Search

Negative or stressful life events are robust risk factors for depression and anxiety. Less attention has been paid to the positive aspects of events and whether positivity buffers the impact of the negative aspects of events. In this study, we examined the positivity and negativity of interpersonal and noninterpersonal episodic life events in predicting anxiety and depressive symptoms in a sample of 373 young adults. Regressions tested the main and interactive effects of positivity and negativity ratings of events in predicting symptom factors (fears, anhedonia-apprehension, general distress) relevant to anxiety and depression. A significant interaction demonstrated that positivity protected against high levels of negativity of noninterpersonal events in predicting general distress. A main effect of interpersonal negativity predicting higher anhedonia-apprehension was observed. Results for fears were nonsignificant. Findings suggest that the positivity of life events may buffer against negativity in predicting symptoms shared between anxiety and depression.

Offspring of mothers with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are at higher risk for a range of negative developmental outcomes, including differing forms of psychopathology. This paper suggests that the multigenerational impact of trauma may be partially attributed to increased levels of stress experienced by these offspring during childhood and adolescence. Diagnostic interviews were conducted with over 800 women and their offspring. Experiences of stress were assessed using multiple measures. Results indicate that offspring of mothers with PTSD or high levels of PTSD symptoms experienced higher levels of lifetime exposure to major stress F(1, 814) = 18.04, p < .001, current chronic stress due to family relations F(1, 813) = 7.22, p = .007, and a higher level of objectively rated recent episodic life stress F(1, 758) = 5.17, p = .02, compared to offspring of women without PTSD. These findings remained significant after controlling for maternal history of depression.