Family life stress and insomnia symptoms in a prospective evaluation of young adults.

The present study prospectively investigated the association between family life stress and insomnia symptoms among 115 undergraduates, ages 17-22 years. Participants completed the following questionnaires at 2 study time points, spaced 3 weeks apart: the Insomnia Severity Index, the Negative Life Events Questionnaire (NLEQ), and the Beck Depression Inventory. First, family life stress at baseline was hypothesized to predict elevated insomnia symptoms 3 weeks later, above and beyond depressive symptoms. Second, compared with academic stressors, negative family and social life events were expected to best predict increased insomnia. Regression analyses were conducted to test study predictions. Hypotheses were partially supported. Family life stress was significantly associated with increased insomnia symptomatology, even after controlling for depression. Results also revealed that negative family life events, together with academic stress, predicted the highest levels of insomnia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Life events can trigger depressive exacerbation in the early course of schizophrenia.

Previous studies have linked life events with depression in chronic schizophrenia, but those studies had methodological limitations. Using a prospective research design and examining events that were clearly independent of the patients' illnesses, the authors sought to determine whether stressful life events could trigger depressive symptoms in the early course of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia patients (n?=?99) were followed for 1 year from a point of outpatient stabilization. Life event interviews were conducted every 4 weeks and symptom assessments every 2 weeks. Survival analyses showed a significantly increased risk for an exacerbation of significant depressive symptoms following an independent life event. Of interest is that an analysis of competing risk showed that the odds of psychotic exacerbation following a major independent life event were not significantly greater than the odds of depressive exacerbation. The risk of depression and of psychosis after experiencing a stressful life event is significantly increased for the first month, but the risk period can extend to 3 months. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A study of life events in mania

After clinical recovery, 46 manic patients were screened for evidence of life events during a period of 6 months before the first episode of mania (DSMIIIR criteria) and 6 months after the episode. Within-patient group comparisons showed that patients who reported life events had a significantly higher presumptive mean stress score before manic episode as compared with the period after the illness. When life events were considered in relation to age, sex, marital status and family history of affective disorder, on a logistic regression equation, it was found that life events before mania were significantly associated with males and with a younger age of onset. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Sociotropy/autonomy and vulnerability to specific life events in patients with unipolar depression and bipolar disorders.

Followed samples of unipolar and bipolar patients for a 6-month period, with independent assessment of symptoms and life events. Patients were initially categorized into subtypes using Beck's Sociotropy/Autonomy Scale, with the prediction that onset or exacerbation of symptoms, as well as more total symptoms, would occur for sociotropic individuals experiencing more negative interpersonal events than achievement events, and for autonomous-achievement patients experiencing more achievement events than interpersonal events. Results were confirmed for unipolars, indicating that the course of disorder was associated with the occurrence of personally meaningful life events, but not for bipolars. Further research is recommended to examine whether the effect is equally robust for both subtypes of unipolars, whether longer study duration may be required for bipolars, and whether a cognitive self-schema mechanism may account for the specific vulnerability to a subset of stressful events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors and consequences of childhood depressive symptoms: A 5-year longitudinal study.

A 5-yr longitudinal study investigated the interrelationships among children's experience of depressive symptoms, negative life events, explanatory style, and helplessness behaviors in social and achievement situations. The results revealed that early in childhood, negative events, but not explanatory style, predicted depressive symptoms; later in childhood, a pessimistic explanatory style emerged as a significant predictor of depressive symptoms, alone and in conjunction with negative events. When children suffered periods of depression, their explanatory styles not only deteriorated but remained pessimistic even after their depression subsided, presumably putting them at risk for future episodes of depression. Some children seem repeatedly prone to depressive symptoms over periods of at least 2 yrs. Depressed children consistently showed helpless behaviors in social and achievement settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of RDC, DSM-III, DSM-III-R diagnostic criteria for generalized anxiety disorder

The aim of the present study is to conduct an observation of a time series of job-event/life event and depressive symptoms, prospectively. Ten male computer software engineers were observed every two weeks for five months and every following week for two months. In total, one hundred and eighty-one observations were made. A semi-structured interview was conducted to survey the week-unit job-events on each sampling day. The depressive symptoms were measured using Zung's Self-reporting Depressive Scale (SDS). It was found that the events had a significant effect on the SDS raw score. It also showed that the effective time period of the events on depression is within two weeks. With a week-based analysis in a prospective approach, the present study showed the immediate effects of job events or life events on depressive symptoms.     

