糖心传媒

A meta-analysis finds the established stress generation model applies not only to depression but also to other mental health disorders.

studies stress. For several years, the graduate student in psychology had been sifting through research on stress generation and depression, working on a rigorous meta-analysis. Mentored by , an associate professor in the Rochester , Santee wondered if existing studies would bear out the that had been developed in 1991 by University of California, Los Angeles, psychology professor 糖心传媒攚ho, in turn, had been Starr糖心传媒檚 postdoctoral mentor.

While Hammen糖心传媒檚 model had spawned plenty of research over the past three decades, the resulting literature had never been quantitatively summarized. A worthwhile undertaking, both Santee and her thesis advisor Starr believed.

Yet, unbeknown to them and some 2,800 miles to the northwest, , a postdoctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, was doing exactly the same.

糖心传媒淭here糖心传媒檚 definitely a moment where your stomach drops. It糖心传媒檚 a nerve-racking realization,糖心传媒� says Santee.

At that point, Santee and her advisor Starr had already sunk years into the data research and were mere months away from completing it. Would she have to walk away and abandon the project, she wondered.

After a moment (or two) of panic on both sides of the border, the researchers decided to join forces instead, with British Columbia糖心传媒檚 Rnic and Rochester糖心传媒檚 Santee taking the lead. In total, the combined team looked at a whopping 95 longitudinal studies, spanning 38,228 study participants, and more than 30 years of research.

The resulting , published in the Psychological Bulletin, was admittedly 糖心传媒渜uite an endeavor, but ultimately strengthened the science,糖心传媒� says Starr, a senior coauthor,聽 whose research centers on the origins and consequences of depression and anxiety disorders in adolescents and adults.

Verifying the long-established model of stress generation

Indeed, the new quantitative US-Canadian meta-analysis concludes, in line with Hammen糖心传媒檚 model, that psychopathology糖心传媒攕uch as mental illness or disorders, including depression糖心传媒攄oes predict dependent stressful life events (events that the person, at least in part, contributed to) more strongly than it predicts independent (fateful) events. In other words, those who suffer from mental disorders are more likely to find themselves in stressful situations of their own making.

Psychologists refer to this phenomenon as stress generation, in which the depressed person is an active contributor rather than a passive player in their own environment.

糖心传媒淧eople with depression might be more likely to have arguments with others, or put off completing important tasks at work or home,糖心传媒� explains co-lead author Rnic. 糖心传媒淭his can lead to more stressors in their relationships, work, education, finances, health糖心传媒攁ll domains of life.糖心传媒�

Yet, the team found that the theory of stress generation not only holds for people with depression but also across many other mental health disorders, such as anxiety, personality disorders, substance use, and childhood disruptive disorders.

糖心传媒淲e saw that people with mental disorders experienced more dependent stressors than those without mental disorders,糖心传媒� Rnic says, which suggests that 糖心传媒減eople with mental disorders are actively generating greater stressors.糖心传媒�

The finding is crucial, the team argues, because it means that people have some agency over the amount of stress they experience.

Importantly, the new meta-analysis offers strong evidence that stress generation seems to act as a factor that maintains and feeds a person糖心传媒檚 depression. 糖心传媒淭his finding is crucial because the major reason that depression is such a burden on society is that it糖心传媒檚 a recurrent and often chronic problem,糖心传媒� Starr notes.

Breaking the vicious cycle

Being able to target the self-perpetuating generation of stress with specific interventions may improve a person糖心传媒檚 mental illness or psychological disorder. That糖心传媒檚 why the researchers embarked on a second undertaking: trying to isolate the specific processes that contribute to the occurrence of life stress. Treatments that target stress generation could reduce 糖心传媒渢he personal and economic cost of mental disorders,糖心传媒� the team writes, noting that stress generation is 糖心传媒渕alleable.糖心传媒�

The result is a , published in , which looked at both the modifiable risk and protective factors in stress generation, incorporating the findings of 70 studies with nearly 40,000 participants in total, and spanning again more than 30 years of research. The team found common risk factors that predict a person糖心传媒檚 stress generation over time, including personal traits and behaviors commonly associated with mental disorders, ineffective interpersonal emotion regulation (such as seeking excessive reassurance from others), repetitive negative thoughts (including ruminating and worrying), excessive standards for oneself, and the tendency to withdraw or avoid challenging situations or social interactions.

Addressing these risk factors in treatment approaches, the authors argue, may be crucial to breaking the vicious cycle of stress generation. The team also noted that preventive factors remained understudied.

Yet, the silver lining that became clear during the analysis is that dependent stress is moldable and that people have agency.

糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 a powerful realization that some of the stressors we experience are within our control and so, theoretically, we can act to control how much stress we experience and the impact of that stress on us,糖心传媒� Santee says. 糖心传媒淲e all have the ability to shape our worlds.糖心传媒�

Ultimately, the cross-border, cross-institutional collaborative approach, which also involved other researchers from Rochester, British Columbia, and the University of Western Ontario, improved the project.

糖心传媒淩ather than racing to be first to publish, which is very stressful in itself, we decided to make the science stronger,糖心传媒� Santee says. 糖心传媒淲e finished sooner and really accomplished much more together.糖心传媒�

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