Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Vulnerability to Social Stress: Coping as a Mediator or Moderator of Sociotropy and Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression

  • Published:
Cognitive Therapy and Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Although stressful events clearly play an important role in the development of symptoms of depression and anxiety, individuals are not equally sensitive to stress. Attempts to explain differences in adjustment have focused both on the coping strategies employed in response to stress, and on personality-related vulnerabilities to specific stressors. However, little is known about the interplay between coping and personality traits such as sociotropy, which is associated with increased sensitivity to negative social events. Measures of sociotropy and symptoms of depression and anxiety were obtained in a sample of undergraduates, along with reports of coping with interpersonal stress. Regressions controlling for recent stressful events indicated that coping does not directly mediate the relationship between sociotropy and distress, but does moderate the relationship. Both primary and secondary control engagement coping buffer the link between sociotropy and anxiety/depression, whereas disengagement coping augments the relationship. Implications for social cognitive models of vulnerability to stress are highlighted.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Achenbach, T. M. (1997). Manual for the Young Adult Behavior Checklist and Young Adult Self Report. Burlington VT: Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aiken, L. S., & West, S.G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alford, B. A, & Gerrity, D. M. (1995). The specificity of sociotropy-autonomy personality dimensions to depression vs. anxiety. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 51, 190–195.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen, N. B, de L. Horne, D. J, & Trinder, J. (1996). Sociotropy, autonomy, and dysphoric emotional responses to specific classes of stress: A psychophysiological evaluation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 105, 25–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amirkhan, J. H, Risinger, R. T, & Swickert, R. J. (1995). Extraversion: A “hidden” personality factor in coping? Journal of Personality, 63, 189–212.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baron, R. M, & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator- mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartelstone, J. H, & Trull, T. J. (1995). Personality, life events, and depression. Journal of Personality Assessment, 64, 279–294.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T. (1983). Cognitive therapy of depression: New perspectives. In P. J. Clayton & J. E. Barrett (Eds.), Treatment of depression: Old controversies and new approaches (pp. 265–290). New York: Raven Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolger, N, & Zuckerman, A. (1995). A framework for studying personality in the stress process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 890–902.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bornstein, R. F. (1995). Interpersonal dependency and physical illness: The mediating roles of stress and social support. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 14, 225–243.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheung, S, Sun, S. Y. K, Mak, Y, & Fung, W. (1997). Sociotropy/autonomy and differential effects of social support on psychological well-being. Psychologia: An International Journal of Psychology in the Orient, 40, 112–120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, D. A, Beck, A. T, & Brown, G. K. (1992). Sociotropy, autonomy, and life event perceptions in dysphoric and nondysphoric individuals. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 16, 635–652.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, L. A, Watson, D, & Mineka, S. (1994). Temperament, personality, and the mood and anxiety disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103, 103–116.

    Google Scholar 

  • Compas, B. E, Connor-Smith, J. K, Thomsen, A. H, Saltzman, H, & Wadsworth, M. E. (2001). Coping with stress during childhood and adolescence: Progress, problems, and potential in theory and research. Psychological Bulletin, 127, 87–127.

    Google Scholar 

  • Compas, B. E, Davis, G. E, Forsythe, C. J, & Wagner, B. M. (1987). Assessment of major and daily stressful events during adolescence: The Adolescent Perceived Events Scale. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 534–541.

    Google Scholar 

  • Connor-Smith, J. K, Compas,B. E., Wadsworth, M. E, Thomsen, A. H, & Saltzman, H. (2000). Responses to stress: Measurement of coping and involuntary stress responses. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68, 976–992.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coyne, J. C, & Whiffen, V. E. (1995). Issues in personality as diathesis for depression: The case of sociotropy-dependency and autonomy-self criticism. Psychological Bulletin, 118, 358–378.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daley, S. E, Hammen, C, Burge, D, Davila, J, Paley, B, Lindberg, N., et al. (1997). Predictors of the generation of episodic stress: A longitudinal study of late adolescent women. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 106, 251–259.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunkley, D. M, Blankstein, K. R, & Flett, G. L. (1997). Specific cognitive-personality vulnerability styles in depression and the five-factor model of personality. Personality and Individual Differences, 23, 1041–1053.

    Google Scholar 

  • Epping-Jordan, J. E, Compas, B. E, Osowiecki, D. M, Oppedisano, G, Gerhardt, C, Primo, K., et al. (1999). Psychological adjustment in breast cancer: Processes of emotional distress. Health Psychology, 18, 315–326.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ewart, C. K, Jorgensen, R. S, & Kolodner, K. B. (1998). Sociotropic cognition moderates blood pressure response to interpersonal stress in high-risk adolescent girls. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 28, 131–142.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finney, J.W, Mitchell, R. E, Cronkite, R. C, & Moos, R. H. (1984). Methodological issues in estimating main and interactive effects: Examples from coping/social support and stress fields. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 25, 85–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fukunishi, I. (1996). Subclinical depressive symptoms in HIV infection are related to avoidance coping responses: A comparison with end-stage renal failure and breast cancer. Psychological Reports, 78, 483–488.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haaga,D. A. F, Fine, J. A, Terrill,D, Stewart, B. L, & Beck, A. T. (1995). Social problem-solving deficits, dependency, and depressive symptoms. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 19, 147–158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammen, C, Ellicott, A, & Gitlin, M. (1992). Stressors and sociotropy/autonomy: A longitudinal study of their relationship to the course of bipolar disorder. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 16, 409–418.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holmes, J. A, & Stevenson, C. A. (1990). Differential effects of avoidant and attentional coping strategies on adaptation to chronic and recent-onset pain. Health Psychology, 9, 577–584.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hooker, K, Frazier, L. D, & Monahan, D. J. (1994). Personality and coping among caregivers of spouses with dementia. Gerontologist, 34, 386–392.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jolly, J. B, Dyck, M. J, Kramer, T. A, & Wherry, J. N. (1996). The relations between sociotropy and autonomy, positive and negative affect and two proposed depression subtypes. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 25, 91–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lazarus, R. S, & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lengua, L. J, & Sandler, I. N. (1996). Self-regulation as a moderator of the relation between coping and symptomatology in children of divorce. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 24, 681–701.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lubinski, D, & Humphreys, L.G. (1990). Assessing spurious “moderator effects”: Illustrated substantively with the hypothesized (“synergistic”) relation between spatial and mathematical ability. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 385–393.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacCallum, R. C, & Mar, C. M. (1995). Distinguishing between moderator and quadratic effects in multiple regression. Psychological Bulletin, 118, 405–421.

