Stress generation, avoidance coping, and depressive symptoms: a 10-year model

Abstract

This study examined (a) the role of avoidance coping in prospectively generating both chronic and acute life stressors and (b) the stress-generating role of avoidance coping as a prospective link to future depressive symptoms. Participants were 1,211 late-middle-aged individuals (500 women and 711 men) assessed 3 times over a 10-year period. As predicted, baseline avoidance coping was prospectively associated with both more chronic and more acute life stressors 4 years later. Furthermore, as predicted, these intervening life stressors linked baseline avoidance coping and depressive symptoms 10 years later, controlling for the influence of initial depressive symptoms. These findings broaden knowledge about the stress-generation process and elucidate a key mechanism through which avoidance coping is linked to depressive symptoms.

Figure 1

Hypothesized structural equation and measurement models predicting depression over a 10-year period. Latent constructs are shown in ellipses, and observed variables are shown in rectangles.

Figure 2

Results of the LISREL test (standardized estimates) of the structural equation and measurement models predicting depression over a 10-year period (N = 1,211). Latent constructs are shown in ellipses, and observed variables are shown in rectangles. δ and ε represent unique variance in the observed X and Y variables, respectively. The unlabeled arrows pointing to the two endogenous latent variables show the residual (unaccounted for) variance for each of these variables. ^fParameter was set to 1.0 in the unstandardized solution. *p < .01.