We examined whether parents' stressors and avoidance coping when offspring were children helped to explain associations between parent depression at baseline and offspring's avoidance coping and depression in adulthood. Self-report data were collected at baseline and 1 year from parents (N = 326) and at 23 years from adult offspring (N = 326).…

This study examined whether having a depressed parent intensifies the secondary deficits that often co-occur with offspring's depression symptoms. The sample was adult offspring of parents who had been diagnosed with depression 23 years earlier (N = 143) and demographically matched nondepressed parents (N = 197). Respondents completed mailed…

Explored the posttreatment phase of unipolar depression in a 12-month follow-up of 424 depressed persons who received treatment and a comparable follow-up of demographically matched, nondepressed controls. Patients whose symptoms remitted reported improvement in other aspects of their adjustment as well as in personal resources such as self-esteem…

Assessed risk factors at intake for treatment of unipolar depression to predict remission status one year later. Each factor considered alone was associated with later remission status; prototypical nonremitted patient was male; aged 40+; had history of prior treatment, intense depression, and serious medical condition; used avoidance coping…

Presents a typology of family environments based on multidimensional assessments of a representative sample of community families. Identified seven family types. Found family differences in environmental stressors and coping resources affected family members' levels of functioning. Discusses clinical and research applications of the typology.…

This study followed baseline samples of 424 unipolar depressed patients and 424 community controls across 10 years to investigate the association between depression and alcohol-related coping and to examine how life context vulnerabilities underlie the risk for depressed individuals to rely on drinking to cope. Findings supported all hypotheses.…

The research described here focused on personal, life context, and help-related factors to trace the long-term course of treated and untreated alcohol-use disorders. A group of 461 individuals who sought help for alcohol problems was surveyed at baseline and 1, 3, 8, and 16 years later. Compared with individuals who remained untreated, individuals…

This study examined how older adults cope with negative life events in health, interpersonal, and financial/work domains and whether common stress and coping processes hold across these three domains. On three occasions, older adults identified the most severe negative event they faced in the last year and described how they appraised and coped…

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…

Results illustrate the usefulness of a conceptual model for assessing the interrelationships among pretreatment, and posttreatment variables and outcome. This approach facilitates the unraveling of these complex interrelationships by allowing for examination of the cumulative influences of prior variables on subsequent variables. (Author/BEF)

Examined the personal, situational, and contextual correlates of coping in 315 adolescents. Found that adolescents who used more approach-coping responses were older, more active, and appraised stressful events as controllable and as challenges, whereas adolescents who used more avoidance coping were easily distressed, had more chronic stressors,…

Although stressful life change events are thought to influence the development of alcoholism and to enhance the probability of relapse after treatment, the actual coping responses to specific events among alcoholics remain largely unexplored. Efforts were made to operationalize and classify coping responses and to explore their relationship to…

Examined functioning and life context of spouses of depressed patients. Remitted and control spouses were comparable in functioning, stressors, and coping with remitted spouses reporting more social and family problems. Nonremitted spouses had significantly more problems than control spouses on most indices. Spouse adaptation was typically…

An expanded model of treatment evaluation is presented, and connections to stress and coping theory are examined. Examples are taken from a research program on the long-term outcomes of alcoholism and depression. Implications for assessment and diagnosis, program design and improvement, and stress and coping theory are explored. (SLD)

Describes social climate dimensions characterizing work, school, and health care settings, emphasizing how personal factors vary influence on morale and performance. Discusses cross-situational linkages, focusing on educator work climate and student learning environment, and students' school and family interplay. Reviews influence of personal…