We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
To save content items to your account,
please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies.
If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account.
Find out more about saving content to .
To save content items to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected]
is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings
on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part
of your Kindle email address below.
Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations.
‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi.
‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Childhood trauma (CT) increases the risk of adult depression. Buffering effects require an understanding of the underlying persistent risk pathways. This study examined whether daily psychological stress processes – how an individual interprets and affectively responds to minor everyday events – mediate the effect of CT on adult depressive symptoms.
Methods
Middle-aged women (N = 183) reported CT at baseline and completed daily diaries of threat appraisals and negative evening affect for 7 days at baseline, 9, and 18 months. Depressive symptoms were measured across the 1.5-year period. Mediation was examined using multilevel structural equation modeling.
Results
Reported CT predicted greater depressive symptoms over the 1.5-year time period (estimate = 0.27, s.e. = 0.07, 95% CI 0.15–0.38, p < 0.001). Daily threat appraisals and negative affect mediated the effect of reported CT on depressive symptoms (estimate = 0.34, s.e. = 0.08, 95% CI 0.22–0.46, p < 0.001). Daily threat appraisals explained more than half of this effect (estimate = 0.19, s.e. = 0.07, 95% CI 0.08–0.30, p = 0.004). Post hoc analyses in individuals who reported at least moderate severity of CT showed that lower threat appraisals buffered depressive symptoms. A similar pattern was found in individuals who reported no/low severity of CT.
Conclusions
A reported history of CT acts as a latent vulnerability, exaggerating threat appraisals of everyday events, which trigger greater negative evening affect – processes that have important mental health consequences and may provide malleable intervention targets.
Symptoms of depression and cancer-related fatigue (CRF) are common among breast cancer patients postchemotherapy and may seriously impair quality of life (QoL). This study aimed to assess the relationship between depression and CRF in breast cancer patients postchemotherapy and to examine their relationships to optimism and to threat and challenge appraisals.
Method:
Participants included 95 breast cancer patients (stages 1–3) 1 to 6 months after completion of chemotherapy. Patients submitted personal and medical details and completed the following: physical symptom questionnaires (EORTC QLQ–C30, and QLQ–BR23), a symptoms of depression questionnaire (CES–D), the Fatigue Symptom Inventory (FSI), the Life Orientation Test (LOT–R), and a stress appraisals questionnaire.
Results:
We found levels of depression, CRF, and appraisals of cancer as a threat to be moderate and levels of optimism and appraisals of cancer as a challenge to be high. Depression and CRF were positively associated. A multivariate regression analysis revealed that 51% of the CRF variance was explained and, together with physical symptoms and threat appraisal, were significantly associated with CRF. A total 67% of depression was explained and, and together with challenge and threat appraisals, were significantly associated with depression.
Significance of Results:
Although CRF and depression were often experienced simultaneously and both were found to be higher among individuals who gave higher appraisals of cancer as a threat, only depression was related to optimism and challenge appraisals, while CRF was related mainly to intensity of physical symptoms. The different pattern of associations between optimism and appraisals warrants further clinical attention as well as future study.
Recommend this
Email your librarian or administrator to recommend adding this to your organisation's collection.