Depressive Symptomatology among HIV-Positive Women in the Era of HAART: A Stress and Coping Model

Objective: An enhanced stress and coping model was used to explain depression among HIV-positive women in healthcare and community settings where highly active anti-retroviral treatment (HAART) was commonplace. Method: HIV-infected women in four cities (N=978) were assessed, cross-sectionally, for mental and physical health, stress, social support, and other background factors. Results: Self-reported level of depressive symptomatology was high. Number of physical symptoms, illness intrusiveness, and perceived stress were positively associated with depressed mood, while coping self-efficacy and social support were negatively associated. Stress mediated the effect of health status on depression and coping self-efficacy mediated the effect of psychosocial resources on depression. Our enhanced stress and coping model accounted for 52% of variance in depressive symtpomatology. Conclusions: Interventions focused on improving coping self-efficacy, bolstering social supports, and decreasing stress in the lives of HIV-positive women may help to reduce the negative effects of HIV disease on mood.     

Active and Avoidant Coping and Coping Efficacy as Mediators of the Relation of Maternal Involvement to Depressive Symptoms among Urban Adolescents

Our study tested an extension of the social resource model in an urban sample of 129 African American and 114 European American adolescents. Maternal involvement was positively related to the use of active and avoidant coping strategies among youth of both ethnicities. Additionally, use of active coping strategies was related to greater coping efficacy, which, in turn, was associated with less depressive symptomatology. For African Americans, avoidant coping was related to greater coping efficacy, which, in turn, was associated with less depressive symptoms. For European Americans, avoidant coping was not significantly related to coping efficacy. Our findings underscore the importance of examining developmental models across ethnic/racial groups and suggest that adolescent mental health programs may benefit from culturally sensitive attention to coping beliefs and practices.     

Stress, Religious Coping Resources, and Depressive Symptoms in an Urban Adolescent Sample

We surveyed low-income urban adolescents about their total exposure to urban stressors and their use of religious coping resources, specifically in the areas of social support, spiritual support, and community service opportunities provided by their congregations. Additionally, we assessed their current levels of depressive symptomatology. Among females, the relationship between stress and depressive symptoms was moderated by the use of spiritual support and community service opportunities. The moderating relationship was such that at low levels of stress, high usage of these resources protected against the development of depressive symptoms. At high levels of stress, however, the protective relationship was lost. Lastly, when the social support aspects of religious coping were statistically controlled, the moderation effect disappeared, suggesting that within this sample, the social support seeking aspects of the resources, rather than their religious nature, was responsible for the effects.     

Stress,Sex Differences,and Coping Strategies Among College Students

The sources of stress (academics, financial, family, social, and daily hassles) and coping strategies (self-help, approach, accommodation, avoidance, and self-punishment) of 166 college students were examined. The relationship between sex, specific sources of stress, and coping strategies was also investigated. Students completed a stress assessment inventory and a stress coping inventory based on a 5-factor revised COPE model (Zuckerman and Gagne Journal of Research in Personality, 37:169–204, 2003). Results found that college women reported a higher overall level of stress and greater use of emotion-focused coping strategies than college men. College men and women also reported different coping strategies for different stressors; however the use of emotion-focused coping strategies dominated over problem-solving strategies for both men and women. These results have implications for designing stress reduction workshops that build on the existing adaptive emotion-focused strategies of college students.     

Terrorism,Post-traumatic Stress,Coping Strategies,and Spiritual Outcomes

This mail survey measured post-traumatic stress symptoms, spiritual and non-spiritual coping strategies, and positive spiritual outcomes following the tragedies of 9/11/01 in a national, random sample of 1,056 Presbyterians. Respondents reported mild to moderate degrees of re-experiencing and hyper-arousal symptoms of post-traumatic stress, unrelated to location or knowing someone involved. People experiencing high stress used greater frequency and variety of both spiritual and non-spiritual types of coping strategies. Positive spiritual outcomes were remarkably related to positive spiritual coping strategies, in contrast to no association with negative coping. This study illustrates the significant degree of post-traumatic stress experienced with vicarious exposure and a wide spectrum of coping strategies used following the major terrorist attacks.