Stress reactivity following brief treatment for depression: Differential effects of psychotherapy and medication.

Psychotherapy and medication treatments are both effective in reducing depressive symptoms. However, only psychotherapy provides an enduring effect by reducing depressive vulnerability following treatment termination. This differential efficacy may reflect mode-specific effects on the longitudinal relationship between depression and stress. The current study examined posttreatment data from 153 outpatients enrolled in the Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research Program. Longitudinal analyses using the latent difference score (LDS) framework (a structural modeling technique that combines features of latent growth curve and cross-lagged regression models) evaluated the temporal relationship between severity of depression and frequency of stressful life events, assessed by interviewers at treatment termination and at 6, 12, and 18 months following treatment. Results supported a stress reactivity model in that stressful events led to elevations in the rate of depression change. Furthermore, multigroup LDS analysis indicated that this longitudinal stress reactivity occurred only for outpatients in the medication conditions. Results demonstrate that the enduring impact of psychotherapy involves the development of enhanced resiliency to stressful life events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Symptom specificity and the prospective generation of life events in adolescence.

The purpose of the present study was to uncover patterns in the generation of life events from symptom profiles and specific depression symptoms in an effort to obtain a fine-grained understanding of the stress-generation phenomenon. A community sample of 161 adolescents completed the Beck Depression Inventory–II (A. T. Beck, 1996) at Time 1, and then 88 returned 1 year later for an assessment of life events using a rigorous contextual interview and rating system. Consistent with hypotheses, and controlling for baseline stress, cognitive-affective symptoms of depression prospectively predicted higher levels of dependent interpersonal life events. In contrast, somatic symptoms prospectively predicted higher levels of independent life events. Further examination of the types of events generated by specific symptoms suggests that different mechanisms may drive specific patterns of symptom-event generation and suggests that broadening the definition of independence may be necessary to capture the full context of event generation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Combining major life events and recurrent hassles in the assessment of stress in Chinese adolescents: Preliminary evidence.

Major life events and hassles have been considered 2 distinct constructs in the measurement of stress. Research also shows that chronic events are more impactful than time-limited ones. This study reports a new approach to measuring stress in which major life events are combined with recurrent hassles to form a single index—the Adolescent Stress Index (ASI). High school students (N = 365) in Hong Kong responded twice at a 3-month interval to measures of major life events and hassles, the ASI, and measures of physical and depressive symptoms. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results showed that the ASI predicted symptoms concurrently and prospectively above and beyond the effects of existing measures of major life events and hassles. The ASI is a viable instrument for documenting the cumulative impact of major and minor events in the lives of adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predisaster trait anxiety and negative affect predict posttraumatic stress in youths after Hurricane Katrina.

On the basis of theory and previous research, it was hypothesized that predisaster child trait anxiety would predict disaster-related posttraumatic stress symptoms and generalized anxiety disorder symptoms, even after controlling for the number of hurricane exposure events. Results support this hypothesis and further indicate that predisaster negative affect predicted disaster-related posttraumatic stress symptoms and generalized anxiety disorder symptoms. Also, Katrina-related posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms were predicted by the number of hurricane exposure events and sex (being female). Predisaster generalized anxiety disorder symptoms predicted postdisaster generalized anxiety disorder symptoms, and predisaster trait anxiety predicted postdisaster depressive symptoms. Findings are discussed in terms of their relevance for developing interventions to mitigate the impact of disasters in youths. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intergenerational Transmission of Depression: Test of an Interpersonal Stress Model in a Community Sample.

