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Cited by 86Resilience and Mental HealthAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesPsychological Treatments and Disorders

Humiliation, loss and other types of life events and difficulties: a comparison of depressed subjects, healthy controls and their siblings

FARMER, ANNE E., McGUFFIN, PETER·2003·Psychological Medicine
DOI 10.1017/s0033291703008419
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Abstract

Background. It has been proposed that adverse life events involving loss or humiliation are particularly potent in provoking depressive episodes. We have also previously suggested that experiencing high rates of non-severe events may play a role in the development of resilience to the impact of severe threatening events when these occur. Method. The Life Events and Difficulties Schedule (LEDS) (Brown & Harris, 1978) was used to record the life events experienced by 108 depressed probands and their nearest aged siblings as well as 105 healthy control subjects and their nearest aged siblings. All subjects were interviewed using the Schedule for the Clinical Assessment of Neuropsychiatry (SCAN) (Wing et al. 1990). Results. Depressed probands were significantly more likely to have experienced a severe threatening event, loss event, or a humiliation event compared to the other subjects. These events also made up a greater proportion of the total number of events, in the depressed probands. Humiliation events were more frequent in depressed men than depressed women. There were no differences between the four groups for experiencing a non-severe event, although depressed probands also experienced more difficulties than the other three groups. Fifty-six healthy subjects who had not become depressed despite having experienced at least one severe and threatening event, had significantly more non-severe events, than the 116 subjects who were depressed at the time of interview. Conclusions. The findings support the hypothesis that loss and humiliation events are particularly depressogenic. Experiencing a high rate of non-severe events may be associated with resilience to becoming depressed in the face of a threatening event.

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Crossref · 10.1017/s0033291703008419

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  • Major life events involving interpersonal loss are the most common precipitants of MDD, with up to 44% of depressive episodes being preceded by such stress.

    “major life events involving interpersonal loss are the most common precipitants of MDD, with up to 44% of depressive episodes being preceded by such stress”

    From From stress to inflammation and major depressive disorder: A social signal transduction theory of depression. (2014) · cites this paper as Farmer & McGuffin, 2003

  • Recent psychosocial adversity (life events) often triggers the timing of depression onset, mainly in the context of earlier psychosocial or familial vulnerability.

    “recent psychosocial adversity (life-events) often plays a triggering role in timing the onset of depression, but mainly in the context earlier psychosocial or familial vulnerability (Brown et al., 1987;Brown et al., 1995;Farmer et al., 2003).”

    From Affective Cognition and its Disruption in Mood Disorders (2011) · cites this paper as Farmer et al., 2003

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Authors
FARMER, A. E., & McGUFFIN, P.
Affiliations
Cardiff University (GB)
ORCID
McGUFFIN, PETER
Venue
Psychological Medicine
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
2003-09-25
Volume
33
Issue
7
Pages
1169-1175
ISSN
  • 0033-2917 (ISSN-L)
  • 1469-8978
DOI
10.1017/s0033291703008419
OpenAlex
W2018717746
Cited by
86
References
6
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 8
FWCI
6.52
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified)
Locations
  • Psychological Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Resilience and Mental Health
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychological Treatments and Disorders
Keywords
depression, life events, humiliation, loss events, resilience, siblings, sex differences, neuropsychiatric assessment
MeSH terms
Adaptation, Psychological, Adjustment Disorders, Adult, Age Factors, Depressive Disorder, Dominance-Subordination, Female, Grief, Humans, Internal-External Control, Life Change Events, Male, Mathematical Computing, Personality Inventory, Psychometrics, Reference Values, Risk Factors, Sex Factors, Wales, Siblings

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