A longitudinal twin and sibling study of the hopelessness theory of depression in adolescence and young adulthood

Abstract

Background. Maladaptive cognitive biases such as negative attributional style and hopelessness have been implicated in the development and maintenance of depression. According to the hopelessness theory of depression, hopelessness mediates the association between attributional style and depression. The aetiological processes underpinning this influential theory remain unknown. The current study investigated genetic and environmental influences on hopelessness and its concurrent and longitudinal associations with attributional style and depression across adolescence and emerging adulthood. Furthermore, given high co-morbidity between depression and anxiety, the study investigated whether these maladaptive cognitions constitute transdiagnostic cognitive content common to both internalizing symptoms.Method. A total of 2619 twins/siblings reported attributional style (mean age 15 and 17 years), hopelessness (mean age 17 years), and depression and anxiety symptoms (mean age 17 and 20 years).Results. Partial correlations revealed that attributional style and hopelessness were uniquely associated with depression but not anxiety symptoms. Hopelessness partially mediated the relationship between attributional style and depression. Hopelessness was moderately heritable (A = 0.37, 95% confidence interval 0.28-0.47), with remaining variance accounted for by non-shared environmental influences. Independent pathway models indicated that a set of common genetic influences largely accounted for the association between attributional style, hopelessness and depression symptoms, both concurrently and across development. Conclusions.The results provide novel evidence that associations between attributional style, hopelessness and depression symptoms are largely due to shared genetic liability, suggesting developmentally stable biological pathways underpinning the hopelessness theory of depression. Both attributional style and hopelessness constituted unique cognitive content in depression. The results inform molecular genetics research and cognitive treatment approaches.

Contributions of fixed mindsets and hopelessness to anxiety and depressive symptoms: A commonality analysis approach

“…However, hopelessness does not predict anxiety symptoms in all circumstances (e.g. Waszczuk et al, 2016), and the theoretical process by which hopelessness leads to anxiety symptoms is less clear. Interestingly, in the present samples, hopelessness still shared far more unique variance with anxiety than emotion or even anxiety mindsets.…”

Understanding Our Own Biology: The Relevance of Auto-Biological Attributions for Mental Health

“…Thus, learned helplessness was reversed through a therapeutic experience in which responses were reliably tied to reinforcement, thus conferring controllability in a situation previously deemed uncontrollable. Subsequent work has confirmed that learned helplessness (or hopelessness) appears to play a causal role in the etiology of depression and suicidality (Nock & Kazdin, ; Waszczuk, Coulson, Gregory, & Eley, ), but is amenable to intervention (Handley et al., ).…”

Immediate reactions of newly-diagnosed HIV-positive persons to the initial news of being HIV-positive: Implications for public health

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