文章基本信息

标题：Association Between Coping With Anger and Feelings of Depression Among Youths
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作者：Renee D. Goodwin
期刊名称：American journal of public health
印刷版ISSN：0090-0036
出版年度：2006
卷号：96
期号：4
页码：664-669
DOI：10.2105/AJPH.2004.049742
语种：English
出版社：American Public Health Association
摘要：Objectives. I examined the association, among youths, between coping behavior when angry and depression. Methods. Data were drawn from the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children in the United States survey (n=9938). Factor analyses and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to determine the association between self-reported coping behavior when angry and depression. Gender-specific models were run. Results. Factor analysis of 11 coping behaviors indicated a 4-factor solution: substance use , physical activity, emotional coping behavior, and aggressive behavior . Substance use, emotional coping, and aggressive behavior coping were associated with increased likelihood of depression, whereas physical activity was associated with decreased likelihood of depression. Male youths were more likely to engage in physical activity and were less likely to feel depressed. Conclusions. These data provide preliminary evidence of a link between specific coping behavior when angry and the likelihood of depression among youths. Whether these associations may be useful in identifying youths at risk for depression cannot be determined from these data alone but may be an important area for future study. Several recent studies have documented an association between adults’ coping styles and risks of depression and depressive symptoms. 1 ^, 2 Data suggest that emotion-focused coping is associated with increased odds of depression and that task-oriented coping behavior may be associated with a lower likelihood of depression. The mechanism of action between coping styles and the risk of depression is not entirely clear, but several hypotheses have been put forward. It could be that specific modes of interpreting positive and negative events are differentially depressogenic and may therefore result in different lifestyles, which accommodate either the positive or the negative perspective. 3 For instance, it may be that emotion-focused coping with regard to loss ultimately increases the likelihood of depressive feelings through social isolation because the individual is less emotionally equipped to reach out to old contacts or make new friends, and this often leads to social withdrawal, isolation, and depression. It is also conceivable that there are neuroendocrine or neurobiological substrates associated with emotion-focused coping that increase the risk of depression through neuro-chemical changes or pathways. 4 It is further possible that depression leads to the development of an emotion-oriented style of coping as a result of slowed thinking, leads to having a negative worldview, or leads to limits in cognitive or physical functioning associated with the depression itself. Alternatively, it may be that a third outside variable, such as a personality factor, is associated with the co-occurrence of depression and specific coping behaviors. For instance, neuroticism may be associated with an increased likelihood of smoking cigarettes and depressive symptoms when distressed. 5 ^, 6 Data from clinical studies on adult inpatients and outpatients suggest that there are differences in coping behaviors between patients with and without depression. 7 ^– 9 Also, Jorm et al. 10 examined the relation between depression and a wide variety of coping behaviors, finding that there are significant differences in types of behavior depending on the level of severity of depression. Previous studies have also shown that coping behaviors are associated with physical outcomes among those with medical illnesses as well, 11 ^, 12 yet these analyses have not specifically been extended to mental disorders. There is a long-held belief that anger and depression are intricately linked and that anger that is excessive, unexpressed, or “turned inward” leads to depression. 13 ^, 14 Thus, an individual’s method of coping with anger may be related to the likelihood of that individual experiencing depression. If a person engages in behaviors that are linked to effectively managing and discharging angry feelings and increasing healthy behavior, that person’s likelihood of developing depression may be different (lower) from that of someone who copes with depression by engaging in behaviors that are harmful to that person’s health, self-destructive in terms of social relationships or economic well-being, or associated with an increased risk of depression. Although previous investigations among adults in clinical and community samples suggest that coping styles may be related to depressive symptoms, several pertinent areas have remained relatively neglected. First, it is not known whether previous findings are generalizable to youths in the community. Second, previous data are from clinical samples; therefore, it is not possible to determine whether coping strategies are associated with depression among youths in the community or whether coping styles are associated with selection into treatment. Third, despite gender differences in coping behaviors and risks of depression, no study has examined the relation between gender, coping behavior when angry, and the likelihood of depression. Against this background, the goal of the current study was to begin to fill this gap by examining the association between coping behavior when angry and the likelihood of depression among youths. First, I examined the relation between coping behavior when angry and depression. Second, I examined the association between coping behavior when angry and gender. Third, I determined the association between coping behavior when angry and feelings of depression by gender. On the basis of previous findings, I hypothesized that activity-oriented coping behavior when angry would be associated with a significantly lower likelihood of feelings of depression among youths compared with that associated with emotion-oriented coping behavior when angry. I also predicted that activity-oriented coping would be more common among male youths than among female youths.