Rumination was examined as a potential common mechanism linking risk factors with depression. Initially nondepressed individuals (N = 137) were assessed for presence of a ruminative response style and 4 other hypothesized risk factors for depression. They were followed for 2.5 years. Negative cognitive styles, self-criticism, dependency, neediness, and history of past depression were all significantly associated with rumination. Rumination mediated the predictive relationships of all risk factors except dependency with the number of prospective Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev.; American Psychiatric Association, 1987) major depressive episodes (MDEs; definite and subthreshold) during the follow-up period. In contrast, private self-consciousness did not mediate any relationships between risk factors and subsequent MDEs. Thus, rumination, as a special kind of self-focus, may act as a general proximal mechanism through which other vulnerability factors affect depression.
Developmental antecedents of ruminative response style were examined in 137 college freshmen, who were followed prospectively for 2.5 years. Reports of mothers' and fathers' psychologically overcontrolling parenting as well as a history of childhood sexual (for women only) and emotional maltreatment were all related to ruminative response style. In addition, ruminative response style mediated the relationships between these developmental factors and the number of major depressive episodes experienced by participants during the follow-up period. Potential explanations and important implications of these findings are discussed.
Objective-Trauma influences on perinatal maternal-child interactions may affect the organization of offspring physiological systems involved in health outcomes. This study used a novel advanced system recently adapted for infants to examine associations of maternal lifetime trauma and related psychological symptoms in the perinatal period with infant cardiorespiratory reactivity and behavioral distress in response to a laboratory stressor.Methods-Mothers self-reported lifetime exposure to trauma, perinatal traumatic stress, and current symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Heart rate and indices of respiratory volume, timing, and thoraco-abdominal coordination were continuously recorded using a non-invasive respiratory inductance plethysmography device from 23 infants during the Still-Face Paradigm, a videotaped mother-infant dyadic assessment that included baseline, stressor, and recovery phases. Infant behavioral distress during the procedure was also assessed.Results-Infants of mothers with low exposure to trauma and perinatal traumatic stress showed expected increases in behavioral distress and cardiorespiratory activation from baseline to stressor and decreases in these parameters from stressor to recovery. Infants of mothers exposed to multiple traumas and with elevated perinatal traumatic stress showed similar patterns of activation from baseline to stressor but failed to show decreases during recovery. These patterns were maintained after controlling for current maternal PTSD and depressive symptoms.Conclusions-Maternal lifetime trauma exposure and traumatic stress during the perinatal period were associated with disrupted infant cardiorespiratory regulation and behavioral distress during a stressor protocol. These results support the concept of perinatal programming and its potential role in physical and mental health outcomes.Please address all correspondence concerning this manuscript to the first author at Children's Hospital Boston, 21 Autumn Street, 1 st Floor, Boston, MA 02115; phone: (617) 919-4680; FAX: 617-730-0759; michelle.bosquet@childrens.harvard.edu. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. A number of disorders, including hypertension, insulin resistance, and asthma, as well as vulnerability to mental health problems such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, are thought to have their origins in fetal and early postnatal development(1-3). Growing evidence suggests that environmental factors acting early in development may permanently organize key physiological systems involved in disease e...
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