Relations of cognitive styles, depressive symptoms, and blood pressure in community college students.

OBJECTIVE: We proposed cognitive styles described in the Hopelessness Theory would be associated with depressive symptoms and Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) and that depressive symptoms mediate these associations. PARTICIPANTS: This cross-sectional study had 324 community college student participants (ages: 18 to 62 years, M = 24.08, SD = 9.10; 57.3% female; 57.3% White, 29.8% Black, 8.8% Latinx, 8.8% Other). METHODS: Besides self-reports of cognitive styles and depressive symptoms, resting blood pressure was measured three times at 1-min intervals and the mean was used in the analysis. RESULTS: Path analyses demonstrated differing associations between each cognitive style and SBP and no mediation, suggesting cognitive styles and depressive symptoms are independently associated with SBP. CONCLUSIONS: When conceptualizing and measuring the associations of cognitive styles with depressive symptoms and SBP, the styles should be evaluated individually. Interventions targeting cognitive styles might be especially beneficial as changing them might improve mental and physical health.

Perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms: What role does the cognitive triad play?

OBJECTIVE: The present study was designed to integrate perceived everyday discrimination (PED) as stressor in Beck's cognitive theory of depression. We focused on the relationships between PED, the individual components of the cognitive triad, and depressive symptoms and the role of gender and race in these relationships. METHOD: Participants included 243 technical and community college students (women: 59%; men: 41%; Black: 30%; White: 51%). They completed measures examined PED, the cognitive triad, and depressive symptoms. RESULTS: Conducting mediation analyses using PROCESS 4.1.1, we found significant indirect effects from PED on depressive symptoms through negative views of the self and world. The indirect effect through negative views of the future was not significant. The indirect effects of negative views of the world and future were significantly stronger in women participants than men participants and the indirect effect of negative views of the world was significantly stronger in White students than Black students. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings generally support the integration of PED as stressor into Beck's cognitive theory independent of gender and race. This highlights the responsibility of therapists to assist clients in coping with PED and to advocate for equality within organizations, communities, and society in general.

Are negative views of the self, world and future, mediators of the relationship between subjective social status and depressive symptoms?

BACKGROUND: Elevated depressive symptoms are associated with impairments, reduced quality of life, and societal economic burden. A well-established stress-vulnerability model explaining depressive symptoms is Beck's cognitive theory (Beck, 1976). An independent line of research demonstrated that a person's perception of their status in comparison with others' (subjective social status, SSS) is a stressor associated with depressive symptoms. AIMS: Theory-driven research investigating the interplay of different factors associated with depressive symptoms opens the door to improve the lives of the affected individuals and to reduce the overall societal burden. This study's aim was to examine if SSS can be integrated as a stressor into Beck's theory, looking specifically at whether it impacts depressive symptoms through the individual components (self, world and future) of the cognitive triad. METHOD: In this cross-sectional study, 243 community college students (58.6% female; mean age 23.95 years) in the southern United States completed self-reports measuring SSS, negative views of the self, world and future, and depressive symptoms. RESULTS: SSS is negatively associated with each view of the cognitive triad. SSS and views of the self and world are negatively associated with depressive symptoms. Mediation analyses displayed a significant direct effect between SSS and depressive symptoms, as well as two indirect effects via negative view of self and world. CONCLUSIONS: While further research is needed, therapists might benefit from our findings when tailoring their treatment to a client by considering their SSS and which negative view is particularly detrimental for this specific client.

The interactive effect of the serotonin transporter genotype and drug use on suicidal behaviors in patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

