Reassurance seeking, stress generation, and depressive symptoms: an integrative model

The purpose of this study was to examine a mechanism through which interpersonal vulnerability factors may be linked with depressive symptoms by integrating a stress-generation model with an interpersonal theory of depression. The proposed conceptual framework was tested with 267 college students in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of personality and social psychology Vol. 68; no. 4; p. 664
Main Authors Potthoff, J G, Holahan, C J, Joiner, Jr, T E
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.04.1995
Subjects
Adaptation, Psychological
Adolescent
Adult
Arousal
Depression - psychology
Female
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Male
Models, Statistical
Prospective Studies
Social Support
Stress, Psychological - complications
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Summary:The purpose of this study was to examine a mechanism through which interpersonal vulnerability factors may be linked with depressive symptoms by integrating a stress-generation model with an interpersonal theory of depression. The proposed conceptual framework was tested with 267 college students in a prospective structural equation model with 3 assessments over a 5-week period. Results supported all hypotheses. Initial depressive symptoms and initial reassurance seeking style were positively associated, and initial depressive symptoms were positively related to the occurrence of subsequent minor social stressors. Finally, a reassurance-seeking style was positively related to outcome depressive symptoms indirectly through minor social stressors. As predicted, stress generation operated as a mediating mechanism linking an initial reassurance-seeking style to subsequent depressive symptoms.
ISSN:0022-3514
DOI:10.1037/0022-3514.68.4.664