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Higher cognitive ability buffers stress-related depressive symptoms in adolescent girls

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 March 2015

Lucy Riglin ,
Stephan Collishaw ,
Katherine H. Shelton ,
I. C. McManus ,
Terry Ng-Knight ,
Ruth Sellers ,
Ajay K. Thapar ,
Norah Frederickson  and
Frances Rice
Lucy Riglin
Affiliation:
University College London
Stephan Collishaw
Affiliation:
Cardiff University and MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics
Katherine H. Shelton
Affiliation:
Cardiff University
I. C. McManus
Affiliation:
University College London
Terry Ng-Knight
Affiliation:
University College London
Ruth Sellers
Affiliation:
Cardiff University and MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics
Ajay K. Thapar
Affiliation:
Cardiff University and MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics
Norah Frederickson
Affiliation:
University College London
Frances Rice*
Affiliation:
University College London
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Frances Rice, Department of Clinical Educational and Health Psychology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AP, UK; E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

Stress has been shown to have a causal effect on risk for depression. We investigated the role of cognitive ability as a moderator of the effect of stressful life events on depressive symptoms and whether this varied by gender. Data were analyzed in two adolescent data sets: one representative community sample aged 11–12 years (n = 460) and one at increased familial risk of depression aged 9–17 years (n = 335). In both data sets, a three-way interaction was found whereby for girls, but not boys, higher cognitive ability buffered the association between stress and greater depressive symptoms. The interaction was replicated when the outcome was a diagnosis of major depressive disorder. This buffering effect in girls was not attributable to coping efficacy. However, a small proportion of the variance was accounted for by sensitivity to environmental stressors. Results suggest that this moderating effect of cognitive ability in girls is largely attributable to greater available resources for cognitive operations that offer protection against stress-induced reductions in cognitive processing and cognitive control which in turn reduces the likelihood of depressive symptomatology.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 28 , Issue 1 , February 2016 , pp. 97 - 109
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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