discarding
participants or observations (Schafer & Graham, 2002; Widamen, 2006). In
addition, given that our student population expressed a predominance of
academic goals, we focused all our analyses on academic self-efficacy, as
opposed to examining self-efficacy for social activities and resisting neg-
ative peer influences. The means and standard deviations for all variables
(after imputing missing values) are presented in Table 1.

TABLE 1
Descriptive Statistics

Variable M (SD) %

Gender 5 boy 52.7

Grade in school 10.07 (1.08)
GPA 2.53 (.78)
Recent negative life events 2.84 (2.16)
Academic self-efficacy (item mean) 4.8 (.93)
Goal characteristics (item means)
Orientation 3.10 (.63)
Importance 3.16 (.45)
Activation 2.97 (.61)
Inventory to diagnose depression (IDD) total symptom score 33.5 (13.1)
 COGNITIVE SELF-REGULATION AND YOUTH DEPRESSION 387

RESULTS

As a first analytic step, we estimated a path model with academic self-

efficacy as a predictor of high-school students goals and depressive
symptoms. In this model, we also estimated the indirect path from aca-
demic self-efficacy to depressive symptoms via goals; that is, adolescent
goals were specified as mediators of the association between academic
self-efficacy and depressive symptoms. In this model, adolescent gender,
grade, GPA, and recent life events were included as covariates as each of
these variables have been associated with depressive symptoms. The re-
sulting standardized coefficients are provided in Figure 1.
Overall, this model provided an acceptable fit to the data (i.e., w2 5 5.29,
df 5 4, p 5 .26; RMSEA 5 .06; NNFI 5 .95).2 In addition, academic self-
efficacy was a significant (po.05) predictor of adolescent goals and
depressive symptoms. Academic self-efficacy was, for example, positively
associated with goal orientation, importance, and activation. As indicated
by the standardized coefficients, a one standard deviation increase in ac-
ademic self-efficacy predicted approximately one-half of a standard de-
viation increase for all three goal outcomes with effect sizes (i.e., partial
correlations) of .44 for goal orientation, .48 for goal importance, and .51 for
goal activation. On the other hand, academic self-efficacy was negatively
associated with depressive symptoms such that a one standard deviation
increase in self-efficacy predicted approximately one-quarter of a stan-
dard deviation decrease in depressive symptoms with an effect size (i.e.,
partial correlation) of .24.
The hypothesized indirect association between academic self-efficacy
and depressive symptoms via adolescent goals was not supported. Al-
though we expected that goals would be negatively associated with de-
pressive symptoms, and thereby indirectly link self-efficacy with
depressive symptoms, goal activation and goal importance were not re-
lated to depression. Even more surprising, goal orientation was positively
associated with depressive symptoms. In other words, for goal orienta-
tion, we found some evidence of inconsistent mediation (i.e., the direct

2
Given the cross-sectional nature of the data, we compared the hypothesized model de-
picted in Figure 1 with the following three alternative path models: (1) the direct and indirect
paths from depressive symptoms to academic self-efficacy and, in turn, to goals (i.e., depressive
symptoms ! academic self-efficacy ! goals), (2) the direct and indirect paths from goals to
academic self-efficacy and, in turn, to depressive symptoms (i.e., goals ! academic self-
efficacy ! depressive symptoms), and (3) the direct and indirect paths from academic self-
efficacy to goals and, in turn, to depressive symptoms (i.e., academic self-efficacy ! depressive
symptoms ! goals). Each of these models provided worse overall fit to the data compared with
our hypothesized model (e.g., df 5 4, w2 5 6.02, 5.43, and 5.41, respectively).
388 SCOTT ET AL.

and indirect associations between academic self-efficacy and depressive

symptoms were opposite in sign; Dearing & Hamilton, 2006; MacKinnon,
Lockwood, Hoffman, West, & Sheets, 2002). Although the direct associ-
ation between academic self-efficacy and depressive symptoms was pos-
itive such that higher academic self-efficacy predicted lower depressive
symptom levels, there was also an indirect effect (p 5 .05) whereby higher
academic self-efficacy predicted higher goal orientation scores and, in
turn, those higher goal orientation scores predicted higher depressive
symptom levels for these adolescents.

Moderated Mediation

As a second analytic step, we estimated four additional path models in

which we examined interactions between adolescent grade in school and
the following four variables: academic self-efficacy, goal orientation, goal
importance, and goal activation. By so doing, we allowed both the direct
and indirect associations between academic self-efficacy and depressive
symptoms to vary by adolescent grade. Thus, with regard to indirect as-
sociations, these additional path models allowed us to examine potential
moderated mediation effects. In other words, by estimating these addi-
tional models we examined whether indirect associations linking aca-
demic self-efficacy with goals and, in turn, goals with depressive
symptoms differed for adolescents in earlier grades compared with those
in later grades.
Two of the four moderated mediation models yielded significant
(po.05) interactions by child grade. The indirect path from academic self-
efficacy to goal orientation and, in turn, to depressive symptoms as well as
the indirect path from academic self-efficacy to goal importance and, in
turn, to depressive symptoms differed for younger versus older students.
In addition, compared with the main effects model in Figure 1, the mod-
erated mediation model for goal orientation improved the overall fit (i.e.,
w2 5 12.24, df 5 12, p 5 .43; RMSEA 5 .01; NNFI 5 .99). For this model,
therefore, we examined the direct and indirect effects of academic self-
efficacy on depressive symptoms at conditional values of adolescent
grade.
In Figure 2a, we present the resulting path coefficients for 9th graders
and in Figure 2b we present the resulting path coefficients for 12th graders.
For brevity, we do not present figures for 10th and 11th graders; although
the absolute size of coefficients differed across all grades, 10th graders
displayed the same pattern of significant results as 9th graders and
 COGNITIVE SELF-REGULATION AND YOUTH DEPRESSION 389

a Goal
Orientation

.33 Goal .00

Importance
.52
Goal
Activation
.59
Academic Depressive
Self-efficacy .30 Symptoms

b Goal
Orientation

.17 Goal .38

Importance
.52
Goal
Activation
.59
Academic Depressive
Self-efficacy .30 Symptoms

