A longitudinal study of the effects of pessimism, trait anxiety, and life stress on depressive symptoms in middle-aged women.

The relative contributions of life stress, menopausal status, and pessimism and trait anxiety during the presence and absence of stress on increases in depressive symptoms across 3 years were examined in a sample of 460 premenopausal women, aged 42-50, who had few depressive symptoms at study entry. Multivariate analyses showed that after statistical adjustments for initial depressive symptoms and education, depressive symptoms at follow-up were higher among women (a) who reported stressful events, especially of a chronic nature, (b) who scored highly on trait anxiety, and (c) who were pessimistic and subsequently experienced a stressful ongoing problem. Change in menopausal status was not related to symptoms. The study confirms that midlife stress and both optimism and trait anxiety are important predictors of depressive symptoms during midlife. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Explaining the gender difference in depressive symptoms.

It was hypothesized that women are more vulnerable to depressive symptoms than men because they are more likely to experience chronic negative circumstances (or strain), to have a low sense of mastery, and to engage in ruminative coping. The hypotheses were tested in a 2-wave study of approximately 1,100 community-based adults who were 25 to 75 years old. Chronic strain, low mastery, and rumination were each more common in women than in men and mediated the gender difference in depressive symptoms. Rumination amplified the effects of mastery and, to some extent, chronic strain on depressive symptoms. In addition, chronic strain and rumination had reciprocal effects on each other over time, and low mastery also contributed to more rumination. Finally, depressive symptoms contributed to more rumination and less mastery over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Longitudinal Study of the Relationship Between Depressive Symptoms and Cigarette Use Among African American Adolescents.

The relationship between depressive symptoms and cigarette use was examined in a sample of 623 African Americans during adolescence and transition to adulthood by using hierarchical linear modeling. Participants in the study were interviewed across 6 occasions over 8 years. Results indicate that depressive symptoms tend to decrease over time, whereas cigarette use tends to increase for both female and male adolescents. The results also suggest that depressive symptoms predict later cigarette use. Male adolescents who reported more depressive symptoms were more likely than female adolescents to use cigarettes as a way to cope with their mood. These results suggest that depressive symptoms may be important to consider when developing smoking cessation interventions for African American youth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"If I had it to do over again...": Midlife review, midcourse corrections, and women's well-being in midlife.

Regrets about early adult life choices, expressed in midlife, are examined as a source of motivation for life changes in later midlife in 2 samples of women. Replicated findings with longitudinal data indicate that regret motivates goal setting but is not associated with actually making desired life changes. In both samples, women who had regrets about early adult life choices but did not make relevant life changes were lower in later well-being than both women with regrets who did make such changes and women without regrets. Compared with women who transformed regrets into life changes, women who did not were lower in effective instrumentality and higher in rumination, though they did not appear to face more barriers to change. Analyses with longitudinal data indicated that both rumination and effective instrumentality mediated the relationship between regret and well-being for women who did not translate regret into life changes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress Generation, Avoidance Coping, and Depressive Symptoms: A 10-Year Model.

This study examined (a) the role of avoidance coping in prospectively generating both chronic and acute life stressors and (b) the stress-generating role of avoidance coping as a prospective link to future depressive symptoms. Participants were 1,211 late-middle-aged individuals (500 women and 711 men) assessed 3 times over a 10-year period. As predicted, baseline avoidance coping was prospectively associated with both more chronic and more acute life stressors 4 years later. Furthermore, as predicted, these intervening life stressors linked baseline avoidance coping and depressive symptoms 10 years later, controlling for the influence of initial depressive symptoms. These findings broaden knowledge about the stress-generation process and elucidate a key mechanism through which avoidance coping is linked to depressive symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression and drinking behavior among women and men: A three-wave longitudinal study of older adults.

