A comparison of vulnerability factors in patients with persistent and remitting lifetime symptom course of depression

Background Research has suggested fundamental differences between patients with persistent and those with remitting courses of depression. This study investigated whether patients with different lifetime symptom course configurations differ in early risk and cognitive vulnerability factors. Methods...

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Main Authors: Barnhofer, T, Brennan, K, Crane, C, Duggan, D, Williams, J
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2014
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author Barnhofer, T
Brennan, K
Crane, C
Duggan, D
Williams, J
author_facet Barnhofer, T
Brennan, K
Crane, C
Duggan, D
Williams, J
author_sort Barnhofer, T
collection OXFORD
description Background Research has suggested fundamental differences between patients with persistent and those with remitting courses of depression. This study investigated whether patients with different lifetime symptom course configurations differ in early risk and cognitive vulnerability factors. Methods Patients with at least three previous episodes who were currently in remission were categorized based on visual timelines of their lifetime symptom course and compared with regard to a number of different indicators of vulnerability including questionnaire measures of childhood trauma and experiential avoidance. Results Of the N=127 patients, n=47 showed a persistent course of the disorder with unstable remissions and symptoms most of the time, and n=59 showed a course with more stable, lasting remissions. Group comparisons indicated that patients with a more persistent course were significantly more likely to have suffered from childhood emotional abuse, and reported higher levels of experiential avoidance as well as related core beliefs. Experiential avoidance partially mediated the effect of childhood emotional abuse on persistence of symptoms. Limitations The study is cross-sectional and does not allow conclusions with regard to whether differentiating variables are causally related to chronicity. Self-report measures may be subject to reporting biases. Conclusions The results highlight the detrimental effects of childhood adversity and suggest that experiential avoidance may play an important role in mediating such effects. © 2013 The Authors.
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spelling oxford-uuid:fa1f00f7-cc8a-4ab0-9152-6e4de9891b3c2022-03-27T13:03:16ZA comparison of vulnerability factors in patients with persistent and remitting lifetime symptom course of depressionJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:fa1f00f7-cc8a-4ab0-9152-6e4de9891b3cEnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2014Barnhofer, TBrennan, KCrane, CDuggan, DWilliams, JBackground Research has suggested fundamental differences between patients with persistent and those with remitting courses of depression. This study investigated whether patients with different lifetime symptom course configurations differ in early risk and cognitive vulnerability factors. Methods Patients with at least three previous episodes who were currently in remission were categorized based on visual timelines of their lifetime symptom course and compared with regard to a number of different indicators of vulnerability including questionnaire measures of childhood trauma and experiential avoidance. Results Of the N=127 patients, n=47 showed a persistent course of the disorder with unstable remissions and symptoms most of the time, and n=59 showed a course with more stable, lasting remissions. Group comparisons indicated that patients with a more persistent course were significantly more likely to have suffered from childhood emotional abuse, and reported higher levels of experiential avoidance as well as related core beliefs. Experiential avoidance partially mediated the effect of childhood emotional abuse on persistence of symptoms. Limitations The study is cross-sectional and does not allow conclusions with regard to whether differentiating variables are causally related to chronicity. Self-report measures may be subject to reporting biases. Conclusions The results highlight the detrimental effects of childhood adversity and suggest that experiential avoidance may play an important role in mediating such effects. © 2013 The Authors.
spellingShingle Barnhofer, T
Brennan, K
Crane, C
Duggan, D
Williams, J
A comparison of vulnerability factors in patients with persistent and remitting lifetime symptom course of depression
title A comparison of vulnerability factors in patients with persistent and remitting lifetime symptom course of depression
title_full A comparison of vulnerability factors in patients with persistent and remitting lifetime symptom course of depression
title_fullStr A comparison of vulnerability factors in patients with persistent and remitting lifetime symptom course of depression
title_full_unstemmed A comparison of vulnerability factors in patients with persistent and remitting lifetime symptom course of depression
title_short A comparison of vulnerability factors in patients with persistent and remitting lifetime symptom course of depression
title_sort comparison of vulnerability factors in patients with persistent and remitting lifetime symptom course of depression
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