Religious Coping,Coping Resources,and Depressive Symptoms: Test of a Mediation Model

This study examined the relationships between religious coping, coping resources, and depressive symptoms. The authors tested whether coping resources explained the link between religious coping and depressive symptoms in a sample of 349 college students. Results indicated that coping resources partially mediated the relationship between negative religious coping and depressive symptoms, primarily through decreased social ease. The results offered no evidence that coping resources mediated the relationship between positive religious coping and depressive symptoms.     

Postpartum Daily Stress,Relationship Quality,and Depressive Symptoms

This study explored the relationships among daily stresses, specifically interpersonal conflict, the quality of supportive spousal relationships, and the experience of postpartum depressive symptoms. In our sample of 51 women nearly 30% reported symptoms consistent with postpartum depression. Using regression analysis and controlling for depression during pregnancy, results suggested that arguments with family members and the depth of the spousal relationship acted as significant predictors of the severity of reported postpartum depressive symptoms. Results of the regression were in the expected direction, but due to the small sample size, the findings should be interpreted with caution. Post-hoc analyses were conducted separating the women into three groups based on their depression scores. Therapeutic interventions to reduce postpartum depressive symptoms are considered. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Roles of Leisure in Coping with Stress Among University Students: A Repeated-Assessment Field Study

This article reports findings of a study to examine the effects of leisure coping on various stress coping outcomes including: immediate outcomes (perceived coping effectiveness, perceived satisfaction with coping outcomes, and perceived stress reduction) and distal or long-term outcomes (physical and mental ill-health and psychological well-being), above and beyond the contributions of general coping - coping not directly associated with leisure. A repeated-assessment field design was used to examine ways in which university students cope with stressors in their daily lives. The study found that leisure coping beliefs (leisure-generated dispositional coping resources) significantly predicted lower levels of mental and physical ill-health and greater levels of psychological well-being above and beyond the effects of general coping. Also, the use of leisure coping strategies (situation-specific stress coping strategies through leisure) was significantly associated with higher levels of perceived coping effectiveness and stress reduction when the effects of general coping were taken into account. Significant contributions of specific leisure coping dimensions were found as well.     

Preliminary Efficacy of an Intervention to Reduce Psychosocial Stress and Improve Coping in Low-Income Families

This article reports pre-post intervention results from a randomized controlled trial evaluating the initial efficacy of a couples-based intervention aimed at teaching skills for coping with stress and improving relationship skills in a sample of 173 ethnically diverse low-income co-resident mothers and fathers who were raising at least one child together. Couples were randomly assigned to one of three interventions or to an assessment-only control condition. The Fatherhood, Relationship, and Marriage Education (FRAME) intervention is a 14-h psychoeducation intervention developed specifically to strengthen the ability of low-income mothers and fathers to reduce conflict, cope with stress, and co-parent effectively. Three versions of FRAME were assessed: a men-only group, a women-only group, and a couple's group. The pre-post intervention analyses revealed reductions in financial stress, disengagement coping, and involuntary disengagement responses, as well as improvements in problem solving. These pre-post changes on stress and coping variables were both statistically significant and reliable as assessed by the Reliable Change Index (Jacobson and Truax 1991). Results were particularly strong for the couples' and women's groups. In addition, positive pre-post changes on stress and coping variables were associated with pre-post reductions on symptoms of depression for participants assigned to an intervention. The results demonstrate that participants in FRAME acquire some of the key skills taught in the intervention, and skills acquisition appears to translate into symptom reduction. In addition, this study highlights the value of an intervention aiming to improve the capacity of parents with economic hardship to cope effectively with stress.     

Maternal Avoidant Coping Mediates the Effect of Parenting Stress on Depressive Symptoms during Early Adolescence

We examined maternal avoidant coping as a mediator between maternal parenting stress and maternal depressive symptoms during early adolescence. Three years of self-report data were collected from 173 mothers, beginning when mothers’ adolescents were in 6th grade and aged 11–13 years. Utilizing longitudinal path analysis, results indicated that avoidant coping at time two mediated the association between parenting stress at time one and depressive symptoms at time three. Additionally, the reverse direction of effects was examined, revealing that the relation between parenting stress and avoidant coping was unidirectional, while the relation between avoidant coping and depressive symptoms was bidirectional. Our results suggest that during early adolescence, mothers who experience more stress in the parenting role are more likely to engage in higher levels of avoidant coping when faced with parenting problems. In turn, a mother’s long-term avoidant reactions to parenting problems may predict increases in depressive symptoms. Moreover, our findings of a bidirectional relation between avoidant coping and depressive symptoms suggest that prior levels of depression might serve as a barrier to efficient and effective coping. The present study may inform preventive intervention efforts aimed at decreasing the use of avoidance in response to parenting stressors by increasing adaptive parental coping with stressors, and providing appropriate support and resources for parents.     

