Vulnerability to depressive mood reactions: Toward a more powerful test of the diathesis–stress and causal mediation components of the reformulated theory of depression

The relation of depressive symptoms to theory of mind in adults

BACKGROUND

Theory of mind (ToM) is the ability to understand thoughts and feelings of others. Significant heterogeneity exists for the strength of the association between depression and ToM performance.

METHODS

To clarify these relations, two studies of depressed and nondepressed adults investigate cross-sectional associations of four latent depression factors (i.e., somatic symptoms, depressed affect, positive affect, and interpersonal problems) to two aspects of ToM (reasoning vs. decoding). Study 1 investigated associations between depression factors and reasoning ToM (N = 258), and Study 2 investigated associations between depression factors and decoding ToM (N = 219).

RESULTS

In Study 1, the interpersonal problems factor was negatively related to reasoning ToM, though in Study 2, no consistent associations emerged between depression and decoding ToM. Study 2 also replicated a novel approach to assessing valence with the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test.

LIMITATIONS

This investigation was primarily limited by cross-sectional designs, self-report, and online delivery of measures.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings emphasize the heterogeneity of ToM as a construct and identify targets for clinical intervention, with specific focus on bolstering reasoning ToM skills.

Emotion regulation mediates the relationship between family caregivers' pain-related beliefs and patients' coping strategies

Background: In order to tailor more effective interventions and minimize the burden of chronic pain, it is critical to identify the interaction and contribution of social and psychological factors in pain. One of the important psychological factors in pain management is related to the choice of pain coping strategies in chronic pain patients. Social resources, including family caregivers' pain attitudes-beliefs, can influence pain coping strategies in chronic pain patients. Moreover, one key factor that may intervene in the relationship between caregivers' pain attitudes-beliefs and the patients' coping strategies is the emotion regulation strategies. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the mediating role of emotion regulation strategies of chronic pain patients and their family caregivers on the association between caregivers' pain attitudes-beliefs and pain coping strategies of chronic pain patients. Methods: We recruited 200 chronic musculoskeletal pain patients and their family caregivers. Chronic pain patients responded to measures of pain coping and emotion regulation strategies while family caregivers completed questionnaires related to their attitude toward pain and emotion regulation of themselves. Results: There is an association between caregivers' pain attitudes-beliefs and pain coping strategies in patients with chronic musculoskeletal. Moreover, the structural equation modeling revealed that the emotion regulation of both patients and family caregivers mediate the relationship between the caregivers' pain attitudes-beliefs and pain coping strategies of patients with chronic musculoskeletal. Conclusions: The social context of pain, including the effect of family caregivers' responses to the patient's pain, is a critical pain source that is suggested to affect coping strategies in patients. These findings suggest an association between pain attitudes-beliefs in family caregivers and pain coping strategies in patients. Moreover, these results showed that the emotion regulation of both patients and their family caregivers mediates this association.

Recovery From Ostracism Distress: The Role of Attribution

Ostracism is known to cause psychological distress. Thus, defining the factors that can lead to recovery or diminish these negative effects is crucial. Three experiments examined whether suggesting the possible causes of ostracism to victims could decrease or eliminate their ostracism distress. They also examined whether death-anxiety mediated the association between the suggested possible cause for being ostracized and recovery. Participants (N = 656) were randomly assigned to six experimental and control groups and were either ostracized or included in a game of Cyberball. Two control conditions were used: participants who were ostracized but received no explanation and participants who were included. Immediately after the ostracism experience, participants in the experimental groups were presented with one of four causes for being ostracized, using locus of control (internal, external) and stability (stable, unstable), the two causal dimensions of Weiner’s attribution theory. After a short delay they were administered a mood or needs-satisfaction questionnaire. The results highlight the interaction between locus of control and stability, and underscore the relative importance of different attributions in alleviating self-reported ostracism distress. Specifically, both external and unstable attributions decreased distress, and an unstable attribution led to complete recovery in some participants. Thus, recovery from ostracism may be accelerated when the victim receives an explanation for ostracism that attributes the incident to unstable, external causes soon after the incident. Death-anxiety fully mediated the association between locus of control attribution and mood, but for on needs-satisfaction or the stability of the attribution.

