The bidirectional relationships of optimism and pessimism with depressive symptoms in adulthood - A 15-year follow-up study from Northern Finland Birth Cohorts.

Autor: Karhu J; Unit of Psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 2000 (Erkki Koiso-Kanttilan katu 1), 90014 Oulu, Finland. Electronic address: jutta.karhu@oulu.fi., Veijola J; Research Unit of Clinical Neuroscience, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 5000, 90014 Oulu, Finland; Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Oulu, 90220 Oulu, Finland; Medical Research Center, University of Oulu & University Hospital of Oulu, 90220 Oulu, Finland. Electronic address: juha.veijola@oulu.fi., Hintsanen M; Unit of Psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 2000 (Erkki Koiso-Kanttilan katu 1), 90014 Oulu, Finland. Electronic address: mirka.hintsanen@oulu.fi.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of affective disorders [J Affect Disord] 2024 Oct 01; Vol. 362, pp. 468-476. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jul 14.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.07.049
Abstrakt: Background: Low optimism and high pessimism have predicted depressive symptoms in several studies, but the associations in the other direction, from depressive symptoms to future optimism and pessimism, have been unexplored. We examined bidirectional associations of optimism and pessimism with depressive symptoms in adulthood.
Methods: A population-based sample of 4011 Finnish adults (55 % women) was analyzed with a 15-year prospective follow-up period from age 31 to age 46. Optimism and pessimism were measured with the Life Orientation Test-Revised, and depressive symptoms were measured with the Symptom Checklist-25. Temporal associations were investigated with cross-lagged panel models.
Results: According to the model fit indices (RMSEA < 0.04, CFI ≥ 0.97) optimism and pessimism had bidirectional relationships with depressive symptoms: optimism predicted lower depressive symptoms (β = -0.09, p < .001), and depressive symptoms predicted lower optimism (β = -0.10, p < .001) in the follow-up. Also, pessimism predicted higher depressive symptoms (β = 0.08, p < .001), and depressive symptoms predicted higher pessimism (β = 0.09, p < .001) in the follow-up. In the participants with clinically high depressive symptoms at age 31, the predictive associations from optimism and pessimism to depressive symptoms remained, but associations in the other direction were attenuated.
Limitations: The follow-up study included only two time points with a 15-year time gap, which does not consider the possible fluctuation in the study variables between the measured times.
Conclusion: Dispositional optimism and pessimism may have bidirectional relationships with depressive symptoms in adulthood when the baseline depressive symptoms are below the clinical level.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None.
(Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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