Coping with challenge and hindrance stressors in teams: Behavioral,cognitive, and affective outcomes

The purpose of this study was to utilize the challenge–hindrance framework to examine the discrete and combined effects of different environmental stressors on behavioral, cognitive, and affective outcomes at the team level. Results from 83 teams working on a command and control simulation indicated that the introduction of a challenge stressor positively affected team performance and transactive memory. The introduction of a hindrance stressor negatively affected team performance and transactive memory and positively affected psychological withdrawal. When the hindrance stressor was combined with the challenge stressor, teams exhibited the lowest levels of performance and transactive memory, and the highest levels of psychological withdrawal. These effects were due to the adoption of specific coping strategies by team members. Implications are discussed, as well as limitations and directions for future research.     

Perfectionism,Components of Stress Reactivity,and Depressive Symptoms

The current study examined the associations among dimensions of perfectionism, facets of stress reactivity, and self-reported depressive symptoms in 191 university students. Participants completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, the Perfectionism Cognitions Inventory, the Perceived Stress Reactivity Scale (PSRS), and a measure of depressive symptoms. The PSRS is a relatively new instrument that measures several distinguishable facets of stress reactivity including prolonged stress reactivity, reactivity to failure, and reactivity to social evaluation. Analyses confirmed that most of the perfectionism measures were associated with stress reactivity to failure experiences. Socially prescribed perfectionism and perfectionistic automatic thoughts were also associated with prolonged stress reactivity and reactivity to social evaluation. Moreover, all facets of stress reactivity were correlated with depressive symptoms. Finally, prolonged stress reactivity and reactivity to social evaluation mediated the links between perfectionism dimensions and depressive symptoms. The current findings provide general support for models of perfectionism and stress, and suggest that perfectionists have heightened sensitivities to stressors related to their self-definitions that are activated when threatening stressors involving these themes are experienced.     

The Influence of Mothers' and Fathers' Parenting Stress and Depressive Symptoms on Own and Partner's Parent‐Child Communication

This study examines how parenting stress and depressive symptoms experienced by mothers and fathers influence their own (actor effects) and the partner's (partner effects) parent–child communication. Based on the Actor‐Partner Interdependence Model, data from 196 families were analyzed, with both parents rating their parenting stress and depressive feelings, and parents as well as children rating the open parent–child communication. Actor effects were found between parenting stress and open parent–child communication, whereas partner effects were prominent between depressive symptoms and open parent–child communication. The results provide no evidence for gender differences in the strength of the pathways to open parent–child communication. Our findings demonstrate the need to include both parents in studies on parent–child communication to enhance our understanding of the mutual influence among family members.     

Stress and coping in the elderly

Changing demographics indicate a significant increase in the number of surviving elderly, a decrease in the number of children in each family, and an increase in the number of surviving generations. Four guidelines are offered for minimizing the stress and maximizing the coping strategies of the elderly and their families: a) aging must be viewed as a life-span developmental experience, b) aging is a biopsychosocial phenomenon, c) supportive others can occupy critical positive or negative roles in the adaptation process, and d) the elderly and their families must develop proactive, anticipatory strategies for coping with the exigencies of age. These guidelines are offered to help the elderly face the challenge of aging successfully.     