    Google Scholar 

  • McClelland, G. H, & Judd, C. M. (1993). Statistical difficulties of detecting interactions and moderator effects. Psychological Bulletin, 114, 376–390.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, S. M, Combs, C, & Kruus, L. (1993). Tuning in and tuning out: Confronting the effects of confrontation. In H. W. Krohne (Ed.), Attention and Avoidance (pp. 51–69). Kirkland, WA: Hogrefe & Huber.

    Google Scholar 

  • Monroe, S, & Simons,A. (1991). Diathesis-stress theories in the context of life stress research: Implications for depressive disorders. Psychological Bulletin, 110, 406–425.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, R.G, & Blackburn, I. (1993). Sociotropy, autonomy and personal memories in depression. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 32, 460–462.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morrow, K. A, Thoreson, R. W, & Penney, L. L. (1995). Predictors of psychological distress among infertility clinic patients. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63, 163–167.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nolen-Hoeksema, S, Parker, L. E, & Larson, J. (1994). Ruminative coping with depressed mood following loss. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 92–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osowiecki, D, & Compas, B. E. (1999).Aprospective study of coping, perceived control, and psychological adaptation to breast cancer. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 23, 169–180.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pennebaker, J. W. (1997). Writing about emotional experiences as a therapeutic process. Psychological Science, 8, 162–166.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robins, C. J. (1990). Congruence of personality and life events in depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 99, 393–397.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robins,C. J, Bagby,R. M, Rector,N. A.,Lynch, T. R, & Kennedy, S.H. (1997). Sociotropy, autonomy, and patterns of symptoms in patients with major depression:Acomparison of dimensional and categorical approaches. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 21, 285–300.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robins, C. J, Hayes, A. M, Block, P, Kramer, R. J, & Villena, M. (1995). Interpersonal and achievement concerns and the depressive vulnerability and symptom specificity hypotheses: A prospective study. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 19, 1–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robins, C. J, Ladd, J, Welkowitz, J, Blaney, P. H, Diaz, R, & Kutcher, G. (1994). The Personal Style Inventory: Preliminary validation studies of new measures of sociotropy and autonomy. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 16, 277–300.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robins, C. J, & Luten, A. G. (1991). Sociotropy and Autonomy: Differential patterns of clinical presentation in unipolar depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 100, 74–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rude, S. S, & Burnham, B. L. (1993). Do interpersonal and achievement vulnerabilities interact with congruent events to predict depression? Comparison of DEQ, SAS, DAS, and combined scales. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 17, 531–548.

    Google Scholar 

  • Violanti, J. M. (1992). Coping strategies among police recruits in a high-stress training environment. Journal of Social Psychology, 132, 717–729.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vitaliano, P. P, Maiuro, R. D, Russo, J, & Becker, J. (1987). Raw versus relative scores in the assessment of coping strategies. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 10, 1–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, B. M, Compas, B. E, & Howell, D. C. (1988). Daily and major life events:Atest of an integrative model of psychosocial stress. American Journal of Community Psychology, 16, 189–205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson, D, & Hubbard, B. (1996). Adaptational style and dispositional structure: Coping in the context of the five-factor model. Journal of Personality, 64, 737–774.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wegner, D. M. (1994). Ironic processes of mental control. Psychological Review, 101, 34–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wegner, D. M. (1997). When the antidote is the poison: Ironic mental control processes. Psychological Science, 8, 148–150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weisz, J. R, McCabe, M, & Denning, M. D. (1994). Primary and secondary control among children undergoing medical procedures: Adjustment as a function of coping style. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62, 324–332.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whatley, S. L, Foreman, A.C, & Richards, S. (1998).The relationship of coping style to dysphoria, anxiety, and anger. Psychological Reports, 83, 783–791.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zuroff, D. C. (1994). Depressive personality styles and the five-factor model of personality. Journal of Personality Assessment, 63, 453–472.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon

    Jennifer K. Connor-Smith

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont

    Bruce E. Compas

Authors
  1. Jennifer K. Connor-Smith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Bruce E. Compas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Connor-Smith, J.K., Compas, B.E. Vulnerability to Social Stress: Coping as a Mediator or Moderator of Sociotropy and Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression. Cognitive Therapy and Research 26, 39–55 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013889504101

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013889504101

Search

Navigation