This 3-wave longitudinal study analyzed latent variable cross-lagged models of the relation between depressive symptoms and drinking behavior separately for 621 late-middle-aged women and 951 late-middle-aged men. Time lags of 1 and 3 years were used. Among women, heavier alcohol consumption predicted less depressive symptomatology 1 and 3 years later, whereas among men, having more depressive symptoms predicted less alcohol consumption later on. Including cross-temporal paths in the women's depression-drinking problems model did not provide a significant improvement over hypothesizing no cross-temporal effects. Among men, however, having more drinking problems was associated with fewer depressive symptoms 3 years later. These findings were robust in follow-up analyses controlling for the effects of socioeconomic and health status. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What's good for the goose may not be as good for the gander: The benefits of self-monitoring for men and women in task groups and dyadic conflicts.

The authors posit that women can rely on self-monitoring to overcome negative gender stereotypes in certain performance contexts. In a study of mixed-sex task groups, the authors found that female group members who were high self-monitors were considered more influential and more valuable contributors than women who were low self-monitors. Men benefited relatively less from self-monitoring behavior. In an experimental study of dyadic negotiations, the authors found that women who were high self-monitors performed better than women who were low self-monitors, particularly when they were negotiating over a fixed pool of resources, whereas men did not benefit as much from self-monitoring. Further analyses suggest that high self-monitoring women altered their behavior in these negotiations--when their partner behaved assertively, they increased their level of assertiveness, whereas men and low self-monitoring women did not alter their behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of primary stressors, secondary stressors, and depressive symptoms between elderly caregiving husbands and wives: The caregiver health effects study.

The present study examined gender differences in the experience of primary and secondary caregiving stressors, depressive symptoms, and their interrelationships using a sample of 283 elderly spouse caregivers (145 women, 138 men). Two primary stressors, two secondary stressors, and depressive symptoms were assessed. In general, t-tests indicated that caregiving husbands experience fewer stressors and depressive symptoms than their female counterparts. Multiple group analysis revealed that the primary stressors were more useful in explaining variance associated with the secondary stressors for women than men and that the path coefficients linking amount of caregiving assistance to caregivers' activity restriction was significantly different across men and women. Other paths linking primary stressors, secondary stressors, and depressive symptoms, however, were statistically equivalent across men and women. Hence, although caregiving women and men may vary in their reports of caregiving stressors, the complexity of the caregiving experience appears to be quite uniform for both groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of an intensive depression-focused intervention for smoking cessation in pregnancy.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate a depression-focused treatment for smoking cessation in pregnant women versus a time and contact health education control. We hypothesized that the depression-focused treatment would lead to improved abstinence and reduced depressive symptoms among women with high levels of depressive symptomatology. No significant main effects of treatment were hypothesized. Method: Pregnant smokers (N = 257) were randomly assigned to a 10-week, intensive, depression-focused intervention (cognitive behavioral analysis system of psychotherapy; CBASP) or to a time and contact control focused on health and wellness (HW); both included equivalent amounts of behavioral and motivational smoking cessation counseling. Of the sample, 54% were African American, and 37% met criteria for major depression. Mean age was 25 years (SD = 5.9), and women averaged 19.5 weeks (SD = 8.5) gestation at study entry. We measured symptoms of depression using the Center for Epidemiological Studies–Depression Scale (Radloff, 1977). Results: At 6 months posttreatment, women with higher levels of baseline depressive symptoms treated with CBASP were abstinent significantly more often, F(1, 253) = 5.61, p = .02, and had less depression, F(1, 2620) = 10.49, p = .001, than those treated with HW; those with low baseline depression fared better in HW. Differences in abstinence were not retained at 6 months postpartum. Conclusions: The results suggest that pregnant women with high levels of depressive symptoms may benefit from a depression-focused treatment in terms of improved abstinence and depressive symptoms, both of which could have a combined positive effect on maternal and child health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in the relations between depressive symptoms and drinking behavior among problem drinkers: A three-wave study.

Prior research has suggested that the relation between depression and drinking behavior is stronger for women than for men. In a 3-wave study spanning 3 years, we examined the nature of reciprocal relations between depressive symptoms and drinking behavior among women (n?=?207) and men (n?=?207) seeking detoxification or referral services for their drinking problems. Latent variable structural equation modeling analyses revealed that more baseline depression was associated with less alcohol consumption 1 year later among women and men. However, later on, more depression predicted heavier alcohol consumption, but only among women. Among women and men, heavier alcohol consumption predicted more subsequent depression, although the timing of this effect differed by gender. Reciprocal effects between depression and drinking problems were found only among men. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stereotypic and nonstereotypic sex role trait and behavior orientations, gender identity, and psychological adjustment.