The Transdiagnostic Origins of Anxiety and Depression During the Pediatric Period: Linking NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Constructs to Ecological Systems

In the last decade, an abundance of research has utilized the NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework to examine mechanisms underlying anxiety and depression in youth. However, relatively little work has examined how these mechanistic intrapersonal processes intersect with context during childhood and adolescence. The current paper covers reviews and meta-analyses that have linked RDoC-relevant constructs to ecological systems in internalizing problems in youth. Specifically, cognitive, biological, and affective factors within the RDoC framework were examined. Based on these reviews and some of the original empirical research they cover, we highlight the integral role of ecological factors to the RDoC framework in predicting onset and maintenance of internalizing problems in youth. Specific recommendations are provided for researchers using the RDoC framework to inform future research integrating ecological systems and development. We advocate for future research and research funding to focus on better integration of the environment and development into the RDoC framework.

Day-to-day changes in negative attributions of stress: A daily diary study of cognitive vulnerability and negative affect in adults with elevated risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors

BACKGROUND

The hopelessness theory is one of the most studied cognitive vulnerability theories of depression. It proposes that risk for depression is conferred by attributing the causes of negative events to global, internal, stable causes and inferring future negative consequences and negative characteristics about oneself from these events. Nearly all research has operationalized cognitive style using individuals' responses to hypothetical events at single timepoints. Far less research has explored attributions of specific events as they occur, none of which has involved clinical samples.

METHODS

This study aimed to examine if measuring event-specific attributions clarifies the relationship between negative cognitive style and clinical symptoms. Adults (n = 51), who had attempted suicide at least once in the year prior, were recruited from the community via online forums related to suicide risk. Participants provided nightly ratings of hopelessness and attributions of the most stressful event that day for four weeks.

RESULTS

The daily diary composite measure of cognitive style was more strongly associated with hopelessness and depressive symptoms than the trait measure. Daily attributions fully mediated the relationship between trait cognitive style and hopelessness.

LIMITATIONS

The measurement period could not capture the occurrence of a next depressive episode for all participants. Relatedly, we could not account for the precise nature of individual stressors.

CONCLUSIONS

At a population level, trait measures alone may be a useful risk factor. But, with the goal to move towards more personalized prediction and intervention, more dynamic, ecologically valid, and real time measures may help gain more traction.

Conceptualization and assessment of personality factors in depression

Research that relates personality to depression is one of the dominant themes in the clinical literature. The current paper examines this research from a critical perspective. It is argued that existing research is limited by (i) a failure to adopt a broad conceptual approach to the study of personality and depression; and (ii) the use of personality measures with questionable psychometric properties. Our observations lead us to suggest that greater adherence to established methodology and conceptual developments in the personality field will result in substantial improvements in research on personality and depression, and may ultimately provide a more accurate appraisal of the role of personality factors in depression. In addition to examining important issues, key directions for future research are discussed.

Causal attribution, coping strategies, and combat‐related post‐traumatic stress disorder

The present study assesses the intervening role of ways of coping in mediating the effects of causal attribution for negative events on combat‐related post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The sample consisted of Israeli soldiers who suffered a combat stress reaction episode during the 1982 Lebanon War and were followed 2 and 3 years after their participation in combat. The results showed that an attribution of negative events to stable and uncontrollable causes was associated with both a more frequent use of emotion‐focused coping and a less frequent use of problem‐focused coping. It was also found that emotion‐focused coping and problem‐focused coping were more direct antecedents of combat‐related PTSD than causal attribution. Finally, it was found that the association between causal attribution and combat‐related PTSD was mediated by variations in emotion‐focused coping. The discussion attempts to integrate theoretical notions derived from attributional models and Lazarus and Folkman's stress‐coping model.