An interpersonal stress model of depression transmission was tested in a community sample of nearly 800 depressed and never-depressed women and their 15-year-old children. It was hypothesized that maternal depression (and depression in the maternal grandmother) contributed to chronic interpersonal stress in the mothers, affecting quality of parenting and youths' social competence. In turn, poor social functioning and interpersonal life events caused at least in part by the youths were predicted to be the proximal predictors of current depressive symptoms and diagnoses. Structural equation modeling confirmed the predicted associations among variables and the link between youth chronic and episodic interpersonal stress and depression. Additionally, the association between maternal and child depression was entirely mediated by the predicted family and interpersonal stress effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Searching for and finding meaning in collective trauma: Results from a national longitudinal study of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The ability to make sense of events in one's life has held a central role in theories of adaptation to adversity. However, there are few rigorous studies on the role of meaning in adjustment, and those that have been conducted have focused predominantly on direct personal trauma. The authors examined the predictors and long-term consequences of Americans' searching for and finding meaning in a widespread cultural upheaval-the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001-among a national probability sample of U.S. adults (N = 931). Searching for meaning at 2 months post-9/11 was predicted by demographics and high acute stress response. In contrast, finding meaning was predicted primarily by demographics and specific early coping strategies. Whereas searching for meaning predicted greater posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms across the following 2 years, finding meaning predicted lower PTS symptoms, even after controlling for pre-9/11 mental health, exposure to 9/11, and acute stress response. Mediation analyses suggest that finding meaning supported adjustment by reducing fears of future terrorism. Results highlight the role of meaning in adjustment following collective traumas that shatter people's fundamental assumptions about security and invulnerability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Life events, symptom course, and treatment outcome in unipolar depressed women.

Although a large number of studies have addressed issues of etiology associated with stressful life events and diverse forms of disorder, little attention has been focused on the importance of such psychosocial parameters for the course and remission of symptoms once the disorder has begun. The authors review research on this latter topic, with special reference to the depressive disorders. A longitudinal study of 130 22–60 yr old unipolar depressive females receiving treatment was conducted. Results indicate that life events preceding entry into treatment significantly predicted certain forms of depressive symptomatology and of clinical outcome over a 6-mo follow-up period. In contrast, events occurring during the treatment and/or posttreatment period were not related to any of the depressive symptom outcome measures. Different subclassifications of events particularly may have relevance for the course and remission of symptoms in unipolar depressives under treatment. (51 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Confronting a traumatic event: Toward an understanding of inhibition and disease.

Examined whether writing about traumatic events would influence long-term measures of health as well as short-term indicators of physiological arousal and reports of negative moods in 46 introductory psychology students. Also examined were aspects of writing about traumatic events (i.e., cognitive, affective, or both) that were most related to physiological and self-report variables. Ss wrote about either personally traumatic life events or trivial topics on 4 consecutive days. In addition to health center records, physiological measures and self-reported moods and physical symptoms were collected throughout the experiment. Findings indicate that, in general, writing about both the emotions and facts surrounding a traumatic event was associated with relatively higher blood pressure and negative moods following the essays, but fewer health center visits in the 6 mo following the experiment. It is concluded that, although findings should be considered preliminary, they bear directly on issues surrounding catharsis, self-disclosure, and a general theory of psychosomatics based on behavioral inhibition. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation between depressive symptoms and stressful life events in a sample of disadvantaged mothers.

The bidirectional relation between life events and self-reported depression was examined across a 1-year period. With Time 1 depression controlled, Time 2 stress accounted for an additional 10% of Time 2 depressive symptoms. Health-related stress, family violence, and financial stress at Time 2 predicted Time 2 depression after control for Time 1 depression. With Time 1 stress controlled, Time 2 depression accounted for 8% of the variance in Time 2 stress. Time 2 depression predicted Time 2 health-related stress, financial stress, household changes, spouse–partner stress, family violence stress, and substance abuse stress, controlling for each of these stressors at Time 1. The results describe a complex relation between stress and depression and suggest that the relation between stress and depression is moderated by the type of stress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Resource loss, resource gain, and depressive symptoms: A 10-year model.