FIGURE 2 Standardized path coefficients at conditional values of grade in school. Co-

efficients for 9th graders are provided in a and coefficients for 12th graders are provided in b.
Significant paths are indicated with solid lines and insignificant paths are indicated with
dotted lines. For purposes of clarity, interaction terms, patterns of correlation across main
effect and interaction terms, and covariates (i.e., grade, gender, GPA, and recent life events)
are not depicted.

11th graders displayed the same pattern of significant results as 12th

graders.
For adolescents in 9th and 10th grade, academic self-efficacy had a
positive and significant direct association with each of the three goal
variables as well as a negative and significant direct association with de-
pressive symptoms. For these younger adolescents, however, there was no
association between goal orientation and depressive symptoms and there
was no indirect association between academic self-efficacy and depressive
symptoms via goal orientation. On the other hand, for adolescents in 11th
and 12th grade, goal orientation was positively and significantly associ-
ated with depressive symptoms. In addition, the indirect path from self-
efficacy to goal orientation and, in turn, to depressive symptoms was
significant.
Although the moderated mediation model for goal importance did not
improve model fit relative to the main effects model, the direction of the
390 SCOTT ET AL.

significant moderating effects of adolescent age were similar to those de-

tected for goal orientation. There was, for example, no direct association
between goal importance and depressive symptoms for 9th and 10th
grade adolescents (nor an indirect association from academic self-efficacy
to depressive symptoms via goal importance for these younger adoles-
cents), but this association was positive and significant for 11th and 12th
grade adolescents and the indirect effect from academic self-efficacy to
depressive symptoms via goal importance was positive and significant for
these older adolescents. Further, the direct association between academic
self-efficacy and depressive symptoms was negative and significant, in-
dicating that the direct and indirect associations between academic self-
efficacy and depressive symptoms differed in direction.

DISCUSSION

We found strong support for the role of academic self-efficacy in influ-

encing depressive symptoms in this population. In the early stages of this
project, we encountered doubt that these relationships would hold for
Native youth populations, for whom the social context is generally con-
sidered more collectivistic. Bandura (1997) has observed, however, that
high self-efficacy is just as critical to successful collective pursuits as it is
for individual pursuits. Our experience on this reservation matches his
observation in that individual tribal members are valued by the commu-
nity for their abilities to make contributions to the tribes well-being. In
fact, this was an underlying motive for many young peoples pursuits of
educational goals, namely to return to the reservation with skills and
talents that would enable them to personally contribute to the betterment
of the tribe.
Academic self-efficacy also was related to the goal characteristics of
these youth in the expected directions. To the extent the students were
confident in their academic abilities, they set what were predominantly
academic goals that appeared to be more intrinsically motivating (i.e.,
viewed as more self-directed, important, and thought about). This finding
links two separate literatures: self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997) and intrinsic
motivation (Ryan & Deci, 2000), suggesting that self-efficacy be added to
the list of factors found to facilitate the development of intrinsic motiva-
tion (e.g., positive feedback, autonomy and choice, lack of extrinsic
rewards).
However, possessing intrinsically motivating goals appears to be less
beneficial for the affective experiences of Native American youth. Sur-
prisingly, the goal characteristics of interest level, degree of thinking, and
 COGNITIVE SELF-REGULATION AND YOUTH DEPRESSION 391

self versus other orientation did not influence depressive symptoms in the
expected directions. In fact, for older students, possessing self-oriented
and most important goals was associated with an increase in depressive
symptoms. In interpreting this finding, several observations are notewor-
thy. First, only 4 of 40 juniors and seniors had depressive symptom levels
sufficient to warrant a diagnosis of clinical depression (Zimmerman &
Coryell, 1987). Second, in examining the goal content of these older stu-
dents, 79% were pursuing academic related goals (e.g., go to college). In
audiotaped interviews with tribal community-nominated adult role mod-
els, many of whom had attained college degrees, there was frequent men-
tion of the fact that leaving the reservation to pursue a college education
meant potentially losing the social support of the tribe and family mem-
bers. The pursuit of important and self-identified goals may conflict with
social affordances more responsive to meeting role obligations and family
expectations (Kitayama & Markus, 1999). These observations suggest that
as high school juniors and seniors confront the reality of leaving the res-
ervation they experience considerable distress, although rarely clinical
levels of depression.
A related possibility deserving further study is that as American Indian
students become older they develop lower outcome expectations with
regard to realizing important and personally valued goals. Although our
analyses showed that self-efficacy appraisals did not diminish with older
students, Bandura (1997) has pointed out that outcome expectations can
be very low despite high levels of self-efficacy for a given performance.
This may be particularly true when members of disadvantaged groups
perceive that desired outcomes will not occur regardless of whatever
personal competence they may possess due to societal prejudice and dis-
crimination (Bandura, 1997).
In conclusion, we have provided the first data demonstrating a rela-
tionship between cognitive self-regulatory processes and depressive
symptoms in Native American youth. Although academic efficacy
beliefs appeared as pivotal to well-being for these youth as has
been found in other populations, intervention efforts should attend
to the potential impact of culture on the pursuit of important and per-
sonally valued goals.

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 r 2008, Copyrignt the Author(s)
Journal Compilation r 2008, Society for Research on Adolescence