Life Circumstances and Personal Resources as Predictors of the Ten‐Year Course of Depression

• Published in: American journal of community psychology 1998-04, Vol.26 (2), p.255-280
• Main Authors: Cronkite, Ruth C., Moos, Rudolf H., Twohey, Joan, Cohen, Caryn, Swindle, Ralph
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Biological and medical sciences; coping; Depression; Depressive Disorder - diagnosis; Depressive Disorder - psychology; Depressive Disorder - therapy; Disease Progression; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Life Change Events; Life stress; life stressors; Lifetime; long-term course of depression; Male; Medical sciences; Mental depression; Mood disorders; personal resources; Predictors; Prognosis; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Psychological resources; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Recurrence; remission/nonremission in unipolar depression; Social psychology; social support; Socioeconomic factors; Stress, Psychological - psychology; Time Factors; Treatment; USA
• ISSN: 0091-0562; 1573-2770
• DOI: 10.1023/A:1022180603266

A 10‐year naturalistic study of 313 patients who entered treatment for unipolar depression and a community comparison group of 284 nondepressed adults was conducted. We compared life stressors, social resources, personal resources, and coping among patients who were remitted (N = 76), partially remitted (N = 146), or nonremitted (N = 91). Compared with the controls and the remitted patients, the partially remitted and nonremitted patients consistently experienced more life stressors and fewer social resources, were less easygoing, and relied more on avoidance coping. A less easygoing disposition, fewer close relationships, and more reliance on avoidance coping were associated with higher odds of experiencing a course of partial remission or nonremission. In addition, more depressive symptoms and medical conditions predicted nonremission.