Stressful life events and children’s socioemotional difficulties: Conditional indirect effects of resilience and executive function

Neuroticism is a stable and heritable personality trait that is strongly linked to depression. Yet, little is known about its association with late life depression, as well as how neuroticism eventuates into depression. This study used data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS; N=4,877) to examine the direct and indirect effects of neuroticism on late life depression at three points in the life course – ages 53, 64, and 71 – via stressful life events (i.e., independent and dependent) and social supports measured across adulthood and into later life. Neuroticism was rigorously assayed using multiple methods, including self-report measures and a polygenic score informed by a meta-analytic genome-wide association study. Results indicated that the association between self-reported neuroticism and late life depression was partially mediated via the effects of dependent stressful life events experienced after the age of 53 and by age 64 (T2) social support. There were no specific indirect effects of self-reported neuroticism on depression through the effects of age 53 social support (T1), age 71 social support (T3), adult dependent stressful life events (experienced between age 19 and 52), and adult and late life independent stressful life events. These associations were replicated when we examined the direct and indirect effects of the polygenic score for neuroticism on late life depression, providing key evidence that our findings are robust. Results are consistent with previous findings that individuals with high neuroticism may be vulnerable to late life depression through psychosocial risk factors that are, in part, attributable to their own personality.

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Stressful life events and negatively impact depression-relevant executive function in a community sample of young adolescence

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e713582011-001 ◽

2011 ◽

Author(s):

Denise R. Labelle ◽

Lauren B. Alloy ◽

Lyn Y. Abramson

Keyword(s):

Executive Function ◽

Life Events ◽

Stressful Life Events ◽

Community Sample ◽

Stressful Life ◽

Young Adolescence

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Social support, neuropsychological performance, and depression in HIV infection

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society ◽

10.1017/s1355617702813236 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 436-447 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

VANESSA J. HONN ◽

ROBERT A. BORNSTEIN

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Executive Function ◽

Life Events ◽

Stressful Life Events ◽

Stressful Life ◽

Neuropsychological Performance ◽

Psychosocial Variables ◽

Social Contacts ◽

Perceived Disability ◽

The Impact

The present study was designed to examine the impact of neuropsychological performance on the relationships between stress, social support, and depression in 217 HIV-infected men. Using path analysis, the contributions of four domains of cognitive functioning (memory, attention, executive function, and psychomotor speed), IQ, and relevant psychosocial variables to depression were evaluated. In the model which best fit the data, cognitive domains did not contribute directly to depression, but contributed significantly to psychosocial variables which affected levels of depression. Attention and executive function contributed to reduced illness-related disability; while higher IQ was associated with fewer stressful life events. Number of stressful life events and level of illness-related disability were associated with depressive symptoms. Higher IQ led to greater numbers of social contacts, which was associated with fewer reported symptoms of depression. These findings suggest that better neuropsychological performance may lead to reduced stress and perceived disability, and more available social contacts. By these multiple paths, different domains of cognitive ability contribute indirectly to ameliorating depression in HIV-infected men. (JINS, 2002, 8, 436–447.)

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