Elsevier

Behavior Therapy

Volume 39, Issue 1, March 2008, Pages 79-90
Behavior Therapy

A Prospective Test of Cognitive Vulnerability Models of Depression With Adolescent Girls

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2007.05.003Get rights and content

Abstract

This study sought to provide a more rigorous prospective test of two cognitive vulnerability models of depression with longitudinal data from 496 adolescent girls. Results supported the cognitive vulnerability model in that stressors predicted future increases in depressive symptoms and onset of clinically significant major depression for individuals with a negative attributional style, but not for those with a positive attributional style, although these effects were small. This model appeared to be specific to depression, in that it did not predict future increases in bulimia nervosa or substance abuse symptoms. In contrast, results did not support the integrated cognitive vulnerability self-esteem model that asserts stressors should only predict increased depression for individuals with a confluence of negative attributional style and low self-esteem, and this model did not appear to be specific to depression.

Section snippets

Participants

Participants were 496 adolescent females recruited from public and private middle schools in a metropolitan area of the Southwestern United States. Adolescents were in 10th and 11th grades at T1 for this report and ranged in age from 15 to 18 (M = 16.5). The sample was 2% Asian/Pacific Islanders, 7% African Americans, 68% Caucasians, 18% Latina, 1% Native Americans, and 4% “other” or “mixed” racial heritage, which was representative of the schools from which we sampled (2% Asian/Pacific

Preliminary analyses and descriptive statistics

Over the course of this prospective study, attrition averaged 1% to 2% annually, resulting in an available N of 480 to 488 for this report. Analyses verified that participants who were missing data at any assessment did not differ significantly from those who were not on demographic factors or any of the variables examined here, suggesting that attrition should not introduce bias. The correlations among the negative attributional style, perceived stress, self-esteem, and depressive symptom

Discussion

We sought to provide a rigorous prospective test of the cognitive vulnerability model and integrated cognitive vulnerability self-esteem model of depression within a study that addressed certain methodological limitations of prior studies (e.g., use of survey measures of depressive symptoms and relatively small samples). Our results provided support for the cognitive vulnerability model of depression (Abramson et al., 1978), which posits that stressors only predict future increases in

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a career award (MH01708) and research grant (MH64560) from the National Institute of Health.

Thanks go to project research assistants, Sarah Kate Bearman, Melissa Fisher, Natalie McKee, Katherine Presnell, Jenn Tristan, and Katy Whitenton, our numerous undergraduate volunteers, the Austin Independent School District, and the participants who made this study possible.

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  • 1

    Cara Bohon is now at the University of Oregon.

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