Hope,social support,and depression among Hong Kong youth: personal and relational self-esteem as mediators

Previous studies have shown that depression is negatively associated with hope and social support. However, little research has been undertaken to investigate the theoretical mechanisms underlying the connections among hope, social support, and depression. This study examined how two types of self-esteem (personal and relational) would mediate the relationship of hope and social support to depression among 384 Hong Kong adolescents (age: 12–18 years; M = 14, SD = 1.19). Participants reported their levels of hope, social support, personal self-esteem, relational self-esteem, and depressive mood. Results of the path analysis showed that both personal and relational self-esteem mediated the associations of hope and social support with depression. Hope and social support were associated with higher levels of personal and relational self-esteem, which were in turn related to decreased levels of depression. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Cognitive schemas as longitudinal predictors of self-reported adolescent depressive symptoms and resilience

Given that depression risk intensifies in adolescence, examining associates of depressive symptoms during the shift from childhood to adolescence is important for expanding knowledge about the etiology of depression symptoms and disorder. A longitudinal youth report was employed to examine the trajectory of both the content and structure of positive and negative schemas in adolescence and also whether these schemas could prospectively predict depressive symptoms and youth-reported resilience. One hundred and ninety-eight participants (aged 9 to 14) were recruited from four schools to complete measures of youth depressive symptoms, resilience, and schema content and structure. Those who consented to a follow-up study completed the same measures online (50 participants completed). Negative and positive schema content and structure were related over time. After controlling depressive symptoms/resilience at Time 1, negative schema content was the only significant predictor (trend level) of depressive symptoms and resilience at Time 2. Implications for cognitive theories and clinical practice are discussed.     

Coping Styles Mediate Perfectionism Associations with Depression Among Undergraduate Students

To better understand depression among adolescent university students, this study was designed to examine coping style as a potential mediator between perfectionism and depression. Participants comprised 510 undergraduate students from Malaysia. Structural Equation Modelling demonstrated that personal standards perfectionism and task-focused coping style were negatively associated with depression, while emotion-focused coping style, avoidant coping style, and evaluative concerns perfectionism were positively associated with depression. Multiple mediator modelling provided evidence that coping styles partially mediated the relationship between perfectionism and depression. These findings advance current knowledge by suggesting how perfectionism may contribute to depression and may inform the development of more effective prevention and intervention programs for depression.     

Computer-Guided Problem-Solving Treatment for Depression,PTSD, and Insomnia Symptoms in Student Veterans: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Depression is a highly prevalent psychological disorder experienced disproportionately by college student military veterans with many deleterious effects including risk for suicide. Treatment can help, but the debilitating nature of depression often makes seeking in-person treatment difficult and many are deterred by stigma, inconvenience, concerns about privacy, or a preference to manage problems themselves. The current study examines the efficacy of a computer-guided Problem-Solving Treatment (ePST^®) for reducing symptoms of depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and insomnia in student military veterans. Twenty-four student veterans (Mean_age = 32.7) with symptoms of depression were randomly assigned either to a treatment group receiving six weekly sessions of ePST or to a minimal contact control group (MCC). Participants completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) depression scale at baseline and then weekly through post-ePST or post-MCC. PTSD and insomnia questionnaires were also completed at baseline and posttreatment. A linear mixed model regression showed a statistically significant Group (ePST vs. MCC) × Time (pretreatment through posttreatment) interaction for depression, with the ePST showing substantial improvements in depressive symptoms over the 6-week period. Significant improvements were also seen in PTSD and insomnia symptoms. Results suggest that ePST can effectively treat depression, PTSD, and insomnia symptoms in student military veterans and may be a viable alternative for those who are not able to access live therapy. Future work should examine the durability of treatment effects and utility for more severe depression and suicide prevention.     

Vividness of positive mental imagery predicts positive emotional response to visually presented Project Soothe pictures

Lang's bioinformational theory of mental imagery proposes that mental imagery and external stimuli engage emotional information-processing systems in similar ways. However, the positive and negative systems are thought to be distinct, so this similarity is likely to show a valence-specific effect. Therefore, we hypothesized that an individual's ability to construct vivid positive, but not negative, mental imagery would predict positive emotional responding to positive visual stimuli, independently of depressive symptoms. Our stimuli were pictures collected through Project Soothe for possible use in psychotherapy ( www.projectsoothe.com ); as these pictures were intended to induce soothing emotion, we hypothesized that theoretically linked variables Self-compassion and Self-criticism would also predict positive responding to the stimuli. A total of 214 participants completed an online study including validated questionnaire measures, mental imagery tasks, and a picture-rating exercise. Only Positive Imagery Vividness and Self-compassion were significant predictors of positive responding to the soothing pictures, even controlling for depressive symptoms, and Negative and General Imagery Vividness. These findings support Lang's theory and provide evidence for individual differences in a positive processing tendency shared across mental imagery-based and perceptual representations. As this relationship is distinct from depressive symptoms, future imagery-based psychotherapies might aim to influence this positive processing tendency.     

