Longitudinal effects of conflict behaviors on depressive symptoms in young couples.

This study investigated relationship dynamics contributing to gender differences in depression by testing longitudinal associations between observed conflict behaviors and depressive symptoms in young couples. Direct effects of psychological aggression, positive engagement, and withdrawal, as well as indirect effects via relationship satisfaction were considered. Participants were 68 heterosexual couples involving men from the Oregon Youth Study who remained in a stable relationship across at least 2 and up to 10 years from their early 20s to early 30s. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to test both between-couples differences in symptom trajectories predicted by partner behaviors and within-couple covariation between behaviors and depressive symptoms across 5 time points. Higher levels of women’s positive engagement predicted lower symptom levels for both partners, and higher women’s withdrawal predicted higher own symptom levels. Relative increases in couples’ psychological aggression and decreases in positive engagement were additionally associated with increases in women’s symptoms over time. Whereas between-couples behavior effects on women’s symptoms were mediated by relationship satisfaction, within-couple effects proved independent of satisfaction. Implications for mechanisms of depression risk and maintenance in couples are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Longitudinal relationships between depressive symptoms and health in normal older and middle-aged adults.

Comorbidity between health and depression is salient in late life, when risk for physical illness rises. Other community studies have not distinguished between the effects of brief and long-standing depressive symptoms on excess morbidity and mortality. S. Cohen and M. S. Rodriguez's (1995) differential hypothesis of pathways between depression and health was used to examine the relationships between health and depression in a prospective probability sample of 1,479 community-resident middle-aged and older adults. Findings suggest that different durations of depressive symptoms have different relationships to health. Health had an impact on short-term increases in depressive symptoms, but depressive symptoms had a weaker impact on health. The reciprocal impact was indistinguishable from the health influence on depression. In contrast, longer term depressive symptoms had a clear impact on health. The results imply that physical illness can affect depressive states; depressive traits but not states can affect illness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A longitudinal analysis of anxiety and depressive symptoms.

The authors modeled depressive and anxiety symptom data from 1,391 participants in a longitudinal study of middle-aged and older Swedish twins (M age?=?60.9 years, SD?=?13.3). Although anxiety and depression were highly correlated, a model with distinct Anxiety and Depression factors fit the data better than models with Positive and Negative Affect factors or a single Mental Health factor. Lack of well-being was associated with anxiety rather than depression. Over two 3-year intervals, anxiety symptoms led to depressive symptoms, but the relationship was not reciprocal. Anxiety symptoms were more stable than depression. These findings provide additional support for the idea that anxiety symptoms may reflect a personality trait such as neuroticism more than do depressive symptoms and suggest that low positive affect may not be as specific to depression among older adults as in younger people. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Satisfaction with social support and depressive symptoms: A panel analysis.

The literature suggests that persons who are dissatisfied with the amount of social support that has been provided to them may subsequently suffer from psychological disorder. At the same time, there is evidence that individuals who initially suffer from emotional disorder may consequently be less satisfied with their social support systems than may persons who enjoy better mental health. The purpose of this study was to test these competing hypotheses with panel data from a community survey of older adults. The findings indicate that changes in satisfaction with support tend to precede changes in depressive symptoms. A number of issues in the analysis of longitudinal data are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal depressive symptoms and depressive symptoms in adolescents

The relationship between maternal depressive symptoms and rates of adolescent (15-16 years) depressive symptoms was studied in a birth cohort of 934 New Zealand children. There was a clear correlation between maternal depressive symptoms and subsequent depressive symptoms in adolescent females (r = .44) but no association (r = -.01) between maternal depressive symptoms and depressive symptoms in adolescent males. Subsequent analysis suggested that the correlation between maternal depression and depressive symptoms in adolescent females was largely explained by the associations of both measures with a series of social and contextual factors including social disadvantage, marital discord and family adversity. It is concluded that maternal depression is only associated with depression in adolescence insofar as maternal depression is associated with social disadvantage, marital discord or family adversity.     

Self-blame and depressive symptoms.

Investigated whether internal attributions for bad events are always associated with depression. The depressive symptoms of 86 female undergraduates correlated with blame directed at their own characters. In contrast, blame directed at their own behaviors correlated with lack of depressive symptoms. Behaviorally attributed bad events were seen as more controllable and their causes less stable and less global than were characterologically attributed bad events and their causes. Characterological blame increased with more negative life events during the last year, implying that individuals who blame their character may arrive at this attributional style by a covariation analysis. Finally, characterological blame did not precede the onset of depressive symptoms 6 or 12 wks later. As a result, characterological blame may be a strong concomitant of depression but not a cause. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Distress, depressive symptoms, and depressive disorder among caregivers of patients with brain injury

