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This study examines the possible stress-buffering properties of personal competence and social support with regard to depressive symptoms. The hypothesis examined was that individuals lacking both internal and external resources would manifest higher levels of symptoms as a result of increasing number of life events than would individuals possessing such resources. Further, variation by gender was considered. Data on depressive symptoms (CES-D Scale), personal competence, social support, and life events were obtained in a 70-minute interview with randomly selected samples of white married adults (n = 965) from rural counties of Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Ohio. Analyses indicated both the main and buffering effects of personal competence and social support for the total sample. However, these effects varied by sex. While personal competence and life events had consistent main effects for both married males and females—individuals with more stress or lower levels of competence had higher levels of symptoms—effects of social support were more pervasive among the females. Finally, personal competence appeared to have a greater buffering effect than the presence of social support alone. There was also an unanticipated tendency for greater vulnerability to stressors among individuals (particularly males) under conditions of low competence and high support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study of 200 adults receiving outpatient services in rural Middle Tennessee was conducted to provide data on the validity of the CES-D as a measure of depressive symptomatology. Specifically, the study sought to determine the CES-D's ability to discriminate between outpatients and a sample of community residents, between patient groups reflecting different diagnostic classifications and levels of problem severity, and based upon such comparisons, to select cutting points on the CES-D which would indicate levels of depressive symptomatology which denote a need for services. The data indicated that the CES-D distinguished (t) between patients and nonpatients, (2) among various patient groups, and (3) among depressed patients with varying levels of problem severity. Further, the study cites the utility of new cutting points of 17 and 23 to provide an estimate of "possible" and "probable" caseness within the community. The study provides support for the utility of the CES-D in determining levels of depressive symptomatology in the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between race and psychiatric impairment was examined with regard to three measures of psychiatric status. Data on the Health Opinion Survey, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale, and the General Weil-Being Schedule collected on a rural Tennessee sample (n = 713) indicated a significant zero-order relationship between race and impairment only for the depression index. No race differences were, obtained when controls for SES-related variables were instituted. The data support the recent suggestion that higher levels of impairment among blacks may be an artifact of social class standing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]