Community recognition of objective and subjective characteristics of depression

Assessed knowledge of depression in a random sample of 527 community-living adults. Vignettes were presented which described a young or old protagonist with depressive symptoms. Respondents were asked to identify potential problems and possible solutions. A depression information measure followed. Results indicated that community residents were aware of many objective features of depression although they identified less information about treatment issues. Older respondents were least informed. Although there were no gender differences in objective knowledge, men were less likely to mention depression with regard to the vignettes. Suggestions for implementing more effective community interventions are discussed.     

Predictors of depression in caregivers of dementia patients: boundary ambiguity and mastery

This study examined the role of two perceptual variables in predicting the development of depressive symptoms in caregivers. The first, boundary ambiguity, refers to whether the dementia patient is perceived as psychologically in or out of the family system. The second, an orientation toward mastery, is related to how persons manage various stressful situations, including caring for a dementia patient. This study included 70 patients and their caregivers. Stepwise regression and path analytic techniques were used to compare the impact of variables related to the illness per se and of variables related to caregivers' perceptions of their situations. Results indicate that both perceptual variables, boundary ambiguity, and mastery, are significantly related to a caregivers' depression level whereas severity of the patient's dementia is not. In sum, the more a caregiver perceives a mate as psychologically absent, the less masterful and the more depressed she or he is.     

Stress, appraisal, coping, and social support as predictors of adaptational outcome among dementia caregivers

A stress and coping model was used to study predictors of individual differences in caregiver adaptation. A total of 54 family caregivers of elderly dementia patients completed interviews and questionnaires assessing the severity of patient impairment and caregiving stressors; caregiver appraisals, coping responses, and social support and activity; and caregiver outcomes, including depression, life satisfaction, and self-rated health. Correlational and regression analyses supported the utility of the stress and coping model. Appraisal, coping responses, and social support and activity were significant predictors of caregiver outcome, even when severity of caregiving stressors was statistically controlled. The importance of a multidimensional approach to assessing caregiver outcomes was supported by regression analyses indicating that each caregiver outcome was predicted by different patterns of stressors, appraisal, coping, and social support and activity. Results are discussed in terms of a stress and coping model of caregiving, and clinical implications for work with caregiving families.     

Leisure interest patterns and subjective stress in college students

A first study of the Leisure Interests Checklist (LIC) is reported based on a large (N = 670) normative sample of college students. Acceptable reliability was found on the total interest scores, and on both rationally- and factorially-derived LIC subscales. The BAROMAS stress scales were also studied concurrently with the same college students, and normative data are provided from that sample. Interest in very active diversions and Sports on the LIC did correlate with confidence in doing sports on the BAROMAS. Otherwise, the two instruments showed little overlap. Comparisons between ethnic and gender groupings mainly agreed with advance expectations by disclosing culturally conventional differences in response patterns. The LIC appears promising for future use in both applied and research contexts.     

Family and career path characteristics as predictors of women’s objective and subjective career success: Integrating traditional and protean career explanations

This study examined the effects of family and career path characteristics on objective and subjective career success among 916 employed mothers. Among family variables, age at first childbirth was positively related and career priority favoring the husband was negatively related to both income and subjective career success; number of children was negatively related and years elapsed since first childbirth was positively related to income only. Among career path variables, career gaps, interorganizational mobility and proportion of one’s career spent in part-time work were negatively related to income; career gaps were negatively related to subjective career success. Income was positively related to subjective career success. Results suggest that integration of traditional and protean career perspectives helps to explain women’s career success.     

On some objective and subjective aspects of discriminating between correlated and independent patterns and their relationship to Locus of Control and depression

ABSTRACT

Acknowledging the fact that there seems to be a well-established connection between depression and Locus of Control, we propose that Locus of Control is at least partly determined by one’s objective ability to discriminate between random and non-random stimuli and events. Further, we claim that this ability is indirectly related to depression through Locus of Control which serves as a mediator. In addition, we hypothesise that a subjective threshold, important in discriminating between random and correlated stimuli, is directly related to both depression and Locus of Control. Results from a study with 128 subjects indicate that the majority of our conjectures are supported by the data, the exception being that while the subjective threshold is significantly related to depression it appears to have no tangible influence on Locus of Control.     