OBJECTIVE: To examine the prevalence and correlates of major depression in caregivers of individuals with moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries. DESIGN: Repeated-measures design involving structured diagnostic interview and self-report of psychological distress administered on two occasions separated by 6 months. SETTING: Three acute care rehabilitation hospitals. SUBJECTS: Fifty-nine caregivers (39 mothers and 20 spouses) of individuals with moderate to severe brain injuries recruited from previous inpatient rosters. All caregivers were currently residing with the person with traumatic brain injury. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The Diagnostic Interview Schedule-Revised [DIS-R] was utilized to assess depression. The Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (SCL 90-R) measured general psychological distress. RESULTS: Forty-seven percent of caregivers initially met diagnostic criteria for depression, and 43% met criteria 6 months later. Nearly two thirds of those who were initially depressed continued to be depressed 6 months later, and 17% of those who were not depressed initially subsequently met criteria for depression. The best predictor of depression was a previous (pre-brain injury) depressive episode. Neither time since injury nor injury severity predicted diagnostic status, and spouses were no more likely to be depressed than were mothers. The SCL 90-R, including its depression scale, showed high specificity but low sensitivity in predicting diagnostic status. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of major depression is high in caregivers of individuals with brain injuries. Because depression may interfere with the capacity to provide care and contribute to the rehabilitation process, it is important for clinicians to carefully assess both the current and preaccident affective status of primary caregivers.     

Changes in depressive self-schemata and depressive symptoms following cognitive therapy.

Examined the effects of 6–8 sessions of Beck's cognitive therapy on mildly and moderately depressed college students' depressive symptoms and depressive self-schemata. Participants were randomly assigned to either cognitive therapy (n?=?31) or no treatment (n?=?43). The Beck Depression Inventory was used to assess depressive symptoms, and self-referent judgment, recall, and reaction time (RT) measures were used to assess depressive self-schemata. Results support the efficacy of cognitive therapy in reducing depressive symptoms and depressive self-schemata, as measured by self-referent judgment and self-referent recall. The reduction in the recall of negative self-referent judgments may play a role in the outcome of cognitive therapy for depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Loneliness as a specific risk factor for depressive symptoms: Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses.

The extent to which loneliness is a unique risk factor for depressive symptoms was determined in 2 population-based studies of middle-aged to older adults, and the possible causal influences between loneliness and depressive symptoms were examined longitudinally in the 2nd study. In Study 1, a nationally representative sample of persons aged 54 and older completed a telephone interview as part of a study of health and aging. Higher levels of loneliness were associated with more depressive symptoms, net of the effects of age, gender, ethnicity, education, income, marital status, social support, and perceived stress. In Study 2, detailed measures of loneliness, social support, perceived stress, hostility, and demographic characteristics were collected over a 3-year period from a population-based sample of adults ages 50-67 years from Cook County, Illinois. Loneliness was again associated with more depressive symptoms, net of demographic covariates, marital status, social support, hostility, and perceived stress. Latent variable growth models revealed reciprocal influences over time between loneliness and depressive symptomatology. These data suggest that loneliness and depressive symptomatology can act in a synergistic effect to diminish well-being in middle-aged and older adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Burden of illness, metabolic control, and complications in relation to depressive symptoms in IDDM patients

Relationships between demographic-, treatment-, and sickness-related factors, metabolic control (HbA1c), perceived burden of illness, and degree of depressive symptoms were examined in a group of 155 insulin-dependent diabetic patients, aged 35.3 +/- 8.9 years. The patients completed a questionnaire measuring depressive symptoms and three aspects of perceived burden of illness. No gender differences in HbA1c level or occurrence of late diabetic complications were found. Both men and women showed a modestly elevated degree of depression compared with norm groups. Self-reported burden of illness was strongly related to depression but was largely unrelated to objective disease-related measures. Level of depression was correlated neither with degree of metabolic control nor with the presence of such late diabetic complications as retinopathy and nephropathy. Some 44% of the variance in depression could be explained by worries about complications in those patients with the lowest HbA1c levels, by perceived restrictions in everyday life in patients with intermediate metabolic control, and by problems of glycaemic regulation in patients with poor metabolic control. Degree of depression was largely unrelated to disease severity, but was found to be related to the perceived daily burden of living with the disease, the specific worries and concerns associated with a depressed mood varying with degree of metabolic control.     

Locus of control, self-esteem, stimulus appraisal, and depressive symptoms in children.

Self-esteem, locus of control, stimulus appraisal, and depressive symptoms, which are related to depression in adults, were investigated in 225 5th and 6th graders. Ss completed the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale, Children's Locus of Control Scale, and Moyal-Miezitis Stimulus Appraisal Scale. Grade and sex effects were not significant. All other intervariable correlations were significant and are consistent with research at the adult level. Results are discussed in terms of the helplessness model of depression and in terms of implications for studying childhood depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coping and depressive symptoms among young people with AIDS.

This study examined coping behaviors of people with AIDS, using a large sample (N?=?736) that was both geographically and sociodemographically diverse. In-person interviews were conducted with people receiving AlDS-related medical or social services; follow-up interviews were conducted approximately 11 mo later. Factor analyses of 16 coping behaviors revealed 3 factors: positive coping, seeking social support, and avoidance coping. Respondents with a history of injected drug use, as compared with gay or bisexual men, had higher scores for avoidance coping and lower scores for positive coping. Each coping scale was significantly related to depressive symptoms in cross-sectional analyses. In longitudinal analyses that controlled for prior depressive symptoms, positive coping was significantly related to decreases in symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sense of control predicts depressive and anxious symptoms across the transition to parenthood.