Attributional Styles, Self-Esteem, and Just World Belief of Victims of Bullying in Dutch Organizations

Large-scale surveys in Europe document that some 8–15% of European workers are subjected to intimidation and bullying. Victims of severe bullying in Dutch organizations ( N = 21) and non-victims ( N = 30) filled out questionnaires. As predicted, victims had a lower Just World Belief, and lower self-esteem than non-victims. Moreover, victims attached higher importance to negative situations than non-victims do. The two groups demonstrated only minor differences in their attributions of internal, and stable causes to negative events. However, victims of bullying attributed causes of bullying significantly more often to specific aspects of situations. In the discussion it is suggested that in future research a distinction should be made between subgroups of victims.

Heterosexual Women's Causal Attributions Regarding Impairment in Sexual Function: Factor Structure and Associations with Well-Being

Theory and interventions for female sexual dysfunction typically emphasize the role of cognitions, including the perceived causes of impaired sexual function (causal attributions). Although causal attributions have been extensively studied in the context of mood disorders and relational distress, research in the area of sexual dysfunction has been limited. The current study explored the factor structure of women's causal attributions regarding their impaired sexual function and the association between these attributions and multiple indicators of subjective well-being. Women in heterosexual relationships reporting current impairments in sexual function (N = 147) completed self-report scales assessing 13 distinct causal attributions, sexual function, and subjective well-being. Results suggested moderately reliable patterns of attributions regarding responsibility (e.g., self vs. partner), specificity to sexual activity, and the degree to which women could effectively address the causes of their difficulties. Beliefs that impaired sexual function was the fault of one's self or one's partner, caused by wider issues in the relationship, and difficult to effectively address were generally associated with lower well-being over and above severity of functional impairment. These findings support multiple theories of sexual dysfunction, and highlight the potential importance of cognitive factors in understanding and treating female sexual dysfunction.

Cognitive attributions, depressive symptoms and hopelessness as predictors of perceived desirability of physician-assisted suicide in Alzheimer's caregivers

This study compared attitudes towards physicianassisted suicide in two groups of older persons, 57-caregivers of relatives with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 46-non-caregivers. A series of two-way ANOVAs by caregiver status and level of depressive symptoms compared hopelessness scores, attribution styles, and beliefs about physician-assisted suicide. Two attributional style scales were significantly associated with depressive symptoms. Subjects who felt less in control of the stresses in their lives reported more depressive symptoms (F = 10.16, p = .002). Subjects who felt that the factors causing stress were unchangeable also reported significantly more depressive symptoms (F = 5.41, p = .022). Over twothirds of both groups believed assisted suicide was a rational decision in some circumstances, but 40 percent of caregivers and only 24 percent of non-caregivers believed physicians should assist patients in committing suicide.

Anāsakti and Health: A Study of Non-attachment

This study examined the health consequences of an indigenous concept "Anāsakti" which means non-attachment. The scale measuring anāsakti was based on the characteristics of a man of steady wisdom "the sthitaprajña", described in the Bhagvad Gītā. It was hypothesised that those higb on anāsakti would experience less distress and exhibit fewer symptoms of strain when faced with stressful life events. Results showèd tbat anāsakt subjects were less distressed and exhibited fewer symptoms of ill health. Anāsakti was also found to be the most significant predictor of strain symptoms.

Self-Serving Biases and Self-Satisfaction in East Versus West German Students

Oettingen and Seligman, in their 1990 study, found more behavioral expressions of depression in East than in West Berliners. On the basis of their findings, we assumed that(a) East Germans are less likely to show self-serving biases when judging personal performances than West Germans and that (b) the absence of positively biased judgments would produce lower self-satisfaction in East than in West Germans. In a questionnaire study, we found more accurate self-related judgments in East than in West German students. This difference was especially pronounced in students who had obtained negative performance feedback. Further, West German students were found to be more self-satisfied than East German students. This difference was partly due to a lack of judgmental distortions in the East German students.

