In the context of stressor exposure, some individuals show cognitive and biological stress responses that contribute to symptoms of depression. The pathways through which exposure to stressful life events leads to the onset or intensification of depression. Thus, not only do cognitive and biological responses to stressful life events independently increase risk for depression, but also the bidirectional associations between them compound the consequences of either alone ( Fig. Instead, they reciprocally influence one another.
However, in the last several decades, there has been an explosion of research showing that biological stress reactivity is also central to depression, and there is growing recognition that cognitive and biological responses do not operate in isolation (e.g., Beck & Bredemeier, 2016 Disner, Beevers, Haigh, & Beck, 2011 Hyde, Mezulis, & Abramson, 2008 Koster, De Lissnyder, Derakshan, & De Raedt, 2011 Slavich & Irwin, 2014). In other words, cognitive responses to stressors play an important role in determining risk for depression. Consistent with these theories, findings have shown that some people think about stressful events in ways that increase depressed mood and risk for depressive episodes (for a review, see LeMoult & Gotlib, 2019). Thus, a critical question is why some people, in response to stressors, become trapped in a downward spiral that precipitates or exacerbates a depressive episode.Ĭognitive theories of depression have been instrumental in answering this question ( Beck, 1968 Nolen-Hoeksema, Wisco, & Lyubomirsky, 2008). Importantly, however, most people do not develop depression following exposure to a stressor, even when they encounter a major negative life event.
Mazure (1998), for example, found that a stressful life event preceded more than 80% of community cases of depression. One of the most consistent findings in the depression literature is that stressful life events-particularly those that involve the loss of interpersonal relationships or self-esteem-predict the onset and course of depressive episodes.
0 kommentar(er)
