Stress generation in depression: Reflections on origins, research, and future directions
Abstract
Depressed individuals report higher rates of stressful life events, especially those that have occurred in part because of the person's characteristics and behaviors affecting interpersonal interactions. Termed stress generation , this phenomenon draws attention to the role of the individual as an active contributor rather than passive player in his or her environment, and is therefore an example of action theory. In this article, the author speculates about the intellectual origins of her stress generation perspective, and notes somewhat similar transactional approaches to the stress‐disorder link outside of depression research. The literature on stress generation in depression is reviewed, including studies that attempt to explore its correlates and predictors, covering clinical, contextual, family, genetic, cognitive, interpersonal, and personality variables. Empirical and conceptual gaps in our understanding of processes contributing to stressors in the lives of depressed people remain. The author concludes with suggestions for further research, with the goal of furthering understanding both of mechanisms of depression and of dysfunctional interpersonal processes, as well as development of effective interventions to help break the stress‐recurrence cycle of depression. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 62: 1065–1082, 2006.
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Many factors predispose to both dependent stressful life events and major depression, including neuroticism, prior depressive episodes, and genetic risk for major depression.
“Many factors predispose to both dSLEs and MD, including neuroticism, PDEs, and genetic risk for MD.16–21”
From Dependent Stressful Life Events and Prior Depressive Episodes in the Prediction of Major Depression (2010) · cites this paper as [20]
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- Authors
- Hammen, C.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Corresponding author
- Hammen, Constance
- Venue
- Journal of Clinical Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2006-06-29
- Volume
- 62
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 1065-1082
- ISSN
- 0021-9762 (ISSN-L)
- 1097-4679
- OpenAlex
- W1968791579
- Cited by
- 674
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 29 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 40 · 2022: 40 · 2021: 44 · 2020: 43 · 2019: 47 · 2018: 40 · 2017: 26 · 2016: 35 · 2015: 39 · 2014: 48 · 2013: 38 · 2012: 44
- FWCI
- 2.03
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Clinical Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Keywords
- stress generation, depression, life events, philosophy of action, interpersonal processes, predictors of stress, family factors, genetic factors, cognitive factors, personality, depression mechanisms, depression intervention
- MeSH terms
- Depressive Disorder, Disease Susceptibility, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Life Change Events, Psychological Theory, Stress, Psychological, Behavioral Research
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