In this study, the authors examined the relationship between sense of control and depressive and anxious symptoms for mothers and fathers during the 1st year of parenthood. Participants were 153 dual-earner, working-class couples who were recruited during the 3rd trimester of pregnancy at prenatal education courses. Data were collected 1 month antenatally and 1, 4, 6, and 12 months postnatally. Sense of control was decomposed into 2 distinct parts: an enduring component and a malleable component that changes with context. Consistent with a cognitive theory of emotional problems, results demonstrated that a sense of control served a protective function for mental health outcomes. A higher sense of enduring control predicted lower levels of psychological distress for new parents, and increases in control over time predicted decreases in depression and anxiety. Findings hold implications for interventions with expectant parents, such as expanding prenatal education courses to include strategies for enhancing and maintaining a sense of personal control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory and depressive symptoms are dynamically linked among married couples: Longitudinal evidence from the AHEAD study.

This study examined dyadic interrelations between episodic memory and depressive symptom trajectories of change in old and advanced old age. The authors applied dynamic models to 10-year incomplete longitudinal data of initially 1,599 married couples from the study of Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (Mage = 75 years at Time 1). The authors found domain-specific lead–lag associations (time lags of 2 years) among wives and husbands as well as between spouses. For memory, better performance among husbands protected against subsequent memory decline among wives, with no evidence of a directed effect in the other direction. For depressive symptoms, wives’ scores predicted subsequent depression increase and memory decline among husbands. Possible individual covariates (age, education, functional limitations) and spousal covariates (length of marriage, number of children, and whether the couple remained intact over the study period) did not account for differential lead–lag associations. The findings of antecedent–consequent relations between wives and husbands are consistent with life-span notions that individual development both influences and is influenced by contextual factors such as close social relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prevalence of depressive symptoms and depressive disorder in primary care patients over 65 years of age

Several reports suggest that pretreatment of intracoronary thrombus with fibrinolytic agents may reduce the risk for complications during subsequent balloon angioplasty. We report a case, for the first time, of successful lysis of an extensive thrombus in a native coronary artery by administering a prolonged intracoronary infusion of streptokinase to facilitate subsequent angioplasty and discuss the management strategy when intracoronary thrombus is encountered.     

The role of rumination in depressive disorders and mixed anxiety/depressive symptoms.

Several studies have shown that people who engage in ruminative responses to depressive symptoms have higher levels of depressive symptoms over time, after accounting for baseline levels of depressive symptoms. The analyses reported here showed that rumination also predicted depressive disorders, including new onsets of depressive episodes. Rumination predicted chronicity of depressive disorders before accounting for the effects of baseline depressive symptoms but not after accounting for the effects of baseline depressive symptoms. Rumination also predicted anxiety symptoms and may be particularly characteristic of people with mixed anxiety/depressive symptoms. (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)     

Brain scanning in patients with recurrent breast cancer

Brain scans were performed on 116 patients with recurrent breast cancer. Seventy-eight of 79 (98%) asymptomatic patients with recurrent disease had negative brain scans. Eleven of 37 (30%) patients with central nervous system (CNS) symptoms had scans indicative of intracranial metastases. There was no difference in the distribution of extracranial metastaic disease in patients who had positive brain scans when compared with those who did not. Brain scaning is of value in detecting intracranial metastases in patients with CNS symptoms. Brain scanning seems unnecessary, however, in the staging of patients with recurrent breast cancer who have no CNS symptoms.     

Attributional style and depressive symptoms among children.

The reformulation of helplessness theory proposes that an insidious attributional style accompanies and predisposes depressive symptoms. The present study investigated predictions of the reformulation among 96 8–13 yr olds who completed the Children's Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ) and Children's Depression Inventory twice, 6 mo apart. 83 of their parents completed the adult ASQ and the Beck Depression Inventory at their children's 2nd testing. Children who attributed bad events to internal, stable, and global causes were more likely to report depressive symptoms than were children who attributed these events to external, unstable, and specific causes. This depressive attributional style predicted depressive symptoms 6 mo later, suggesting that it may be a risk factor for depression. Children's attributional style for bad events and their depressive symptoms converged with those of their mothers but not their fathers. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Triacetyluridine (TAU) decreases depressive symptoms and increases brain pH in bipolar patients.

Eleven patients with bipolar depression were given doses of up to 18 g per day of triacetyluridine (TAU) over 6 weeks to test the effect of uridine on symptoms of depression via Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS; Asberg, Montgomery, Perris, Schalling, & Sedvall, 1978) scores and on cellular bioenergetics using phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (31P-MRSI). All patients and comparison participants (n = 9) completed baseline 31P-MRSI scans, and 9 patients completed posttherapy scans. The percentage changes for MADRS scores (Week 2, -23.8; Week 3, -34.9; Week 4, -42.5) and the time effects of TAU on MADRS scores (Week 2, z = -2.07, p = .039; Week 3, z = -4.28, p