Stress symptoms and stress coping in depressed girls

• Published in: Zeitschrift für Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie und Psychotherapie Vol. 41; no. 6; p. 383
• Main Authors: Schmidt-Gies, Ulrike, Laessle, Reinhold
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; German
• Published: Switzerland 01.11.2013
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; Adolescent; Comorbidity; Depressive Disorder, Major - diagnosis; Depressive Disorder, Major - psychology; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Female; Germany; Humans; Interview, Psychological; Male; Psychometrics - statistics & numerical data; Reference Values; Reproducibility of Results; Stress, Psychological - complications; Stress, Psychological - psychology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult; Germany; stress coping; Stressbewältigung; Jugendliche; children; Depression; Stress; major depression
• ISSN: 1422-4917
• DOI: 10.1024/1422-4917/a000254

Depressive disorders occur frequently in adolescents. Maintenance of depression has been related to stress and stress coping. The study describes which stress load and which strategies of stress coping are present in girls with major depression. 74 girls with major depression were compared to a normal control group with regard to stress symptoms and stress coping. All subjects were diagnosed with a structured clinical interview according to DSM-IV criteria. Stress and stress coping strategies were measured by standardized and validated questionnaires. Girls with major depression had more symptoms of stress and were characterized by inadequate stress coping compared to the control group. These cross-sectional data show deficits in stress coping that might reinforce stress symptoms as well as degree of depression. However, cause and effect can only be clarified by a longitudinal design.