Attributional Models of Depression and Marital Distress

The authors compare the attributional models presented in depression and marital literatures by examining simultaneously their prediction of depressive symptoms and marital distress. A total of 150 married couples completed the Attribution Style Questionnaire (ASQ), the Relationship Attribution Measure (RAM), and measures of depression and marital distress. For both husbands and wives, a full model that included paths from depressogenic and distress-maintaining marital attributions to both depressive symptoms and marital distress provided a better fit to the data than a model that omitted paths from distress-maintaining attributions to each outcome. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

Perceived Social Support and Attributions for Failed Support

Global perceptions of social support are as stable as personality characteristics, although people occasionally must experience support that violates their expectations. To help understand this phenomenon, two studies investigated perceived support and attributions for when support is needed but not received. The authors hypothesized that persons with high perceived social support would explain that ineffective support resulted from unstable and specific factors. In contrast, low perceived social support persons were expected to make more negative attributions. In Study 1, low versus high perceived social support people made more negative attributions for hypothetical situations in which individuals needed support but did not get it. In Study 2, women described actual failed support experiences. Again, women low in social support made more negative attributions for failed support, compared to those with high support. In both studies, the relation between support and attributions could not be explained by negative emotion.

Cognitive Therapy for Depression

The development of cognitive therapy, one of the most promising interventions for the treatment of depression and other nonpsychotic disorders, has been strongly influenced by basic research in social and cognitive psychology. The approach is predicated on a two-factor cognitive theory of emotion and accords a central role to the operation of schematic knowledge structures and information-processing heuristics. Procedures designed to produce change in existing depresotypic beliefs are grounded in principles emerging from that basic literature, and strategies derived from attribution theory appear to contribute to the apparent capacity of cognitive therapy to prevent the emergence of future depressive episodes. Clearly, the development and articulation of cognitive therapy have benefited greatly from basic research in experimental social and cognitive psychology.

Cognitive Styles and Proneness to Depressive Symptoms in University Women

To assess the relations between depressotypic cognitions and depression proneness, the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale and the Attributional Style Questionnaire were administered to 99 university women, along with measures of depression proneness and current affective state. Dysfunctional attitudes and attributional style were both found to correlate significantly with depression proneness, as measured by the Depression Proneness Rating Scales, and with current affective state, as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory and the Depression Adjective Checklist. However, when current affective state was statistically controlled, only dysfunctional attitudes continued to show a reliable association with depression proneness. These results support Beck's cognitive model of depression but not the revised learned-helplessness model of depression.

"You Can't Always Get What You Want": A Novel Research Paradigm to Explore the Relationship between Multiple Intentions and Behaviours

Objective

Research investigating cognitive moderators of the intention–behaviour relationship and psychological consequences of failure to enact intentions is usually conducted in a single‐behaviour paradigm. A multiple‐behaviour paradigm is introduced which overcomes bias inherent to single‐behaviour designs and allows testing of novel hypotheses. Two exploratory studies illustrate the utility of this new paradigm by investigating the role of cognitive predictors and psychological correlates of intention–behaviour relationships.

Method

The proposed method involves measuring multiple intentions across common areas of life activity at baseline and corresponding behaviours at follow‐up. In two studies, 51 intentions and behaviours were assessed (49 by self‐report, 2 objectively). In Study 1, participants (n = 126) also completed self‐reported measures of everyday cognitive failures and dysexecutive behaviours, crystallised intelligence (Mill Hill Vocabulary Scale) at baseline and Quality of Life (QoL; follow‐up). In Study 2, objective executive function measures (Stroop, Go/NoGo task and Word Fluency test) were completed by N = 30 participants.