Instruction-prompted objective behaviors as proxy for subjective measures in a driving simulator

Interactions with other road users and interpretations of traffic situations are important aspects of driving safety. Self-reports are often used to study drivers’ perceptions and attitudes but self-reports can be inaccurate and biased because of socially desirable responding. Driving simulators offer objective measures of driver behaviors but have limited ability to elicit natural behaviors. To address this issue, we tested a driving simulator-based approach that combined realistic driving scenarios including potentially frustrating forward obstacles and delays in travel time with two different types of instructions. Participants' vehicle control behaviors and subjective perception of traffic delays were compared. Results demonstrated that behaviors collected following instructions to drive safely did not have significant associations with participants’ perceptions of the traffic delays while participants following instructions to drive quickly demonstrated behaviors that were predictive of their subjective perceptions of the traffic delays. The findings suggest that vehicle control behaviors can be used as a proxy for subjective perceptions of traffic delays. We conclude that driving simulator methodology combining instructions, realistic traffic scenarios, and adaptive analytical methods is appropriate for studying drivers’ behaviors and interactions with other road users and can minimize the need to rely on subjective self-reports.     

Psychiatric history and stress: predictors of severity of unipolar depression.

Unipolar depression is frequently a recurrent or chronic disorder. In studies on predicting its course, outcomes are typically linked to either psychiatric features or stressful life events. In order to integrate the 2 approaches, 51 unipolar patients were assessed periodically over at least 1 year for symptoms, stressful events, and chronic stressors. It was hypothesized that adverse family history and early age of onset impair role functioning and coping capabilities, thereby contributing to stressful circumstances that predict severity of depressive reactions. Results of causal modeling analyses supported a model in which background factors were associated with severity of depressive outcomes as mediated by their effects on stress variables. Such a model implicates the self-perpetuating nature of clinical depression, both for the individual and across generations.     

Overgeneral autobiographical memory and chronic interpersonal stress as predictors of the course of depression in adolescents

This study investigated whether overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM) predicts the course of depression in adolescents. As part of a larger longitudinal study of risk for emotional disorders, 55 adolescents with a past history of major depressive disorder or minor depressive disorder completed the Autobiographical Memory Test. Fewer specific memories predicted the subsequent onset of a major depressive episode (MDE) over a 16-month follow-up period, even when covarying baseline depressive symptoms. This main effect was qualified by an interaction between specific memories and chronic interpersonal stress: Fewer specific memories predicted greater risk of MDE onset over follow-up at high (but not low) levels of chronic interpersonal stress. Thus, our findings suggest that OGM, in interaction with chronic interpersonal stress, predicts the course of depression among adolescents, and highlight the importance of measuring interpersonal stress in OGM research.     

Overgeneral autobiographical memory and chronic interpersonal stress as predictors of the course of depression in adolescents

This study investigated whether overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM) predicts the course of depression in adolescents. As part of a larger longitudinal study of risk for emotional disorders, 55 adolescents with a past history of major depressive disorder or minor depressive disorder completed the Autobiographical Memory Test. Fewer specific memories predicted the subsequent onset of a major depressive episode (MDE) over a 16-month follow-up period, even when covarying baseline depressive symptoms. This main effect was qualified by an interaction between specific memories and chronic interpersonal stress: Fewer specific memories predicted greater risk of MDE onset over follow-up at high (but not low) levels of chronic interpersonal stress. Thus, our findings suggest that OGM, in interaction with chronic interpersonal stress, predicts the course of depression among adolescents, and highlight the importance of measuring interpersonal stress in OGM research.     

Empathy in informal dementia caregivers and its relationship with depression,anxiety, and burden

Background/Objective: Recent interventions aim to heighten informal caregivers’ empathy levels assuming that this will lead to better well-being. However, previous studies have explored linear associations between empathy and aspects of well-being and yielded mixed results. We hypothesized that quadratic models may be more fitting to describe these relationships. Method: A cross-sectional study, with two groups (201 informal caregivers, and 187 non-caregivers) was conducted. Participants completed questionnaires on cognitive and affective empathy, and depression, anxiety, and caregiver burden. AN(C)OVA's and multiple hierarchical regression analyses including linear and quadratic terms were used to analyze the data. Results: For caregivers, there was a negative quadratic relationship between depression and cognitive empathy, and a positive linear relationship between anxiety and affective empathy, irrespective of sociodemographic characteristics. For non-caregivers, there were positive quadratic relationships between depression and cognitive and affective empathy, and between anxiety and affective empathy. The empathy levels did not differ between the groups. Conclusions: While caregivers and non-caregivers had the same amount of empathy, the relationships between empathy and depression and anxiety differed between the groups. Interventions for informal caregivers could aim to heighten cognitive empathy and to lower affective empathy to diminish depression and anxiety symptoms.     

