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Operationalizing cognitive vulnerability and stress from the perspective of the hopelessness theory: A multi‐wave longitudinal study of children of affectively ill parents
Author(s) -
Abela John R. Z.,
McGirr Alexander
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
british journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.479
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8260
pISSN - 0144-6657
DOI - 10.1348/014466507x192023
Subject(s) - psychology , diathesis–stress model , cognitive vulnerability , operationalization , multilevel model , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , association (psychology) , longitudinal study , cognition , depressive symptoms , psychiatry , psychotherapist , medicine , political science , computer science , law , philosophy , tourism , medical tourism , epistemology , pathology , machine learning
Objectives The current study tested the diathesis‐stress component of the hopelessness theory (HT) in a sample of youth using (1) a weakest link approach towards operationalizing cognitive vulnerability (e.g. a child's degree of vulnerability is determined by his/her most depressogenic inferential style; DIS) and (2) an idiographic approach towards operationalizing high stress (e.g. high stress is when a child is experiencing a level of stress that is higher than his/her own average level of stress). We also examined whether the association between within‐subject fluctuations in hassles and depressive symptoms in cognitively vulnerable youth was moderated by absolute stress levels (the between‐subject effect of stress). Design A multi‐wave longitudinal design was used to examine whether the association between within‐subject fluctuations in hassles and depressive symptoms was moderated by a depressogenic weakest link. Methods At Time 1, 140 children (between 6 and 14 years of age) of parents with a history of major depressive episodes completed measures assessing DISs and depressive symptoms. Every 6 weeks, for the subsequent year, children completed measures assessing depressive symptoms and hassles. Results The results of hierarchical linear modelling analyses indicated that a depressogenic weakest link was associated with greater elevations in depressive symptoms following elevations in hassles in girls but not in boys. Conclusions Results provide partial support for the applicability of the diathesis‐stress component of the HT to youth. Integration of the current findings with those obtained in past research examining the diathesis‐stress component of the hopelessness theory in youth suggests the utilization of an idiographic approach to examining vulnerability‐stress theories may potentially lead to an increased understanding of gender differences in depression.