Results

The total number of intentions, cognitive, and QoL measures were unrelated to the percentage of intentions enacted. Crystallised intelligence was related to successful intention implementation and problems with emotion regulation were associated with forming fewer intentions and with fewer failed intentions. QoL was strongly related with more intentions, regardless of whether or not these were implemented. Study 2 showed that cognitive flexibility (word fluency) and task errors, rather than Stroop effect and Go/No‐Go performance were related, to intention–behaviour congruence.

Conclusion

Intention–behaviour relationships might be better understood when considering the multiple intentions and behaviours that people are engaged in at once at any one point in time. A multiple‐behaviour paradigm suggests novel hypotheses. Preliminary findings reported here require replication. Anticipated applications of the paradigm are outlined and discussed.

Revisiting the relationship between attributional style and academic performance

Previous research into the relationship between attributions and academic performance has produced contradictory findings that have not been resolved. The present research examines the role of specific dimensions of attributional style in predicting subsequent academic performance in a sample of pupils (N = 979) from both high- and low-achieving schools. Hierarchical regression and moderation analyses indicate that internal, stable, and global, attributional styles for positive events predict higher levels of academic performance. Global attributions for negative events were related to poorer performance across all schools. Stable attributions for negative events were related to higher levels of performance in high-achieving schools but not in low-achieving schools. Higher levels of internality for negative events were associated with higher performance only in low achieving schools.

Longitudinal changes in white matter microstructure after heavy cannabis use

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies of cannabis users report alterations in brain white matter microstructure, primarily based on cross-sectional research, and etiology of the alterations remains unclear. We report findings from longitudinal voxelwise analyses of DTI data collected at baseline and at a 2-year follow-up on 23 young adult (18-20 years old at baseline) regular cannabis users and 23 age-, sex-, and IQ-matched non-using controls with limited substance use histories. Onset of cannabis use was prior to age 17. Cannabis users displayed reduced longitudinal growth in fractional anisotropy in the central and parietal regions of the right and left superior longitudinal fasciculus, in white matter adjacent to the left superior frontal gyrus, in the left corticospinal tract, and in the right anterior thalamic radiation lateral to the genu of the corpus callosum, along with less longitudinal reduction of radial diffusion in the right central/posterior superior longitudinal fasciculus, corticospinal tract, and posterior cingulum. Greater amounts of cannabis use were correlated with reduced longitudinal growth in FA as was relatively impaired performance on a measure of verbal learning. These findings suggest that continued heavy cannabis use during adolescence and young adulthood alters ongoing development of white matter microstructure, contributing to functional impairment.

A Longitudinal Examination of the Hopelessness Theory of Depression in People Who Have Multiple Sclerosis

PURPOSE

Hopelessness theory predicts that negative attributional style will interact with negative life events over time to predict depression. The intention of this study was to test this in a population who are at greater risk of negative life events, people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

METHOD

Data, including measures of attributional style, negative life events, and depressive symptoms, were collected via postal survey in 3 phases, each one a year apart.

RESULTS

Responses were received from over 380 participants at each study phase. Negative attributional style was consistently able to predict future depressive symptoms at low to moderate levels of association; however, this ability was not sustained when depressive symptoms at Phase 1 were controlled for. No substantial evidence to support the hypothesised interaction of negative attributional style and negative life events was found.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings were not supportive of the causal interaction proposed by the hopelessness theory of depression. Further work considering other time frames, using methods to prime attributional style before assessment and specifically assessing the hopelessness subtype of depression, may prove to be more fruitful. Intervention directly to address attributional style should also be considered.

A comparison of cognitive-behavioral couple therapy and lidocaine in the treatment of provoked vestibulodynia: study protocol for a randomized clinical trial

Background

Provoked vestibulodynia (PVD), a frequent form of chronic genital pain, is associated with decreased sexual function for afflicted women, as well as impoverished sexual satisfaction for women and their partners. Pain and sexuality outcomes for couples with PVD are influenced by interpersonal factors, such as pain catastrophizing, partner responses to pain, ambivalence over emotional expression, attachment style and perceived relationship and sexual intimacy. Despite recommendations in the literature to include the partner in cognitive-behavioral therapy targeted at improving pain and sexuality outcomes, no randomized clinical trial has tested the efficacy of this type of intervention and compared it to a first-line medical intervention.

