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Parental representations, cognitive distortions, and mild depression

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Abstract

Past research has identified several possible diatheses to depression, including dysfunctional attitudes, depressotypic attributional style, and poor parental rearing. The present study examined the relations among these proposed vulnerability factors and their ability to uniquely explain the occurrence of mild depression. Results from 150 undergraduates indicate that lower parental care during childhood was associated with higher current depressive symptoms, and that this relation was mediated by depressotypic attitudes and attributions. Parental overprotection was also associated with greater depressive symptoms, but there was no evidence of cognitive mediation. Implications for the findings and directions for future study are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, 417 Bruce V. Moore Building, 16802, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

    Mark A. Whisman & Paul Kwon

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  1. Mark A. Whisman
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  2. Paul Kwon
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Additional information

We would like to thank Darsell Harris and Ann McGarvey for their assistance in data collection. We would also like to thank Timothy W. Smith and the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript.

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Whisman, M.A., Kwon, P. Parental representations, cognitive distortions, and mild depression. Cogn Ther Res 16, 557–568 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01175141

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