Self-esteem,control beliefs,and cognitive problem-solving skill as risk factors in the development of subsequent dysphoria

Low self-esteem, external control beliefs, and low social problem-solving skill have all been found to correlate with concurrent depressive symptoms, suggesting that they may function as risk factors for the development of future depression. But there have been very few investigations of whether these variables actually place persons at risk for future depression. This research was a 21/2-month prospective investigation of whether measures of these constructs could predict the development of dysphoria and to what extent these factors operated by moderating stressful life events. After initial symptom levels were controlled, personal control beliefs predicted subsequent dysphoria by moderating the effects of subsequent negative life events such that internal subjects were unaffected by life stress. Self-esteem, however, did not predict follow-up dysphoria. Persons with low cognitive problem-solving scores were more likely to experience subsequent symptoms regardless of stress level. In addition, coping styles involving high levels of advice seeking were also associated with increased subsequent dysphoria.     

The Influence of Social Problem-Solving Ability on the Relationship Between Daily Stress and Adjustment

This study examined the role of social problem solving as a moderator and a mediator of the relationship between daily stressful events and adjustment in a sample of 259 college students. Problem solving was assessed by the Social Problem-Solving Inventory-Revised, which provides scores for global problem-solving ability as well as five specific problem-solving dimensions, namely, positive problem orientation, negative problem orientation, rational problem solving (i.e., effective problem-solving skills), impulsivity/carelessness style, and avoidance style. Adjustment was assessed by using the scores for internalizing symptoms and externalizing symptoms from the Adult Self-Report. Because of significant gender differences on the major study variables, results were analyzed separately for men and women. The most consistent finding was for the importance of negative problem orientation as a moderator or a mediator of the relationship between daily stress and adjustment. In women, negative problem orientation, impulsivity/carelessness style, and avoidance style were all found to mediate internalizing and externalizing symptoms. In addition, positive problem orientation mediated internalizing symptoms. In men, negative problem orientation was found to be a moderator for externalizing symptoms and a mediator for internalizing symptoms. The gender differences and implications for clinical practice were discussed.     

Maternal stresses and depressive symptoms: correlates of behavior problems in young children

In a sample of 115 mothers of 5- and 6-year-old children maternal everyday stressors, stressful life events, and maternal depressive symptoms were compared with mothers' reports of children's behavior problems. Maternal depressive symptoms did not mediate the relationship between either form of stress and child behavior problems. Maternal everyday stressors were more strongly associated with child behavior problems than were life events. Children of mothers indicating a high level of everyday stressors were 13 times more likely to be rated as having behavior problems than children of mothers reporting a low level of everyday stressors. The best prediction of mothers' reports of children's behavioral problems was provided by maternal everyday stressors and stressful life events considered simultaneously.     

Depressed mood in chronic low back pain: relationship with stressful life events

This study investigated the relationship between stressful life events and depressed mood in chronic low back pain (CLBP), using both self-report and observer-rated assessments of life happenings and depression. We hypothesized that CLBP patients with depressed mood (N = 15) would report significantly more untoward life events and ongoing life difficulties compared to CLBP patients without depressed mood (N = 17) and controls (N = 19). This prediction was confirmed. Subjects also were rated as being either in a high stress or low stress condition. Patients with depressed mood were more likely to be in the high stress condition than were either non-depressed patients or volunteers. Furthermore, the increased stress reported by the distressed group appeared to be a direct consequence of back pain-related life events, rather than from other life problems. We conclude that previously reported associations between life events and CLBP are a function of the relationship between stressful life events and depressive symptoms, which are prevalent in CLBP.     

Social problem-solving deficits,dependency, and depressive symptoms

Depressive symptoms have been linked to deficits in social problem solving. We extended earlier work by evaluating the specificity of problem-solving deficits to depressive (vs. anxiety) symptoms and by incorporating another correlate of depression, interpersonal dependency. Specifically, we addressed (a) a prediction that problem-solving skill and dependency would correlate inversely and (b) the question of whether problem-solving skill is associated with depressive symptom severity, controlling for dependency. In an unselected sample (N=115), results varied for different aspects of social problem solving. Problem-solving skills (e.g., generating multiple alternatives, evaluating pros and cons before deciding) were unrelated to depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, or dependency. Problem orientation (a constructive attitude toward problems involving seeing them as manageable challenges) was inversely related to dependency and to both depressive and anxiety symptom severity. The relation between problem orientation and depressive symptoms was reduced but not eliminated by controlling statistically for dependency.     

