Interaction between different cognitive factors in the prediction of depressive symptoms

This study examined an etiological model of depressive symptoms in adolescents, according to which the predictive association between negative inferences and symptoms was moderated by early maladaptive schemas. The study examined if the schemas of disconnection, rejection and other-directedness accentuate the vulnerability to depression after making negative inferences about social stressors. It was further evaluated if the impaired autonomy and performance domain schemas interact with negative inferences about achievement stressors to predict an increase in the symptoms of depression. The participants were 1184 adolescents (54% boys, 13 to 17 years of age), who completed measures of early maladaptive schemas and negative inferences in the baseline, and depressive symptoms in the baseline and at six-month follow-up. Moderation analyses show that the schema domains of social nature increase the predictive association between negative inferences about social stressors and depression.