Methods

This bi-center, randomized clinical trial is designed to examine the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral couple therapy compared to topical lidocaine. It is conducted across two Canadian university-hospital centers. Eligible women diagnosed with PVD and their partners are randomized to one of the two interventions. Evaluations are conducted using structured interviews and validated self-report measures at three time points: Pre-treatment (T1: prior to randomization), post-treatment (T2), and 6-month follow-up (T3). The primary outcome is the change in reported pain during intercourse between T1 and T2. Secondary outcomes focus on whether there are significant differences between the two treatments at T2 and T3 on (a) the multidimensional aspects of women’s pain and (b) women and partners’ sexuality (sexual function and satisfaction), psychological adjustment (anxiety, depression, catastrophizing, self-efficacy, and quality of life), relationship factors (partner responses and dyadic adjustment) and self-reported improvement and treatment satisfaction. In order to detect an effect size as small as 0.32 for secondary outcomes, a sample of 170 couples is being recruited (27% dropout expected). A clinically significant decrease in pain is defined as a 30% reduction.

Discussion

The randomized clinical trial design is the most appropriate to examine the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral couple therapy, a recently developed and pilot-tested psychosocial intervention for couples coping with PVD, in comparison to a frequent first-line treatment option, topical lidocaine. Findings from this study will provide important information about empirically supported treatment options for PVD, and inform future treatment development and research for this patient population.

Trial registration

Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01935063; registration date: 27 August 27 2013.

Relationship between attributional style, perceived control, self-esteem, and depressive mood in a nonclinical sample: a structural equation-modelling approach

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to examine the intricate relationship between some personality traits (i.e., attributional style, perceived control over consequences, self-esteem), and depressive mood in a nonclinical sample (N= 334). Method. Structural equation modelling was used to estimate five competing models: two vulnerability models describing the effects of personality traits on depressive mood, one scar model describing the effects of depression on personality traits, a mixed model describing the effects of attributional style and perceived control over consequences on depressive mood, which in turn affects self-esteem, and a reciprocal model which is a non-recursive version of the mixed model that specifies bidirectional effects between depressive mood and self-esteem.

RESULTS

The best-fitting model was the mixed model. Moreover, we observed a significant negative effect of depression on self-esteem, but no effect in the opposite direction.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings provide supporting arguments against the continuum model of the relationship between self-esteem and depression, and lend substantial support to the scar model, which claims that depressive mood damages and erodes self-esteem. In addition, the 'depressogenic' nature of the pessimistic attributional style, and the 'antidepressant' nature of perceived control over consequences plead in favour of the vulnerability model.

Longitudinal changes in behavioral approach system sensitivity and brain structures involved in reward processing during adolescence

Figure 2 was distorted in production. The correct version is presented in the erratum.] Adolescence is a period of radical normative changes and increased risk for substance use, mood disorders, and physical injury. Researchers have proposed that increases in reward sensitivity (i.e., sensitivity of the behavioral approach system [BAS]) and/or increases in reactivity to all emotional stimuli (i.e., reward and threat sensitivities) lead to these phenomena. The present study is the first longitudinal investigation of changes in reward (i.e., BAS) sensitivity in 9- to 23-year-olds across a 2-year follow-up. Support was found for increased reward sensitivity from early to late adolescence, and evidence was found for decline in the early 20s. This decline is combined with a decrease in left nucleus accumbens (Nacc) volume, a key structure for reward processing, from the late teens into the early 20s. Furthermore, we found longitudinal increases in sensitivity to reward to be predicted by individual differences in the Nacc and medial orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) volumes at baseline in this developmental sample. Similarly, increases in sensitivity to threat (i.e., behavioral inhibition system sensitivity) were qualified by sex, with only females participants experiencing this increase, and predicted by individual differences in lateral OFC volumes at baseline.