Examining the Link Between Perfectionism and Psychological Maladjustment: Social Problem Solving as a Buffer

An integrative model in which perfectionism and social problem solving were hypothesized to have additive and interactive effects in predicting psychological maladjustment (viz., depressive symptoms and suicide ideation) was proposed and tested in a sample of 371 college students. Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that social problem solving added significant incremental validity in predicting scores on measures of depressive symptoms and suicide ideation beyond what was accounted for by perfectionism. Moreover, a significant Perfectionism × Social Problem Solving interaction was found in predicting each of the maladjustment measures after accounting for the influences of both perfectionism and social problem solving. These results are taken to provide preliminary support for an additive and interactive prediction model of psychological maladjustment involving perfectionism and social problem solving.     

Which Social Problem-Solving Components Buffer Depression in Adolescent Girls?

Life stress is associated with depression, although it accounts for only about 10% of the variance. Social problem solving has been found to be a moderator of the stress–depression relationship in adults and children. This study extends research in this area by testing whether social problem solving moderates the relationship between stress and depression among adolescent girls and whether the moderating role of social problem solving is specific to certain domains of social problem solving. The hypothesized role of specific social problem-solving deficits in the association between stress and depressive symptomatology was supported.     

Worry and problem solving: Evidence of a specific relationship

Recent studies suggest that worry is related to deficient problem-solving ability. This paper presents the relationship between worry and problem solving. Worry was measured with the Worry Domains Questionnaire (Tallis, Eysenck, & Mathews, 1992) and the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (Meyer, Miller, Metzger, & Borkovec, 1990); problem solving was assessed with the Social Problem-Solving Inventory (D'Zurilla & Nezu, 1990) and the Problem-Solving Inventory (Heppner & Petersen, 1982); and mood state was evaluated with the Beck Anxiety Inventory (Beck, Epstein, Brown, & Steer, 1988) and the Beck Depression Inventory (Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979). Subjects were 122 university students. The hypotheses were the following: (1) Worry would be negatively related to problem solving; and (2) cognitive and affective factors would play a more important role than behavioral deficits in limiting problem-solving ability. As both problem-solving scales are multidimensional, regression analyses predicted worry scores from the problem-solving scales. Results show that subscales describing theoretically sound problem-solving behaviors accounted for trivial or no variance in worry scores. On the other hand, even when mood state had been partialed out by hierarchical regression, subscales describing reactions to problematic situations predicted worry scores. Therefore, both hypotheses were confirmed. These results suggest that worry is related to problem orientation (i.e., immediate cognitive-behavioral-affective reactions to problematic situations) but not to problem-solving skills (i.e., articulating goals, generating solutions, making decisions, and implementing and verifying solutions). Clinical implications are discussed.Parts of these data were presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy (AABT), Atlanta, Georgia, November 1993. The research described in this article was financially supported by grants from the Fonds de la Recherche en Santé du Québec (930684-104) and the Medical Research Council of Canada (MA12259).     

Employed women with depression in Korea

Korean women have been reported to be more susceptible to depressive symptoms than men. In this study we explored the important predictors of depression among employed Korean women using modified Hauenstein's Nursing Practice Paradigm for Depressed Rural Women, focusing on the relationship of stressful life events and three resources (physiological, social, and psychological). In particular, we examined the moderating effects of resources on the stress-depression relationship among a community-based sample of employed Korean women. In this cross-sectional study, survey data were collected with 767 employed women in Korea over a 2-month period in 2006. Of these respondents, 286 depressed participants' data were analysed to test moderating effects of the three resources on depression. Our hierarchical multiple regression results revealed that stressful life events directly affected depression. However, after including the product terms of the three resources (i.e. regular exercise, self-efficacy, and closeness) and stressful life events, the main effect of stressful life events disappeared, confirming significant moderating effects of the resources. The findings would contribute to development of a body of culturally sensitive knowledge for clinical practice with depressed employed Korean women.     

Predictors of Depressive Cognitions in Young Adolescents

This prospective study examined the contribution of maternal history of depression, mothers' cognitive style, mothers' parenting style, and stressful life events to depressive cognitions in 240 young adolescents. Mothers and adolescents were assessed annually over 3 years starting in sixth grade. The cognitions examined were derived from cognitive models of depression and included self-worth, attributional style, and hopelessness. Maternal history of depression was associated with all three types of negative cognitions in offspring; maternal parenting style and stressful life events significantly incremented the prediction of teens' negative cognitions beyond maternal depression. Adolescents' self-worth was significantly predicted by low maternal acceptance. Attributional style was associated with maternal attributional style for child-focused events, and significantly predicted by maternal psychological control and negative life events. Hopelessness was predicted by high levels of stressful life events, particularly among youth with low self-worth.     

