Specificity of stress generation: A comparison of adolescents with depressive, anxiety, and comorbid diagnoses

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Nicole P. Connolly, University of California, Los Angeles; Nicole K. Eberhart, RAND Corporation; Constance L. Hammen, University of California, Los Angeles; Patricia Brennan, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2010-12-01
• Publisher: Springer Verlag (Germany)
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2010 International Association for Cognitive Psychotherapy.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1521/ijct.2010.3.4.368
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: International Journal of Cognitive Therapy
• ISSN: 1937-1209
• Volume: 3
• Issue: 4
• Start Page: 368
• End Page: 379
• Grant/Funding Information: The research reported in this article was supported by a National Institute of Mental Health Grant (R01MH5223901) awarded to Constance Hammen and Patricia Brennan and a National Research Service Award postdoctoral fellowship (5-T32-MH14584) awarded to Nicole Eberhart while at the University of California, Los Angeles.
• Research Categories: Psychology, General; Health Sciences, Mental Health

Abstract

Individuals with a history of depression experience more stress that is dependent in part on their own actions. However, it is unclear whether stress generation is a unique feature of depression, or a universal process that is also present in other types of psychopathology, such as anxiety disorders. The current study addressed this issue by comparing adolescents with a history of "pure" (i.e., non-comorbid) depressive disorders, pure anxiety disorders, comorbid depression and anxiety, and no disorder, on their levels of dependent and independent stress. Results indicated that adolescents with pure depression experienced more dependent stress than adolescents with pure anxiety, and adolescents with any internalizing diagnosis experienced more dependent stress than controls. Further, adolescents with comorbid depression and anxiety reported the highest levels of stress generation. The results suggest that while stress generation may be more strongly associated with depression than anxiety in adolescence, it is not unique to depression.