Attributions about pain as predictors of psychological symptomatology, sexual function, and dyadic adjustment in women with vestibulodynia

The present study examined whether attributions for vulvo-vaginal pain predicted pain intensity, sexual function, as well as psychological and dyadic adjustment in women with vestibulodynia. Women with vestibulodynia (N = 77) completed measures of attributions, pain, psychological distress, sexual functioning, and dyadic adjustment. They also took part in a structured interview and a gynaecological examination for diagnostic purposes. Attributions are represented by: (1) internality (personal responsibility) or externality (cause lies in an external situation); (2) globality (entire life affected by the problem) or specificity (problem affecting only a specific situation); (3) stability (problem will still remain in the future) or instability (weak probability that the problem will be maintained with time); and (4) partner responsibility (partner responsible or not for the problem). Results indicated that attributions were not significantly correlated with pain outcomes. However, after controlling for pain intensity and relationship duration, internal attributions predicted higher dyadic adjustment, both global and stable attributions predicted lower dyadic adjustment and higher psychological distress, whereas global attributions also predicted increased sexual impairment. Findings suggest that cognitive factors, such as attributions, may be related to psychological distress, sexual functioning, and dyadic adjustment in women with vestibulodynia. Results also highlight the importance of adhering to a biopsychosocial perspective focusing on pain reduction, sexual rehabilitation, and relationship enhancement in the treatment of dyspareunia.

Operationalizing cognitive vulnerability and stress from the perspective of the hopelessness theory: A multi-wave longitudinal study of children of affectively ill parents

OBJECTIVES

The current study tested the diathesis-stress component of the hopelessness theory (HT) in a sample of youth using (1) a weakest link approach towards operationalizing cognitive vulnerability (e.g. a child's degree of vulnerability is determined by his/her most depressogenic inferential style; DIS) and (2) an idiographic approach towards operationalizing high stress (e.g. high stress is when a child is experiencing a level of stress that is higher than his/her own average level of stress). We also examined whether the association between within-subject fluctuations in hassles and depressive symptoms in cognitively vulnerable youth was moderated by absolute stress levels (the between-subject effect of stress).

DESIGN

A multi-wave longitudinal design was used to examine whether the association between within-subject fluctuations in hassles and depressive symptoms was moderated by a depressogenic weakest link.

METHODS

At Time 1, 140 children (between 6 and 14 years of age) of parents with a history of major depressive episodes completed measures assessing DISs and depressive symptoms. Every 6 weeks, for the subsequent year, children completed measures assessing depressive symptoms and hassles.

RESULTS

The results of hierarchical linear modelling analyses indicated that a depressogenic weakest link was associated with greater elevations in depressive symptoms following elevations in hassles in girls but not in boys.

CONCLUSIONS

Results provide partial support for the applicability of the diathesis-stress component of the HT to youth. Integration of the current findings with those obtained in past research examining the diathesis-stress component of the hopelessness theory in youth suggests the utilization of an idiographic approach to examining vulnerability-stress theories may potentially lead to an increased understanding of gender differences in depression.

The effect of a negative mood priming challenge on dysfunctional attitudes, explanatory style, and explanatory flexibility

Ninety-seven undergraduates, 48 of whom had a history of self-reported major depression, completed measures of mood and cognitive style (e.g. explanatory style, explanatory flexibility, dysfunctional attitudes) prior to and directly after a negative mood priming challenge that consisted of listening to sad music and thinking about an upsetting past event. Eighteen of the previously depressed participants endorsed baseline levels of depression, explanatory style for negative events, and dysfunctional attitudes higher than levels reported by never depressed participants or euthymic participants with a history of depression. All three groups (never depressed participants, dysphoric participants with a history of depression, euthymic participants with a history of depression) demonstrated increases in dysphoria and dysfunctional attitudes in response to the negative mood priming challenge. Dysphoric participants with a history of depression, but not the other two groups, evidenced modest increases in explanatory style following the negative mood priming challenge. Finally, euthymic participants with a history of depression, but not the other two groups, evidenced drops in explanatory flexibility. Findings from the present study suggest that the cognitive theories of depression may benefit from examining both cognitive content and cognitive flexibility when assessing risk for depression.

