Inflexibility and Vulnerability to Depression

描述(由申请人提供)：重度抑郁障碍(MDD)是最常见的终生精神障碍1，与巨大的个人、经济和社会成本2、3有关。尽管现有研究评估了MDD4的各种遗传、认知和环境风险因素，但许多先前的工作都是孤立地评估风险因素，而没有检查共性和递增的预测哪些人会变得抑郁的能力。这项建议旨在评估和比较已知的与抑郁有关的僵化的认知、行为和心理生理因素，这些因素也可能构成抑郁的易感性，特别是与生活应激源相结合，7。拟议的项目旨在更密切地研究(1)哪些认知、行为和心理生理僵化的衡量标准最容易导致抑郁症状的增加，特别是当个人面临生活应激源时，以及(2)抑郁症状是否预示着应对灵活性和解释灵活性的降低。鉴于MDD的发病通常发生在青春期和成年早期3，而且大学时期是学术和人际领域的压力源波动的时期8-10，大学可能是评估应对这些压力的模式的理想时期11。因此，这项拟议研究的参与者将是大学生。参与者将完成对抑郁症状、应对灵活性、解释灵活性、认知灵活性(通过行为和神经心理学任务)和心理生理灵活性(通过呼吸窦性心律失常)的基线评估。参与者将完成四次后续评估，每三周一次，评估生活压力、对所经历的生活压力的解释灵活性和应对灵活性以及抑郁症状，允许具体(受试者内)测量压力的变化12。这项研究的多方法、多波设计将允许对这些顽固性进行强有力的评估和比较，并有可能阐明可能导致抑郁症最大风险的顽固性的特定方面。因此，这项研究有可能更好地了解MDD的发生机制，这可能有助于为这种疾病的高危个体提供预防计划。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Major depressive disorder (MDD) is the most common lifetime mental disorder1 and is associated with tremendous personal, economic and societal costs2, 3. Although existing research has evaluated various genetic, cognitive, and environmental risk factors for MDD4, much prior work has evaluated risk factors in isolation without examining commonalities and incremental ability to predict which individuals will become depressed. This proposal seeks to evaluate and compare inflexible cognitive, behavioral, and psychophysiological factors known to be associated with depression5, and that may also constitute vulnerabilities to depression, particularly in combination with life stressors , 7. The proposed project is designed to more closely examine (1) which measures of cognitive, behavioral, and psychophysiological inflexibility confer the greatest risk for increases in depressive symptoms, particularly when individuals are confronted with life stressors, and (2) whether depressive symptoms predict decreased coping flexibility and explanatory flexibility. Given that the onset of MDD typically occurs between adolescence and early adulthood3, and that the college years are a time of fluctuation in stressors in the academic and interpersonal domains8-10, college may be an ideal period in which to evaluate patterns of coping in response to these stressors11. Therefore, participants in the proposed study will be college students. Participants will complete a baseline evaluation of depressive symptoms, coping flexibility, explanatory flexibility, cognitive flexibility (via behavioral and neuropsychological tasks), and psychophysiological flexibility (via respiratory sinus arrhythmia). Participants will complete four follow-up assessments, once every three weeks, evaluating life stress, explanatory flexibility and coping flexibility in response to life stress experienced, and depressive symptoms, allowing for idiographic (within-subject) measurement of variations in stress12. The multi-method, multi-wave design of this study will allow for powerful assessment and comparison of these inflexibilities and has the potential to illuminate specific facets of inflexibility that may confer the greatest risk for depression. Thus, this study has the potentialto provide a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in the development of MDD, which may help to inform prevention programs for individuals at risk for this condition.