自我厌恶与大学生同伴关系：抑郁和社会支持的链式中介作用

为考察自我厌恶对大学生同伴关系的影响机制以及抑郁和社会支持在其中的作用,采用中文版自我厌恶量表、同伴关系量表、抑郁自评量表和青少年社会支持评定量表对443名大学生进行调查。结果发现：(1)自我厌恶与大学生同伴关系呈显著负相关;(2)抑郁和社会支持在自我厌恶对大学生同伴关系的影响过程中起链式中介作用。结果表明,通过降低大学生的自我厌恶和抑郁水平,同时充分发挥社会支持的作用,有助于提升大学生的同伴关系。     

Life events,social support and depression in haemodialysis patients

This study examined the effects of life events and social support on depression in 200 dialysis patients. The instruments used included the Beck Depression Inventory, a modified version of Sarason's Life Experiences Survey and a Social Support Inventory (SSI) constructed by the authors. The SSI consisted of five quantitative measures and three measures of perceived social support. These measures were found to be internally consistent and stable over time. Results showed that clinically depressed dialysis patients reported fewer positive life events and appraised life events more negatively than non‐depressed patients. The total number of life events and the number of negative life events were not found to differentiate between depressed and non‐depressed patients. With regard to social support variables, results showed that depressed patients reported less frequent actual contact and telephone contact with others and perceived a smaller amount and less availability of social support and less satisfaction with perceived social support along the functional dimensions of emotional, informational, appraisal and instrumental support and social companionship. The results were found to provide support for a main effect model of social support and not for a buffering model. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Illness disclosure and mental health among women with HIV/AIDS

The current study examines two contrasting models of the relationship between illness disclosure and mental health among an ethnically‐diverse group of women with HIV/AIDS. In the first, and commonly accepted model, illness disclosure predicts enhanced mental health status. In the second or alternate model, based on the stigmatization that accompanies HIV/AIDS infection, illness disclosure predicts poorer mental health. We also explore an alternate interpretation for this second model, namely that the mental health status of participants is predictive of their levels of disclosure. A total of 176 women from three major ethnic groups were interviewed and assessed during the baseline visit for a comprehensive longitudinal study. Results showed that these women constituted a highly‐disclosed population; over one‐third of them had disclosed their HIV status to their entire social networks. Contrary to expectation, disclosure was unrelated to mental health among the African‐American (n = 72) and European‐American (n = 47) women. Among the Latina women (n = 57), however, greater disclosure was related to higher levels of depression, psychological distress, and reported pain. Regression analyses controlling for age, education, and illness severity showed that disclosure makes a small but independent contribution to the prediction of mental health status. Thus, among the Latinas, the data were consistent with both the stigma model and the hypothesis that greater distress predicts wider disclosure. General patterns of disclosure are described and possible explanations for the inconsistent relationships found between disclosure and mental health among the three ethnic groups are considered. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于微信平台的研究生积极心理干预

积极心理学提出三件好事(three good things,TGT)练习可有效减轻抑郁症状,提升幸福感和心理健康。为检验基于微信社交平台的“三件好事”练习(TGT-SN)能否提升幸福感,本研究招募北京某高校研究生232名,自愿加入三个被试组(TGT-SN组133人,TGT组53人,对照组46人),体验、评估40天TGT前后及干预后一个月幸福感、抑郁水平、人际关系以及干预效果。研究发现抑郁得分持续改善,其他问卷得分无显著差异,但被试自评干预效果评估确认练习有积极作用。TGT练习效果有限,涉及方法有效性、样本量、参与者动机以及外部影响因素等,未来可基于优秀传统文化开展进一步研究以提高被试依从性及主动健康行为。     

细胞因子和抑郁症

在心理神经免疫学领域,越来越多的证据表明神经和免疫之间存在双向交流通路,免疫系统可能在一些心理精神障碍中具有重要作用。“抑郁症的细胞因子假说”认为细胞因子作为神经调质,可能在抑郁症的病因和病理过程中具有重要作用。这个假说得到了很多证据的支持。而在动物身上应用前炎性细胞因子也能够引起与人类抑郁症行为症状非常类似的“病态行为”。研究认为外周细胞因子通过信号传导进入脑内与中枢产生的细胞因子共同作用于下丘脑－垂体－肾上腺轴和5－羟色胺系统,从而导致抑郁症。细胞因子的中枢效应可以解释很多抑郁症状,“抑郁症的细胞因子假说”为探讨抑郁症状的机制和治疗抑郁症提供了一个新的视角