Objective
Rejection sensitivity has been found to confer risk for depression. The process through which this occurs remains unclear. This risk factor also has been associated with negative behavioral tendencies and interpersonal difficulties. Drawing on these different lines of research, the current investigation aimed to evaluate stress generation, the tendency for depression-prone individuals to experience higher rates of life stressors that are at least in part influenced by their own behavior, as a potential mechanism mediating the link between rejection sensitivity and subsequent depressive symptoms.
Method
Sixty-six adults with a history of depression were followed over a four-month interval, and completed assessments of rejection sensitivity and depressive symptoms at baseline, and depressive symptoms, a diagnostic interview for depression, as well as a contextual threat life stress interview at four-month follow-up.
Results
Consistent with the stress generation hypothesis, rejection sensitivity predicted higher rates of dependent stressors, but not independent ones, over the four-month prospective follow-up period. Furthermore, prospectively occurring dependent stressors mediated the relation between baseline rejection sensitivity and depressive symptoms at follow-up.
Conclusions
The finding that stress generation may operate as a mediating mechanism underlying the pathway between rejection sensitivity and depression lends preliminary support for the importance of targeting maladaptive behavioral tendencies in rejection-sensitive individuals in clinical settings.
This study examined associations between multiple types of interpersonal and noninterpersonal stressors and the subsequent occurrence of suicide ideation and attempts among female adolescents. Adolescents ages 12 to 18 years old (n = 160) at elevated risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors were followed for 18 months, divided into two 9-month epochs for data analysis (Periods 1 and 2). Exposure to acute relational victimization, targeted rejection, nonspecified interpersonal, and noninterpersonal life stressors over the first 9-month epoch (Period 1) was assessed using semistructured interviews and an independent life stress rating team. Participants also completed phone-based semistructured interviews of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Preliminary analyses showed significant prospective associations between acute targeted rejection and nonspecified interpersonal stress during Period 1 and suicide ideation during Period 2, as well as relational victimization and noninterpersonal stress during Period 1 and suicide attempts during Period 2. However, in logistic regression analyses that adjusted for prior suicidality and depressive symptoms, relational victimization during Period 1 (but not targeted rejection, nonspecified interpersonal or noninterpersonal events) was associated with increased odds of suicide attempt during Period 2. Therefore, acute relational victimization exposure is associated with heightened risk for suicidal behaviors in female adolescents. Future studies should examine potential mediators and moderators of this association, and these stressors should be considered for inclusion in clinical screening tools.
Results suggest irritability is an important factor in determining suicide risk, and adolescent report of irritability may be more important in gauging suicide risk than parent report.
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