Negative cognitive style interacts with negative life events to predict first onset of a major depressive episode in adolescence via hopelessness.

Abstract

The hopelessness theory of depression is a prominent account of depression that posits that individuals with a negative inferential style are more likely to become hopeless when they experience negative life events (NLEs) and that hopelessness is a proximal cause of depression. There is strong evidence supporting the role of a negative inferential style in the pathogenesis of major depression; however, substantially less is known about the proposed role played by hopelessness. The cornerstone hypothesis of hopelessness theory, that hopelessness is a proximal cause of major depression, is largely untested. A small number of studies have generated inconclusive evidence that hopelessness mediates the relationship between a negative inferential style, NLEs, and depressive symptoms. The current study tested whether hopelessness mediates the relationship between a Negative Inferential Style × NLEs interaction and (a) 1st onset of a major depressive episode (MDE) and (b) depressive symptoms in a fully prospective design. A diverse sample of 249 adolescents, ages 12-13 years, were assessed at baseline and at 2 or more follow-ups over approximately 2.5 years. Self-report as well as life event and diagnostic interviews assessed inferential style, NLEs, hopelessness, depressive symptoms, and depression diagnosis. Moderated mediation analyses indicated that hopelessness mediated the relationship between a Negative Inferential Style × NLEs interaction and (a) 1st onset of an MDE as well as (b) depressive symptoms at higher levels of multiple types of NLEs. The current study demonstrates the validity of the hopelessness theory of depression and its continued clinical relevance in predicting depression in adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record

Unique and predictive relationships between components of cognitive vulnerability and symptoms of depression

“…Thus, it is possible that 2 years is an appropriate window within which to see the emergence of particular cognitive styles and their negative effects as stressful events unfold or accumulate for individuals. Indeed, Mac Giollabhui et al () found that negative cognitive styles combined with stressful events to predict the first onset of major depressive episodes among adolescents over this time interval. However, we do not know the ideal time lag at which to study these relationships, or if the time lag is even uniform across people, particularly in the absence of measures of intervening stressors.…”

“…Indeed, Mac Giollabhui et al (2018) found that negative cognitive styles combined with stressful events to predict the first onset of major depressive episodes among adolescents over this time interval. However, we do not know the ideal time lag at which to study these relationships, or if the time lag is even uniform across people, particularly in the absence of measures of intervening stressors.…”

“…Because network analyses can simultaneously examine multiple relationships among correlated variables, it is ideally suited to address these questions. Given that overall negative cognitive style is not just contemporaneously associated with depression, but also prospectively predicts it (Alloy et al, ; Gibb & Alloy, ; Mac Giollabhui et al, ), we examined contemporaneous and temporal connections between networks of negative cognitive style components and depressive symptoms.…”

“…This pattern of making internal, stable, and global attributions and assuming negative future consequences and negative inferences about the self is broadly referred to as a negative cognitive style. Having an overall negative cognitive style prospectively predicts the first onset and recurrence of major depression (Alloy et al, ; Mac Giollabhui et al, ).…”

Depresión, recursos psicológicos y vulnerabilidad cognitiva a la depresión en jóvenes estudiantes universitarios

“…La depresión es un problema severo que afecta a más de 300 millones de personas en el mundo y es la principal causante de años de vida perdidos por discapacidad (APD = 7.5% en el año 2015), así como la principal afección que contribuye a las muertes por suicidio en el mundo (OMS, 2017). Los altos costes sociales y laborales asociados a esta problemática, y alta prevalencia en adolescentes y jóvenes en nuestro país y el mundo, así como su relación con las conductas suicidas hace necesaria una mayor comprensión del problema (Benjet, Borjes, Méndez, Albor, Cassanova, Orozco et al, 2016;Benjet, Borges, Medina-Mora, Martínez, Herrmosillo-De la Torre, et al, 2016;Borges, Benjet, Medina-Mora, Orozco, Familiar, Nock et al, 2010;Ferrari, Norman, Freedman, Baxter, Pirkis, Harris & Whiteford, 2014. La teoría de la depresión por desesperanza ha mostrado su validez y utilidad clínica en la predicción de la depresión con adolescentes y adultos jóvnes (Mac Giollabhui, Hamilton, Nielsen, Connolly, Stange, Varga, Burdette, Olino, Abramson, & Alloy, 2018).…”