Stress Sensitization and Adolescent Depressive Severity as a Function of Childhood Adversity: A Link to Anxiety Disorders

The goal of the present study was to determine whether exposure to adversity in childhood contributes to a differential threshold at which stressful life events provoke depressive reactions in adolescence. In addition, to address empirical and conceptual questions about stress effects, the moderating effect of anxiety disorder history was also explored. This examination was conducted in a sample of 816 children of depressed and nondepressed mothers, who were followed from birth to age 15. Information on adversities experienced in childhood was collected both from mothers during the first five years of their youth's life and from the youths themselves at age 15, and included information on the mother's relationship with her partner, maternal psychopathology, as well as youth-reported abuse. Results indicated that youths with both greater exposure to adversity in childhood and a history of an anxiety disorder displayed increased depressive severity following low levels of episodic stress compared to youths with only one or neither of these risk factors. The results are speculated to reflect the possibility that early anxiety disorders associated with exposure to adversity in childhood may be a marker of dysregulated stress responses, and may help to account for the comorbidity of depression and anxiety in some individuals.     

Assessing Coping Responses within Specific Faith Traditions: Suffering in Silence, Stress, and Depressive Symptoms Among Older Catholics

The purpose of this study is empirically evaluate a coping response that is thought to be unique among older Catholics - suffering in silence. Two hypotheses are examined. The first predicts that older Catholics will be more likely than older Protestants to suffer in silence when ongoing economic difficulty is encountered. The second hypothesis specifies that the potentially deleterious effects of financial problems on depressive symptoms will be offset for older adults who prefer to suffer in silence. Data from an ongoing nationwide survey of older people in the United States provide support for both hypotheses.     

Psychological Resources,Constructive Conflict Management Behaviors,and Depressive Symptoms: A Dyadic Analysis

This study investigated the longitudinal associations between mastery, conflict management behaviors, and depressive symptoms using an actor–partner interdependence model with 371 middle-aged couples over a span of 24 years. Results indicated that for both husbands and wives, individuals who possessed higher levels of mastery generally displayed more constructive conflict management behaviors during marital conflicts in middle years. In turn, individuals with more constructive behaviors averaged fewer depressive symptoms in their later adulthood. A partner effect was also noted, as individuals’ constructive behaviors were linked to their spouse's depressive symptoms. This finding emphasizes the importance of utilizing a dyadic context to understand intra-individual and inter-individual (or crossover) influences between husbands and wives in enduring marriages. A better understanding of how couples affect each other's mental health can inform the development and implementation of health promotion interventions and prevention efforts targeting middle-aged couples.     

The Relationship Between Peer Status and Depressive Symptoms in Children and Adolescents

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between specific symptoms of depression and particular styles of peer difficulties. Participants were 1687 students in fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and eleventh grades from a midsized Midwestern city. Based on previous studies, it was hypothesized that rejected and neglected youths would report greater depressive symptomatology than other peers. In addition, aggressive-rejected youth were predicted to report more Interpersonal Problems while submissive-rejected youths were expected to report more Anhedonia. There were no sociometric group differences on global scores of depression as measured by the Children's Depression Inventory; however, the aggressive- and submissive-rejected youths did report specific differences. Aggressive-rejected youths reported more Interpersonal Problems and feelings of Ineffectiveness, while the neglected and submissive-rejected youths reported more Anhedonia. Taken together, such differences provide support for differentiating among types of rejected students and suggest that different interventions may be necessary to address the needs of these youths.     

Parent and Adolescent Depressive Symptoms: The Role of Parental Attributions

This study examined whether negative parental attributions for adolescent behaviour mediate the association between parental and adolescent depressive symptoms, and whether this relationship is moderated by adolescent gender. Mothers and fathers and 124 adolescents (76 girls and 48 boys; ages 14 to 18) participated. Adolescents were primarily Caucasian, and varied in the level of depressive symptoms (with 27% of the sample meeting diagnostic criteria for a current unipolar depressive disorder). Parents and adolescents completed measures of depressive symptoms, and participated in a videotaped problem-solving discussion. After the discussion, each parent watched the videotape and, at 20 s intervals, offered attributions for their adolescent’s behaviour. Adolescent gender moderated the relation between parental attributions and adolescent depressive symptoms, with stronger associations for female adolescents. For both mothers and fathers, both parental depressive symptoms and negative attributions about the adolescent’s behaviour made unique contributions to the prediction of depressive symptoms in adolescent females. There also was evidence that negative attributions partially mediated the link between depressive symptoms in mothers and adolescent daughters. The results are interpreted as consistent with parenting as a partial mediator between parental and adolescent depressive symptoms, and suggest that adolescent girls may be particularly sensitive to parents’ negative interpretations of their behaviour.