Competence and control orientations as predictors of test anxiety in students: Longitudinal results

Abstract

The hypothesis that domain-specific self-related cognitions (self-concept of own competence and control orientations) are predictors of text anxiety in students is tested by longitudinal data. At the beginning and at the end of a school year the following variables were measured twice in a sample of 346 secondary school students (grades six to ten): (1) self-concept of own competence in mathematics, (2) three aspects of locus of control for problem-solving behavior (internality, powerful others control, and chance control), (3) generalized locus of control of reinforcement, (4) test anxiety as well as manifest anxiety. The cross-sequential developmental gradients point toward symmetries in the development of self-related cognitions and test anxiety. The results of cross-lagged correlation analyses show that the null hypothesis (no causal relations exist between the self-related cognitions and test anxiety) can be rejected for the domain-specific aspects of (a low) self-concept of own competence and locus of control (low internality and high chance control), which are confirmed as preceding test anxiety. However, longitudinal results also show that findings of cross-sectional studies tend to overestimate the relations between self-related cognitions and test anxiety in a developmental perspective.     

Personality as a predictor of the objective and subjective impact of sleep deprivation

Although, impairments following sleep deprivation have been clearly demonstrated in the literature, researchers have found a wide range of individual variation in response to sleep deprivation. The relationship between personality and the subjective and objective impact of sleep deprivation was examined using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Stanford Sleepiness Scale, Sleep Hygiene Index, Profile of Mood States, an oddball reaction time test, a multi-task cognitive performance battery (SynWin), and the NEO Personality Inventory Revised. Subjects (14 males, 14 females, mean age 20.5) were sleep deprived for 28–35 h and during this time were allowed access to self-reported typical amounts of tobacco, caffeine, and food. Post sleep deprivation: (a) higher neuroticism scores were related to participants feeling sleepier, experiencing more mood disturbance, and performing inferiorly on a behavioral task; (b) subjects scoring as introverts showed more compromised behavioral performance compared to extraverts. The authors suggest that potential moderating variables of the relationship between personality and sleep deprivation such as stimulant use, food intake, and socialization warrant further investigation.     

Smoking,depression, & stress: predictors of fibromyalgia health status

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of smoking, stress, and depression on fibromyalgia health status. Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a chronic musculoskeletal pain condition that negatively affects health status. Health status is not only affected by the constellation of physical symptoms, but also by mood symptoms, stress levels, and patient behaviors (e.g. smoking). Participants were 491 individuals with a physician’s diagnosis of FMS. They completed self-report measures of their current levels of depression, stress, the number of cigarettes smoked per day, and health status. A linear regression analysis was conducted to determine whether these measures predicted FMS health status. All three measures predicted worse health status, predicting 51.5% of the variance in health status. However, it is important to evaluate and treat more than just the physical symptoms of FMS. Attention should also be paid to mental health status and to engagement in unhealthy behaviors in order to reduce their effects on FMS health status. Future researchers should design and evaluate interventions that target these modifiable risk factors to determine the extent to which they could improve health outcomes.     

Experience of pregnancy and delivery as predictors of postpartum depression

This research examined experiences of pregnancy and delivery as predictors of three subscales identified within the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (nonspecific depression, anhedonia, and anxiety). Mothers of babies under 1 year (N = 415) completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and gave information as to number of pregnancies, number of children, and their ratings of the difficulty of the course of pregnancy and delivery. Number of pregnancies and number of children did not predict scores on any of these subscales. Difficulty in the course of pregnancy was a significant positive predictor of nonspecific depression, and difficulty of delivery was a significant positive predictor of anxiety. Neither of these variables significantly predicted anhedonia. These results provide evidence of the heterogeneity of postpartum depression, indicating that risk factors differentially influence subscales of the EPDS.     

Discrimination and reproduction of patterns: Feature measures and constraint redundancy as predictors

The statistical structure ofsamples ofpatterns [histoforms and polygons) was varied by manipulating constraint redundancy (R_c) at three levels. Both R_c and seven measures of pattern features were evaluated as predictors of reproduction errors and discrimination latency using multiple linearregression techniques. While it was possible to account for a significant proportion of performance variance from knowledge of R_c levels, feature measures accounted for more performance variance under all conditions of testing. The results were interpreted as support for the notion that patterns are processed in terms offeatures.     

Perceived similarity and complementarity as predictors of subjective person‐organization fit

We examined whether subjective person‐organization (P‐O) fit arises from perceptions of similarity, complementarity or some combination of both. Data were collected from 209 employees of various occupational and organizational backgrounds. Results indicated that individuals distinguish between fit that occurs through similarity and complementarity, and that both explain unique variance in subjective P‐O fit. Subjective fit was associated with higher levels of job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and reduced turnover intentions. Furthermore, the results suggest that subjective fit mediates the relationship between perceived similarity/complementarity and work attitudes.