BACKGROUND: Suicide is a public health crisis, accounting for more than 47,000 deaths in the United States annually. Individuals with Bipolar Disorder (BD) are at a disproportionately greater risk of suicidal behaviors. Prior studies indicate the significant role of genotype and drug use individually on suicidal behaviors. We hypothesized that, consistent with the gene X environment (GXE) framework, an interaction between serotonin receptor (5-HTTLPR) gene and drug use would influence suicidal behaviors in BD patients. METHODS: One hundred and fifty BD patients at a public urban behavioral health clinic enrolled. The majority were females (n  104, 69.3%), between 19 and 65 years of age (M  39.5, SD= 10.9), African American (n  110, 73.3%), unemployed (78.7%, n  118) with 32% identifying as homeless (n  48). Measures of current mood symptoms, historic suicidal behaviors, and recent substance use were completed, and buccal swabs collected. A moderation analysis was employed for data analysis. RESULTS: Suicidal behaviors were significantly associated with genotype X drug use interaction (B  0.41, 95%CI= [0.06, 0.77], p= .03) followed by gender (B = 1.92, 95%CI= [0.59, 3.25], p= .005), genotype (B= -1.93, 95%CI= [-3.49, -0.36], p= .02), and employment (B= -1.72, 95%CI= [-3.12, -0.31], p= .02). LIMITATIONS: The relatively small sample size primarily comprised of an indigent urban population may limit generalizability. Drug use and suicide risk measures were self-reported and potentially influenced by social desirability bias. CONCLUSIONS: The 5-HTTLPR plays a moderating role on the association between drug use-suicidal behaviors with a differential impact of short and long alleles.

Does frontal brain activity mediate the effect of depression prevention in adolescents? A pilot study.

We investigated whether (a) depression prevention was associated with depressive symptoms and medial-frontal alpha asymmetry in adolescents; (b) alpha asymmetry mediated the association between participation in a prevention program and depressive symptoms; and (c) gender affects these associations. In our randomised control group study, we compared a universal prevention program (n = 40 adolescents, 14 females) with a non-intervention control condition (n = 39 adolescents, 20 females) in German secondary school students (mean age: 13.53 years, SD = 0.53). We collected data at baseline, post-intervention, 6-month, and 12-month follow-up using the Self-Rating Questionnaire for Depressive Disorders (SBB-DES) and resting medial-frontal alpha activity on F3 and F4. We found that girls benefitted from participating in the prevention program in regards to their depressive symptoms at 12-month follow-up but not alpha asymmetry. In boys, participation in the prevention program was associated with their alpha asymmetry at 6-month follow-up but not their depressive symptoms. Alpha asymmetry did not mediate the effects of the prevention program on depressive symptoms in either gender. Although participation in the prevention program was associated with both depressive symptoms and alpha asymmetry, those associations seem independent from each other. Possible explanations for this result pattern are discussed.

Relations of Subjective Social Status and Brooding with Blood Pressure.

BACKGROUND: Brooding, a type of rumination, and subjective social status (SSS) may be two interacting factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Our goal was to examine the relations of brooding and SSS with systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), two measures of CVD. We predicted that [1] brooding and SSS are each related to SBP and DBP and [2] the interaction of brooding and SSS is linked to SBP and DBP. METHOD: In this cross-sectional study, college student participants (n = 240; 58.6% female, age: M = 23.95 years, SD = 8.62) completed demographics questionnaires, the Ruminative Response Scale, and MacArthur Subjective Social Status scale, and gave blood pressure samples. RESULTS: Linear models suggested that, for participants low in SSS, high brooding and DBP were positively related. For participants high in SSS, high brooding and low DBP were negatively related. There were no relations between SSS, brooding, and SBP. CONCLUSIONS: As predicted, for individuals with low SSS, more brooding was associated with higher DBP. Yet, in individuals with high SSS, more brooding was associated with lower DBP. There was no relation between SSS, brooding, and SBP. Our results suggest that brooding may serve as diathesis for some symptoms of CVD (i.e., high DBP but not high SBP) in individuals with low SSS. We discuss how other factors, like burnout or defensive pessimism, may contribute to the relation between high SSS, high brooding, and low DBP.

Associations of depression status and hopelessness with blood pressure: a 24-year follow-up study.

Hypertension is estimated to cause 12.8% of all deaths worldwide. Both literature and well-supported cognitive models indicate that hopelessness predicts depressive symptoms. This study aimed to test whether high levels of hopelessness are associated with increased blood pressure, as well as whether depression acts as a mediator between hopelessness and blood pressure. Data from the original 24-year longitudinal Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study (ECA) were analyzed via linear regression (N = 917; 60.3% female; 62.9% European American; mean age = 42.96 years, SD = 16.94). Hopelessness was found to have a significant direct relationship with systolic blood pressure (SBP, p < .05), but not with diastolic blood pressure (DBP, p > .05); while depression had no significant direct relationship with SBP or with DBP. Overall, findings indicated that hopelessness has a significant relationship with SBP. Limitations and implications are discussed.