Dysfunctional attitudes and stressful life events: An interactive model of depression

The focus of this research was the proposal that depressive symptomatology results from the interaction of an individual's dysfunctional attitudes with stressful life events that impinge on those attitudes. In Study 1, subjects completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale (DAS), and the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale-Contractual Conditions (DAS-CC). The DAS measures dysfunctional attitudes presumed to be characteristic of individuals cognitively vulnerable to depression. The DAS-CC is a modified version of the DAS, designed to measure the presence or absence of specific life events that might impinge directly on an individual's dysfunctional attitudes. Consistent with the proposed interactive model, the results from Study 1 indicated that the combination of high DAS-CC and high DAS scores successfully predicted high depression scores. This significant life events by vulnerability interaction was also predicted and found in Study 2, where subjects completed a different measure of stressful life events (the Life Experiences Survey), along with the DAS and BDI. Additional findings from the two studies revealed that those individuals scoring high on the DAS displayed more frequent thoughts about past, present, or expected future life difficulties than those individuals scoring low on this measure, and that they also rated these events as having a greater degree of importance and emotional impact. Furthermore, individuals with high DAS scores displayed increased levels of perceived stress, relative to individuals with low DAS scores. These findings were discussed in terms of a vulnerability model of depression that highlights the role of dysfunctional attitudes and appraisals in enhancing stress levels.     

Síntomas depresivos,síntomas de insomnio y eventos estresantes en ancianos hipertensos: estudio de corte transversal

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to determine whether symptoms of insomnia and intensity of stressful life events are independently associated with depressive symptoms in community-dwelling hypertensive older adults.MethodsThis was an observational cross-sectional study. Participants were 438 older adults with arterial hypertension who completed questionnaires about depressive symptoms, stressful events, self-reported symptoms of insomnia and socio-demographic characteristics. Cluster analysis was performed to obtain groups according to insomnia symptoms. The following groups were identified: Poor Sleep Quality, Early Waking and Good Sleep Quality. Associations were tested using linear regression analysis and multiple Poisson regression analysis.ResultsThe factors that independently contributed to the increase of depressive symptoms were belonging to the Poor Sleep Quality group (P<.001) and Early Waking group (P=.005), reporting higher intensity of stressful life events (P<.001) and having less schooling (P=.003).Conclusionolder adults with hypertension need a comprehensive approach to their health care that considers depressive symptoms and their relationship with intensity of stressful events, insomnia symptoms and schooling.     

Life Event, Mood, and Cognitive Predictors of Perceived Stress Before and After Treatment for Major Depression

Using regression models, we examined the influence of negative life events, depression severity, dysfunctional attitudes, and problem-solving ability on the perceived stress of depressed outpatients before and after antidepressant treatment. The report of negative life events predicted the level of perceived stress in untreated patients, but was not a significant predictor after treatment. Depression severity, dysfunctional attitudes, and problem-solving ability were associated with each other, improved with treatment, and associated with perceived stress before and after treatment. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that less adaptive coping strategies are applied under conditions of mood disturbance, and that these strategies are in turn linked with increased stress.     

在校护生应对方式对心理健康的影响

目的探讨护生应对方式对心理健康的影响,为在校护生心理工作提供参考依据。方法对345名在校护生采用应对方式问卷、症状自评量表与青少年生活事件量表进行心理测评。结果护生在面临遭遇事件时倾向于采取解决问题、幻想、求助的应对方式。解决问题、求助与文化程度呈正相关,自责、退避、合理化与文化程度呈负相关,合理化与年龄呈负相关。解决问题与SCL一90总分及其各因子呈负相关,求助与除躯体化、人际关系敏感、其他因子以外的所有因子呈负相关,自责、幻想、退避与SCL一90总分及其因子呈正相关;生活事件与解决问题呈正相关,与退避、合理化呈负相关。多元回归分析显示,生活事件、解决问题和幻想对心理健康水平起到预测作用。结论在校护生的心理健康受到应对方式的影响,帮助护生建立成熟的应对方式是心理工作的重要内容。     

Major stressful life events in relation to prevalence of undetected type 2 diabetes: the Hoorn Study