This study examined a broadened conceptualization of the stress and coping process that incorporated a more dynamic approach to understanding the role of psychosocial resources in 326 adults studied over a 10-year period. Resource loss across 10 years was significantly associated with an increase in depressive symptoms, whereas resource gain across 10 years was significantly associated with a decrease in depressive symptoms. In addition, change in the preponderance of negative over positive events across 10 years was inversely associated with change in resources during the period. Finally, in an integrative structural equation model, the association between change in life events and depressive symptoms at follow-up was completely mediated through resource change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learned helplessness in children: A longitudinal study of depression, achievement, and explanatory style.

Assessed the depressive symptoms, life events, and explanatory styles of 168 8–11 yr olds 5 times over a 1-yr period to test the prediction that the maladaptive explanatory style would be associated with higher levels of depression, lower school achievement, and higher incidences of helpless behaviors in the classroom. Ss completed the Children's Depression Inventory, the Children's Attributional Style Questionnaire, and a life events questionnaire. Measures of school achievement (the California Achievement Tests) were obtained once during the year. Depressive symptoms and explanatory styles were found to be stable over the year. As predicted by the reformulated learned helplessness theory, explanatory style both correlated with concurrent levels of depression and school achievement and predicted later changes in depression during the year. Depression also predicted later explanatory styles. Implications for intervention with children with depressive symptoms or school achievement problems are discussed. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The direct and interactive effects of neuroticism and life stress on the severity and longitudinal course of depressive symptoms.

The direct and interactive effects of neuroticism and stressful life events (chronic and episodic stressors) on the severity and temporal course of depression symptoms were examined in 826 outpatients with mood and anxiety disorders, assessed on 3 occasions over a 1-year period (intake and 6- and 12-month follow-ups). Neuroticism, chronic stress, and episodic stress were uniquely associated with intake depression symptom severity. A significant interaction effect indicated that the strength of the effect of neuroticism on initial depression severity increased as chronic stress increased. Although neuroticism did not have a significant direct effect on the temporal course of depression symptoms, chronic stress significantly moderated this relationship such that neuroticism had an increasingly deleterious effect on depression symptom improvement as the level of chronic stress over follow-up increased. In addition, chronic stress (but not episodic stress) over follow-up was uniquely predictive of less depression symptom improvement. Consistent with a stress generation framework, however, initial depression symptom severity was positively associated with chronic stress during follow-up. The results are discussed in regard to diathesis–stress conceptual models of emotional disorders and the various roles of stressful life events in the onset, severity, and maintenance of depressive psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of life and job stress on information search behaviors of organizational members.

Examined the relationship of stressful life events in and out of work to role-relevant information search. It was suggested that stressful life events lead a person to question the appropriateness of typical modes of role enactment resulting in increased role-relevant information search. 44 adults (mean age 37.7 yrs) employed in a wide variety of organizations completed the Social Readjustment Rating Scale and the Organizational Readjustment Rating Scale that measure 2 types of stressful events (life and work), and role-related information search was assessed in 2 settings (on and off the job). Results show that stressful events significantly predicted information search activities. However, work-related stressful events predicted information search conducted on the job, whereas life stress predicted off-the-job search. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescent Adjustment Before and After HIV-Related Parental Death.

The impact of HIV-related parental death on 414 adolescents was examined over a period of 6 years. The adjustment of bereaved adolescents was compared over 4 time periods relative to parental death and was also compared with the adjustment of nonbereaved adolescents. Bereaved adolescents had significantly more emotional distress, negative life events, and contact with the criminal justice system than nonbereaved youths; these behaviors did not remain significantly higher after parental death. Depressive symptoms and passive problem solving increased soon after parental death, as compared with nonbereaved adolescents. One year subsequent to parental death, depression and passive problem solving were similar to the levels of nonbereaved peers. Only sexual risk behaviors increased following parental death. These results suggest the importance of early family intervention soon after parental HIV diagnosis, prior to parental death, and sustained over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)