Divorce, Depression, and Biobehavioral Dysregulation

描述（由申请人提供）：离婚一直被评为生活中最痛苦的心理经历之一。婚姻解体后，重度抑郁症发作的风险增加了3到10倍，这些成年人中的一部分人将陷入精神疾病的道路上。由于每年约有250万成年人在婚姻结束时受到影响，因此了解风险和保护机制的努力对国家至关重要，对于制定治疗和预防措施至关重要。拟议的研究检查自我调节功能的两个领域（认知组织和自主反应模式），以揭示婚姻解体，抑郁症严重程度和身体健康结果之间的关联。在一项实验室研究中，将从105名最近分居的成年人（其中三分之二报告轻度至中度抑郁）中收集自我报告、生理和认知处理反应时间数据，以检查三个特定目标。目的1通过比较自我报告的调整与损失相关的注意和记忆任务，探讨认知组织的外显和内隐测量之间的关联;目的2在控制自我报告的调整和其他协变量后，检验这些信息处理测量是否能预测抑郁的严重程度;目标3研究了抑郁症严重程度影响心率变异性，收缩性，和皮肤电反应在离婚特定的精神激活任务和标准化的急性应激挑战。相关性和多元回归分析，包括统计中介和适度的正式测试，将被用来分析研究的目的和假设。预计这种性质的综合研究可以帮助阐明基本的自我调节机制，提高风险或防止情感障碍和不良的身体健康结果离婚后。公共卫生相关性：离婚是一个人可能经历的最有压力的生活事件之一，相当一部分成年人在婚姻解体后会患上可诊断的重度抑郁症。这项研究探讨了离婚后抑郁症的预测因素，以及这些情绪障碍如何对身体健康产生负面影响。更好地了解离婚、抑郁和健康之间的联系对于制定更好的预防和治疗计划至关重要。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Divorce is consistently rated among life's most distressing psychological experiences. Following marital dissolution, the risk for Major Depressive Disorder onset is increased by three to tenfold, and a subset of these adults will become stuck on pathways toward mental illness. With approximately 2.5 million adults newly impacted by the end of marriage each year, efforts to understand risk and protective mechanisms are of national import and critical for developing treatments and preventions. The proposed research examines two domains of self-regulatory functioning (cognitive organization and autonomic response patterning) in order to shed light on the association between marital dissolution, depression severity, and physical health outcomes. In a laboratory study, self-report, physiological, and cognitive processing reaction time data will be collected from 105 recently separated adults, two-thirds of whom report mild to moderate depression, to examine three specific aims. Aim 1 explores the association between explicit and implicit measures of cognitive organization by comparing self-reported adjustment to loss-related attention and memory tasks; Aim 2 examines whether these information processing measures predict depression severity after controlling for self-reported adjustment and other covariates; and, Aim 3 examines the cognitive processes through which depression severity impacts heart rate variability, contractility, and electrodermal responses during a divorce-specific mental activation task and a standardized acute stress challenge. Correlation and multiple regression analyses, including formal tests of statistical mediation and moderation, will be used to analyze the study aims and hypotheses. It is anticipated that integrative research of this nature can help elucidate the basic self-regulatory mechanisms that heighten risk for or protect against affective disorders and poor physical health outcomes in the aftermath of divorce. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Divorce is among the most stressful life events a person can experience, and a significant proportion of adults develop diagnosable Major Depression following marital dissolution. This research examines the predictors of post-divorce depression and how these mood disturbances can negatively impact physical health outcomes. A better understanding of the associations between divorce, depression, and health is critical for developing improved prevention and treatment programs.