Elevated Tendency to Appraise Events as Stressful in the Risk for Depression and

描述(由申请者提供)：目前的项目将在一项关于抑郁症和焦虑症风险的研究中，就对个人幸福感的负面影响而言，考察个人在评估事件为有压力的倾向方面的个体差异。这个项目的主要目的是确定将事件评估为有压力的倾向是否会增加患抑郁症和焦虑症的风险。这个项目的另一个目的是确定哪些因素可能导致个体在评价事件为压力的倾向上的差异。在预测将事件评估为有压力的倾向方面的差异时，需要检查的变量包括性别、抑郁和焦虑症的家庭风险，以及童年时期暴露在不利环境中。该项目的目标是确定将事件评估为应激性事件的上升趋势是否代表核心脆弱性因素，其他风险因素通过该因素传递抑郁和焦虑症的风险。拟议的项目将利用以前从青年及其家庭中收集的大量纵向样本(例如Hamman&Brennan，2001)的数据进行，该样本最初旨在检查抑郁母亲的子女中抑郁的预测因素。该样本包括800多名(约50%男性)青年及其母亲，他们从青年出生时开始纵向跟踪调查，从青年5岁、青年15岁和青年20岁开始进行纵向跟踪。评估压力事件的倾向在15岁时被评估，并将在15岁之前与抑郁症和焦虑症的病史以及15岁至20岁之间的抑郁和焦虑症的预期发病有关进行检查。通过比较女性和男性青年之间的压力评估倾向，将检验性别差异。关于青少年暴露在不利条件下的数据是在孩子出生后的头五年从母亲那里收集的，这些数据将被作为15岁时将事件评估为有压力的倾向的预测因子。抑郁和焦虑症的家庭风险由15岁以下青少年一生中母亲的抑郁和焦虑症病史决定，也将被视为年轻人在15岁时将事件评估为有压力的倾向的预测因子。最后，家庭风险、早期逆境暴露和性别对青少年将事件评估为有压力的倾向的相互关系将使用一种称为通径分析的统计建模程序来检验。拟议研究的潜在好处包括增加对可能导致抑郁症和焦虑症易感性的因素的理解，以及阐明其他风险变量对这些疾病构成风险的机制。支持研究假设的证据可能最终会对确定抑郁症和焦虑症的内表型以及识别可能成为预防目标的高危个体产生影响。当前项目的相关性在于，它可能有助于更准确地阐明什么构成抑郁症和焦虑症的脆弱性，并有助于描绘其他风险因素(具体而言，家庭风险、早期环境风险和女性性别因素的风险)产生影响的过程。确定将事件评估为应激性事件的倾向上升是抑郁症和焦虑症的一个核心脆弱因素，并了解性别影响和家庭及早期环境风险因素带来风险的机制，可能有助于制定预防和干预战略，并最终减少与这些疾病相关的负担。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The current project will examine individual differences in the tendency to appraise events as stressful, in terms of having negative impact on personal well-being, in a study of risk for depression and anxiety disorders. The primary aim of this project is to establish whether an elevated tendency to appraise events as stressful poses increased risk for the development of depression and anxiety disorders. An additional aim of this project is to determine what factors may contribute to individual differences in the tendency to appraise events as stressful. Variables to be examined in predicting differences in the tendency to appraise events as stressful will include gender, familial risk for depression and anxiety disorders, and exposure to adverse circumstances in childhood. The goal of this project is to establish whether an elevated tendency to appraise events as stressful represents a core vulnerability factor through which other risk factors transmit risk for depression and anxiety disorders. The proposed project will be conducted using previously collected data from a large longitudinal sample of youth and their families (e.g., Hammen & Brennan, 2001), originally designed to examine predictors of depression in offspring of depressed mothers. This sample included over 800 (about 50% male) youths and their mothers who were followed longitudinally beginning at the time of the youth's birth, youth age 5, youth age 15, and youth age 20. The tendency to appraise events as stressful was assessed in youth at age 15 and will be examined in relation to depression and anxiety disorder history up to age 15, as well as in relation to prospective onsets of depression and anxiety disorders between age 15 and 20. A gender difference in the tendency to appraise events as stressful will be examined by comparing the stressful appraisal tendency among female compared to male youth. Data on youth exposure to adverse conditions were collected from mothers during the first five years of the child life and will be examined as a predictor of the tendency to appraise events as stressful at youth age 15. Familial risk for depression and anxiety disorders was determined by mother history of depression and anxiety disorder during the youths lifetime up to age 15 and will also be examined as a predictor of youth's tendency to appraise events as stressful at age 15. Finally, the interrelations of familial risk, exposure to early adversity, and gender on youth's tendency to appraise events as stressful and youth depression and anxiety disorder onset will be examined using a statistical modeling procedure known as path analysis. Potential benefits of the proposed study include increased understanding of factors that may pose vulnerability for depression and anxiety disorders as well as the elucidation of mechanisms by which other risk variables pose risk for these disorders. Evidence in support of study hypotheses may eventually have implications for identifying endophenotypes for depression and anxiety disorders, as well as the identification of at-risk individuals who may be targeted for prevention. The relevance of the current project is that it may help elucidate more precisely what constitutes vulnerability for depression and anxiety disorders and help to delineate the processes by which other risk factors (specifically, familial risk, early environmental risk, and risk as a function of female gender) confer their effects. Establishing that an elevated tendency to appraise events as stressful represents a core vulnerability factor for depression and anxiety disorders and understanding the mechanisms through which gender effects and familial, and early environmental risk factors confer risk for these may contribute to the development of prevention and intervention strategies and ultimately reduce the burden associated with these disorders.