Nicotine dependence, PTSD symptoms, and depression proneness among male and female smokers.

Several studies have linked posttraumatic stress disorder with heavy smoking. It is not known to what extent this association is specific, as opposed to being a function of a joint association of PTSD and heavy smoking with a third variable such as depression proneness. In a cross-sectional study of 157 current regular smokers, severity of nicotine dependence (but not cigarettes smoked per day) was positively correlated with total PTSD symptoms, hyperarousal symptoms, and avoidance symptoms. These correlations were not eliminated by controlling statistically for depression vulnerability, whether it was measured on a continuous self-rating scale or on the basis of interview-diagnosed history of major depression. The association between PTSD and nicotine dependence was stronger among men than among women.

Depression proneness and reactions to a depressive stimulus.

In the context of a project examining depression vulnerability and cigarette smoking, the authors tested whether depression-vulnerable people differed from less vulnerable people in their reactions to a depressive stimulus. Regular smokers with a history of depression but not currently depressed (n = 63) and never-depressed smokers (n = 64) listened to audiotapes of confederates reading depressive and nondepressive scripts and reported their reactions. Neither a history of depression nor self-reported depression proneness predicted reactions to depression. However, depression proneness was positively correlated with beliefs about depression contagion. Likewise, stronger depression-related contagion beliefs and lower levels of empathic responding predicted behavioral rejection of the depressive stimulus.

Facing fears and sadness: cognitive-behavioral therapy for childhood traumatic grief.

The term childhood traumatic grief (CTG) is being increasingly used to refer to the particular reaction in children that may follow the death of a loved one during a traumatic event. The goal of this case study is to describe the theoretical argument and framework for, as well as a clinical example of, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for CTG. We present a case of a five-year-old boy whose father, a firefighter, died in the line of duty at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. This specific case will highlight the steps of CBT for CTG, the value of assessment during the therapeutic process, and the need to consider developmental and family factors in treatment.

Cognitive coping skills and depression vulnerability among cigarette smokers.

Cigarette smokers vulnerable to depression experience considerable difficulty in quitting smoking, possibly because they use smoking to manage negative affect and possess underdeveloped alternative coping skills for doing so. Efforts to adapt cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) of depression to the treatment of depression-vulnerable smokers have achieved inconsistent results. This research tested one possible explanation for these mixed results, the possibility that depression-vulnerable smokers are not actually deficient in the skills taught in CBT. Regular smokers with a history of major depression, but not currently in a depressive episode (n = 66), scored worse than did the never-depressed smokers (n = 68) on the Ways of Responding [WOR; Behav. Assess. 14 (1992) 93] test of skills for coping with negative moods and automatic thoughts. Results were similar in analyses using self-rated depression proneness, rather than interview-based diagnosis of past major depression, as the marker of depression vulnerability. Results were (nonsignificantly) stronger for Caucasian (n = 54) than for African-American (n = 73) smokers. Implications for future research on cognitive coping, CBT, and smoking are discussed.

Perceptions of depression among recovered-depressed and never-depressed individuals.

Research on lay beliefs about depression has shown that recovered-depressed people evaluate their own depressive experiences as more distressing than do those who have never experienced major depression. This study tested whether history of depression would influence beliefs about others' experiences of depression. Recovered-depressed (n = 63) and never-depressed adults (n = 64) completed the Self-Appraisal Questionnaire (R-SAQ; J.C. Coyne & M.M. Calarco, 1995) revised to address perceptions of others' experiences of depression. History of depression was not associated with R-SAQ scores. In supplementary analyses, self-reported depression proneness was also uncorrelated with perceptions of others' depression. People without a history of major depression were just as likely to recognize the highly debilitating nature of depression for others. Although nondepressed people frequently fail to convey empathy to friends or relatives who are depressed, this failure probably does not reflect lack of knowledge that depression is incapacitating.