Life Stress, Current Problems, Problem Solving, and Depressive Symptoms. An Integrative Model

Research focusing on the relation of stressful life events to depression has increased considerably over the past few decades. Whereas substantial documentation exists indicating that stressful life events are strongly associated with the occurrence of depression, this simple relation tends to account for approximately only 10% of the variance concerning its prediction. The present article focused on expanding this simple stress-dysfunction paradigm by including variables that have previously been found to be associated with depression. More specifically, a model was postulated that included level of current problems and social problem solving. This model was then tested using path analytic techniques, with results from 205 undergraduate subjects generally supporting its conceptual utility. Furthermore, the model accounted for 42% of the variance associated with the prediction of depressive symptoms. Implications for current theory and future research are discussed.