The current project will examine individual differences in the tendency to appraise events as stressful, in terms of having negative impact on personal well-being, in a study of risk for depression and anxiety disorders. The primary aim of this project is to establish whether an elevated tendency to appraise events as stressful poses increased risk for the development of depression and anxiety disorders. An additional aim of this project is to determine what factors may contribute to individual differences in the tendency to appraise events as stressful. Variables to be examined in predicting differences in the tendency to appraise events as stressful will include gender, familial risk for depression and anxiety disorders, and exposure to adverse circumstances in childhood. The goal of this project is to establish whether an elevated tendency to appraise events as stressful represents a core vulnerability factor through which other risk factors transmit risk for depression and anxiety disorders. The proposed project will be conducted using previously collected data from a large longitudinal sample of youth and their families (e.g., Hammen & Brennan, 2001), originally designed to examine predictors of depression in offspring of depressed mothers. This sample included over 800 (about 50% male) youths and their mothers who were followed longitudinally beginning at the time of the youth's birth, youth age 5, youth age 15, and youth age 20. The tendency to appraise events as stressful was assessed in youth at age 15 and will be examined in relation to depression and anxiety disorder history up to age 15, as well as in relation to prospective onsets of depression and anxiety disorders between age 15 and 20. A gender difference in the tendency to appraise events as stressful will be examined by comparing the stressful appraisal tendency among female compared to male youth. Data on youth exposure to adverse conditions were collected from mothers during the first five years of the child life and will be examined as a predictor of the tendency to appraise events as stressful at youth age 15. Familial risk for depression and anxiety disorders was determined by mother history of depression and anxiety disorder during the youths lifetime up to age 15 and will also be examined as a predictor of youth's tendency to appraise events as stressful at age 15. Finally, the interrelations of familial risk, exposure to early adversity, and gender on youth's tendency to appraise events as stressful and youth depression and anxiety disorder onset will be examined using a statistical modeling procedure known as path analysis. Potential benefits of the proposed study include increased understanding of factors that may pose vulnerability for depression and anxiety disorders as well as the elucidation of mechanisms by which other risk variables pose risk for these disorders. Evidence in support of study hypotheses may eventually have implications for identifying endophenotypes for depression and anxiety disorders, as well as the identification of at-risk individuals who may be targeted for prevention. The relevance of the current project is that it may help elucidate more precisely what constitutes vulnerability for depression and anxiety disorders and help to delineate the processes by which other risk factors (specifically, familial risk, early environmental risk, and risk as a function of female gender) confer their effects. Establishing that an elevated tendency to appraise events as stressful represents a core vulnerability factor for depression and anxiety disorders and understanding the mechanisms through which gender effects and familial, and early environmental risk factors confer risk for these may contribute to the development of prevention and intervention strategies and ultimately reduce the burden associated with these disorders. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]
NIH ExPorter
NIH ExPorter