This study examines the relations among sex role traits and behavior orientations, gender identity, and psychological adjustment in order to test traditional and contemporary perspectives regarding the adjustment implications of stereotypic and nonstereotypic sex role trait and behavior orientations. Measures of sex role personality traits and behaviors and scales assessing depression, anxiety, and social maladjustment were administered to 235 college men and women. In addition, subjects completed measures of gender identity and gender adequacy. Contrary to traditional perspectives, androgynous men and women and cross-sex-typed women were no less well adjusted than sex-typed individuals. However, consistent with traditional perspectives, men who were low in masculine characteristics (and men and women low in both masculine and feminine characteristics) did appear less well adjusted on measures of depression, anxiety, and social maladjustment. Furthermore, low masculinity men had less secure gender identities. No such gender identity disturbances were found in women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributional style as a risk marker of genetic effects for adolescent depressive symptoms.

Genetic effects on adolescent depression have been consistently reported, but little is known about mediating pathways from the distal genotype to resultant behavioral symptoms. Identifying intermediate risk markers may provide clues on these pathways. In the present study, longitudinal twin and sibling data were used to address 3 issues pertaining to attributional style as a putative marker of genetic risk for adolescent depression: state independence by assessing predictive effects between attributional style and depressive symptoms, heritability of attributional style at different time points, and genetic links between attributional style and depressive symptoms characterizing concurrent and longitudinal associations. The authors further examined whether these predictive and genetic links varied across levels of stress, age, and gender. Negative attributions preceded, co-occurred with, and followed symptoms. The predictive association between earlier negative attributions and later depressive symptoms did not differ by stress, age, or gender. Attributional style was moderately heritable at both time points. Genetic links with concurrent and prospective depressive symptoms were larger in individuals reporting higher levels of stress, who were older and female. Implications for attributional style as a marker reflecting genetic risks are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A prospective study of the cognitive-stress model of depressive symptoms in adolescents.

This prospective study investigated a cognitive diathesis-stress model of depression in adolescents across the transition from 6th to 7th grade using individual, additive, weakest link, and keystone approaches to operationalizing the cognitive vulnerability. Participants were 240 young adolescents (mean age = 11.87 years, SD = 0.57) who differed in risk for mood disorders based on their mother's history of depression. Results of the hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated some support for the individual, additive, weakest link, and keystone diatheses. In particular, the weakest link diathesis interacted with stress and gender to predict increases in depressive symptoms in 7th grade; the form of this interaction was consistent with the cognitive diathesis-stress model for boys, whereas for girls the pattern of relations reflected more of a dual-vulnerability model. That is, high levels of depressive symptoms were found for all girls except those with more positive cognitive styles and low stress levels. These findings highlight the utility of examining different approaches to combining measures of cognitive vulnerability in conjunction with stress in predicting depressive symptoms, and the importance of exploring gender differences with regard to the cognitive diathesis-stress model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in the age-changing relationship between instrumentality and family contact in emerging adulthood.

Data from the Children in the Community Transitions Study were used to examine gender differences in the impact of family contact on the development of finance and romance instrumentality from ages 17 to 27 years. Family contact decreased among both men and women across emerging adulthood, although it decreased more rapidly in men than in women. Both finance and romance instrumentality increased for men and women across emerging adulthood. The growth rate did not differ between men and women in either domain, although men tended to be characterized by higher levels of instrumentality than women. There were noteworthy gender differences in the impact of family contact on the development of instrumentality. At age 17, family contact was negatively associated with instrumentality for both men and women; at age 27, the impact of family contact on instrumentality was less negative for women and was positive for men. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression history and coping with chronic pain: A daily process analysis.

