About 30% of 171 college student respondents reported at least mild dysphoria. Depressed mood states were associated with dysfunctional attitudes and self‐esteem problems, but not with gender or self‐reported problem‐solving ability. Findings about sex role orientation were mixed. The freshmen reported the highest levels of dysphoria, problem‐solving difficulties, and dysfunctional attitudes, but there appeared to be consistent, gradual improvements, such that by the senior year students reported significantly less dysphoria. However, a 2‐month follow‐up found no significant changes in these areas, which suggests that the observed improvements may occur more gradually or may be an artifact of selective attrition from college. Implications of the results and directions for future research were discussed.
Objective criteria for predicting dysphoric mood states in college students from measures of stress and cognitive and personality variables were developed and cross‐validated. Contrary to Beck's diathesis‐stress model of depression, although dysfunctional attitudes, together with the number and impact of life events, self‐esteem problems, and level of traditional feminine personality characteristics, predicted concurrent levels of depressive symptoms, initial level of depression was the best predictor of future depression. Cross‐validation of the criteria resulted in accuracy rates of 86 to 87%. Implications of these results and some secondary findings were discussed.
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