OBJECTIVE: To test whether chronic psychological stress is positively associated 1) with the prevalence of type 2 diabetes; 2) with visceral adiposity; and to test whether 3) the relationship between stress and diabetes is mainly mediated by visceral adiposity RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: In a general Caucasian population aged 50-74 years without a history of diabetes (n = 2,262), the number of major stressful life events experienced during the past 5 years was assessed by self-report before the administration of an oral glucose tolerance test. RESULTS: Diabetes was newly diagnosed among 5% of the subjects. The number of stressful events was positively associated with the prevalence of hitherto undetected diabetes. The highest quintile had a 1.6-fold (95% CI 1.0-2.6) increased probability of undetected diabetes compared with the remaining four quintiles (P<0.05 by logistical regression analysis adjusted for age and sex). This increased probability remained significant after additional adjustment for family history of diabetes, heavy alcohol consumption, physical activity, and low level of education. The number of stressful events was weakly positively associated with waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) (men, P<0.01; women, P = 0.05 by multiple regression analysis adjusted for age). The age- and sex-adjusted association between stress and diabetes was only marginally reduced by adding the WHR into the logistical regression model (odds ratio 1.5 [0.9-2.4]; P = 0.08). CONCLUSIONS: These cross-sectional findings are partially consistent with Bj?rntorp's theory that stressful life events, which indicate chronic psychological stress, are indeed associated with undetected type 2 diabetes and with visceral adiposity. However, in this white middle-aged population, visceral adiposity does not seem to be the main link between stress and diabetes.     

Life Stress, Problem Solving, Perfectionism, and Depressive Symptoms in Chinese

The present investigation sought to examine the roles of perfectionism and problem solving in the relations between stress-related depressive symptoms in a Chinese adult sample. One hundred and thirty-eighty students in an open university in Hong Kong with a mean age of 28 years participated in the study. After controlling the effectsof life stress, problem solving was shown to have significant main effects on both hopelessness and depressive features, whereas perfectionism was found to have main effects only on the latter variable. In addition, the results indicated that two constructs played a moderating role in the relations between life stress and depressive symptoms and hopelessness. The findings revealed that perfectionism and problem solving were important cognitive–behavioral variables in accounting for variances of psychological distress across cultures. Limitations of the study are discussed.     

Depression and Next-day Spillover of Negative Mood and Depressive Cognitions Following Interpersonal Stress

We hypothesized that individuals high in depression would experience a greater increase in depressive symptoms following daily interpersonal stress, as compared with their symptoms following noninterpersonal stress. Forty-six adult outpatients completed seven consecutive daily assessments of stressful events, appraisals of those events, depressive cognitions, and negative affect at the beginning of treatment. Although there were no same-day differences in reactions to interpersonal and noninterpersonal stressors, there was significant “spillover” of negative thoughts and affect following interpersonal stressors for those high in depression. In other words, for those high in depression, negative thoughts and affect increased to a greater degree on days following an interpersonal stressor, as compared to days following a noninterpersonal stressor. These findings suggest that delayed recovery from daily interpersonal stress might contribute to the maintenance of depressive symptoms.     

A comparison of the Allen Cognitive Level Test and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test in adults with schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE: This study examines the relationship among executive function, visuospatial problem solving, and measures of occupational functioning in 33 adult men with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. METHOD: Three measures were administered in a one-time assessment session. The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) was used to measure executive functioning, abstract reasoning, and problem-solving abilities. The Allen Cognitive Level (ACL) Test was used to measure learning, problem solving, and visuospatial abilities. The Routine Task Inventory (RTI) measured the level of performance in activities of daily living. RESULTS: Using multiple regression controlling for age, the WCST significantly predicted performance on the ACL the RTI. Perseverative errors on the WCST were negatively correlated with the ACL (r = -.47) and RTI scores (r = -.59). The ACL and RTI were also significantly correlated (r = .67). CONCLUSION: Both the WCST and the ACL are sensitive to similar domains of functioning and are predictive of task performance. The results support the use of the ACL as a quick measure of a person's cognitive and functional abilities.     

家庭功能和孕期生活事件对孕晚期“二孩”孕妇的影响

目的 了解孕晚期“二孩”孕妇产前抑郁情绪现状,探讨其与家庭功能、孕期生活事件之间的相关性。方法 选取2018年7月—10月在长沙市某三级甲等医院产科门诊定期产检的306例孕晚期“二孩”孕妇作为研究对象,采用爱丁堡产后抑郁量表、家庭关怀度指数问卷和孕期生活事件量表进行调查。结果 36.3%的孕晚期“二孩”孕妇产前存在抑郁情绪,其中7.5%存在严重抑郁情绪。孕期生活事件总分、孕期主观生活事件、孕期客观生活事件OE2和OE3与抑郁情绪呈正相关（P<0.05）,家庭功能总分及各维度与抑郁情绪呈负相关（P<0.01）。多元逐步回归分析显示,文化程度、妊娠合并症、家庭亲密度、孕期主观生活事件和孕期客观生活事件OE3是孕晚期“二孩”孕妇产前抑郁情绪的影响因素。结论 部分孕晚期“二孩”孕妇产前存在不同程度的抑郁情绪,尤其是低文化程度、有妊娠合并症、家庭亲密度较差和发生重大孕期生活事件的孕妇产前存在抑郁情绪的概率较高,医护工作者应当采取有效的措施减少“二孩”孕妇产前抑郁情绪。