Stressful life events, cognitive biases, and symptoms of depression in young adults

Although the link between stressful experiences and depression has been supportedin numerous studies, the specific mechanisms of this relationship are still unclear. Cognitive theories of depression postulate that the influence of stress on depressionmay be modified by cognitive factors. The aim of the present study was to examinethe interplay between negative life events, cognitive vulnerability factors, and depressivesymptoms. It was hypothesized that the relationship between negative life events andsymptoms of depression is shaped by rumination and cognitive biases. The studysample consisted of 108 young adults (19 men and 89 women;M= 20.31;SD= 1.84). Memory bias and attentional bias were assessed using the Attentional Blink Task and theMemory Task, respectively. Rumination and depressive symptoms were assessed viaself-report questionnaires. Logistic regression and moderation analyses were conductedto examine the relationship between the study variables. Stressful life events, ruminationand memory bias were found to be significantly related to depressive symptoms. Moderation analyses revealed that there is a positive relationship between negativelife events and depressive symptoms but only among individuals characterized by anelevated level of rumination and among participants exhibiting negative attentional bias.The results provide further evidence for cognitive models of depression.