This study examined how a previous episode of depression is related to daily pain and reactions to pain among individuals with fibromyalgia, a chronic pain syndrome. Seventy-one women with fibromyalgia (including 30 who were previously depressed) rated their pain and mood 3 times daily for 30 days. Each night, participants rated the extent to which they responded to pain by catastrophizing, how much control they had over that day's pain, their ways of coping with pain that day, and the effectiveness of their coping efforts. Multivariate multilevel regression models revealed that after controlling for neuroticism and current depressive symptoms, formerly depressed and never-depressed individuals differed in how they coped with increased pain and in how they appraised the efficacy of their coping efforts. Formerly depressed participants who also reported more current depressive symptoms showed a greater decline in pleasant mood on more painful days than did formerly depressed participants who were experiencing fewer current depressive symptoms. These findings illustrate how a history of depression can be captured in the dynamics of daily life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived social isolation makes me sad: 5-year cross-lagged analyses of loneliness and depressive symptomatology in the Chicago Health, Aging, and Social Relations Study.

We present evidence from a 5-year longitudinal study for the prospective associations between loneliness and depressive symptoms in a population-based, ethnically diverse sample of 229 men and women who were 50–68 years old at study onset. Cross-lagged panel models were used in which the criterion variables were loneliness and depressive symptoms, considered simultaneously. We used variations on this model to evaluate the possible effects of gender, ethnicity, education, physical functioning, medications, social network size, neuroticism, stressful life events, perceived stress, and social support on the observed associations between loneliness and depressive symptoms. Cross-lagged analyses indicated that loneliness predicted subsequent changes in depressive symptomatology, but not vice versa, and that this temporal association was not attributable to demographic variables, objective social isolation, dispositional negativity, stress, or social support. The importance of distinguishing between loneliness and depressive symptoms and the implications for loneliness and depressive symptomatology in older adults are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The dynamics of masculine-agentic and feminine-communal traits: Findings from a prospective study.

A reciprocal impact hypothesis posits an influence of gender-related traits (agency and communion) on role enactment and a reciprocal impact of role enactment on gender-related traits, for both men and women. Specifically, in this study it was predicted that agency influences career success and career success influences agency. In addition, the reciprocal influence of communion and family roles was examined. A prospective study with almost 2,000 university graduates, who were tested after graduation and 1.5 years later, clearly supported the reciprocal impact hypothesis for agency and career success. Communion influenced family roles, but there was no reciprocal influence. Implications for theories of career success and of sex and gender are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Male and female body image and dieting in the context of intimate relationships.

The influence of family and peers on dieting and body image is well known, but, despite the centrality of romantic partnerships in the lives of adults, little research has investigated dieting and body image in the context of intimate relationships. This study investigated unhealthy dieting (e.g., skipping meals, vomiting), healthy dieting (e.g., reducing calories, reducing or eliminating snacks), and body satisfaction in intimate relationships in 57 predominantly unmarried couples, who were recruited in a college setting. The within-participant findings replicated prior research showing that women with higher self-esteem and lower depressive symptoms were more satisfied with their own bodies and dieted less. Controlling for body mass index and the relevant self-perceptions of each partner, the across-partner associations showed that men who had more depressive symptoms and were less satisfied with their relationships had female partners who dieted more and were less satisfied with their bodies. In contrast, men dieted more when their female partners had higher self-esteem and fewer depressive symptoms. These results suggest that psychological processes in intimate relationships are linked with dieting and body satisfaction but that these links are different for men and for women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perfectionism, perceived weight status, and self-esteem interact to predict bulimic symptoms: A model of bulimic symptom development.

An interactive model of perfectionism, perceived weight status, and self-esteem was tested on 342 female undergraduates to predict bulimic symptoms. Using a longitudinal design, the authors tested the model on data collected at 2 points: the spring of participants' senior year of high school and during participants' first year of college. The authors hypothesized and found that self-esteem moderates the interaction between perfectionism and perceived weight status in predicting bulimic symptoms. Women who are high in perfectionism and who consider themselves overweight exhibit bulimic symptoms only if they have low self-esteem (i.e., if they doubt they can attain their high body standards). High self-esteem women with the same diathesis-stress conditions are less likely to exhibit bulimic symptoms. These findings clarify the role of perfectionism in bulimic symptomatology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)