Do dispositional rumination and/or mindfulness moderate the relationship between life hassles and psychological dysfunction in adolescents?

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the moderating effects of dispositional rumination and mindfulness on the relationship between recent life hassles and adolescent mental health (operationalized as symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress).

METHOD

Data collected from a sample of 317 Australian high school students comprised an inventory of recent life hassles, measures of dispositional rumination and dispositional mindfulness and an assessment of current symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress.

RESULTS

An increased incidence of recent life hassles was reliably associated with increased depressive symptoms, anxiety and stress. However, moderation analyses revealed that dispositional rumination exacerbated the relationship between life hassles and symptoms of depression and anxiety, whereas dispositional mindfulness attenuated the relationship between life hassles and symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress.

CONCLUSIONS

Interventions to increase dispositional mindfulness in childhood are proposed as a method of protecting the psychological well-being of adolescents confronted by inevitable everyday life stress.

[On the hermeneutics of depressive despair]

Despair refers to a psychopathological phenomenon which is difficult to grasp. Its formal structure (Formalanzeige) has previously been described in a publication. The formal structure serves in the following as the basis for a hermeneutic examination of depression. Depressive despair is a development which originates from an antagonism within the biographically evolved personality. This antagonism increasingly tears apart aspects of reality and aspects of desire, begins to oscillate in the form of dichotomies and, in the worst case, leads to hopelessness and suicide. In favourable cases, this process can result in a renewal of one's own individual values. The paper closes with a discussion of the corresponding therapeutic implications.

The Effects of Rumination and Depressive Symptoms on the Prediction of Negative Attributional Style Among College Students

Research on cognitive vulnerability to depression has identified negative cognitive style and rumination as distinct risk factors for depression but how rumination would influence negative cognitive style remains unclear. The present study investigated the relationship between rumination and negative attributional style and specifically tested the potential moderating effect of depressive symptoms and processing mode during rumination on activating negative attributional style. After completing the baseline measures of depressive symptoms, dysphoric affect, and negative attributional style, participants were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions: analytical self-focus, experiential self-focus, and distraction, in which the degree of self-focus and mode of processing were manipulated. A second set of mood and cognitive measures was administered afterwards. Results showed that a stronger positive relationship between negative attributional style and level of depressive symptoms was found in the analytical self-focus condition, relative to the experiential and distraction conditions. This finding suggested that processing mode in rumination interacted with depressive symptoms to predict negative attributional style.

High and Low Cognitive Risk For Depression: Stability From Late Adolescence to Early Adulthood

Negative cognitive styles are an important cognitive vulnerability for depression, but stability of high cognitive risk, once developed, is unclear. The current study examined stability of cognitive vulnerability to depression in individuals at high and low cognitive risk (extreme scores on both the CSQ and DAS) over a 7-year period from late adolescence through early adulthood. Cognitive vulnerability showed high relative stability, as evidenced by the moderate to high correlation (r(s) = .62) between cognitive risk status at study onset and at final assessment 7 years later. Consistent with stability, subgroups were identified using growth mixture modeling, and most cognitively high-risk (62.22% for CSQ, 68.89% for DAS) and low-risk (55.05% for CSQ, 57.96% for DAS) participants showed stable trajectories of cognitive vulnerability. Despite this overall pattern of stability, small mean group changes were found, and a minority of participants showed changing trajectories, consistent with regression toward the mean. Predictors of change and implications for risk for depression in high- and low-risk individuals are discussed.