Predictors of depressive symptomatology: Cognitive theories of vulnerability and the relationship of interactional and cognitive styles
Year: 2001
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Depression imposes negative consequences on an individual interpersonally, financially, and psychologically.Cognitive diathesis-stress theories have been developed to try to explain the etiology o f depression.The hopelessness theory (Abramson, Metalsky, & A lloy, 1989), a cognitive model that focuses on vulnerability to depression, has received a great deal o f attention and support in recent literature.The hopelessness model indicates that a combination o f cognitive diatheses (negative attributional style and hopelessness) and stressors (negative life events) predict the development of the hopelessness subtype o f depression.Investigators continue to test the hopelessness theory, examining additional factors that may contribute to depressive etiology, in hopes o f extending current understanding of depressive vulnerability.This present study examined factors that may contribute to cognitive diatheses hypothesized to increase vulnerability to depression in the hopelessness model.More specifically, a cognitive style.N eed to Evaluate (NtE; Jarvis and Petty, 1996) and an interactional pattern o f behavior.E xcessive Reassurance-Seeking (Joiner, et al., 1992) are hypothesized to serve as moderators between cognitive diatheses, stressors, and the development of depression.A second purpose o f the study was to examine the impact o f other factors (including social support, anxiety, and coping style), found to be highly correlated with depression, to ensure that relationships found to exist between study variables are not better accounted for by these factors.129 participants completed measures o f general and hopelessness depressive symptomatology, attributional style, hopelessness, reassuranceseeking, need to evaluate, negative life events, anxiety, social support, and coping style on two occasions, six weeks apart.Data were analyzed using multiple regression and correlation.Results indicated that initial levels o f T2 dependent variable^ weie the best predictors in regression models.Main effects of T1 hopelessness predicted a small amount o f variance in models predicting hopelessness depression and anxiety.Interactions between hopelessness and attributional style also predicted a small amount of variance in models predicting hopelessness depression and anxiety.Need to evaluate and excessive reassurance-seeking did not significantly predict any general or hopelessness depression o f anxiety.Limitations resulting from reduced power prohibited testing for moderation and o f other variables.Implications for these results as well as for future research are discussed.
Source: The Mathematics Enthusiast
Author: Erica L. Shertzer
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2473006655