The Associations among Distress Tolerance, Unhelpful Coping Behaviors, and Symptoms of Depression: A Network Analysis
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
The Associations among Distress Tolerance, Unhelpful Coping Behaviors, and Symptoms of Depression: A Network Analysis Alisson N. S. Lass1,3 · E. Samuel Winer1 · Amanda C. Collins1 · Paul D. Rokke2
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Background Difficulty tolerating emotional distress has been identified as a transdiagnostic risk factor for psychopathology. However, despite evidence that low distress tolerance is associated with increased symptoms of depression, little is known as to how and why this relationship exists. Previous work suggests that difficulty tolerating distress may lead to coping behaviors that reduce distress quickly, but ultimately prove to be problematic (e.g., avoidance, rumination). The use of unhelpful coping behaviors may be an important factor in explaining how one’s ability to tolerate distress may contribute to and maintain symptoms of depression. We have thus designed a study aimed to explore and identify important interactions among aspects of distress tolerance, unhelpful coping behaviors, and symptoms of depression. Methods This study used network analysis to explore the relationships among distress tolerance, unhelpful coping behaviors, and symptoms of depression in a sample of college students (N = 1042). Results Results of this analysis show a strong association among aspects of distress tolerance, unhelpfulcoping behaviors, and symptoms of depression. Conclusions This finding corroborates previous findings showing an association between distress tolerance and symptoms of depression and presents a need for future work in this area. Keywords Distress tolerance · Coping · Depressive symptoms · Network analysis
Introduction
* Alisson N. S. Lass [email protected]
decreased marital and parental functioning, and increased rates of physical health problems (Kessler 2012; Kessler et al. 2003). Depression is also highly recurrent, with each episode increasing the likelihood of future episodes (Burcusa & Iacono 2007). The combination of high prevalence, impairment, and recurrence has led to substantial research to identify factors that predict and maintain symptoms of depression. Emotional distress tolerance (hereafter, distress tolerance) is defined as one’s ability to tolerate and withstand negative and/or uncomfortable emotional states (Simons & Gaher 2005).1 Difficulty tolerating distress has been identified as a transdiagnostic risk factor for psychopathology (Leyro et al. 2010). Initially, distress tolerance was studied due to its association with dangerous or risky behaviors, such as non-suicidal self-injury (Anestis et al. 2013; Peterson et al.
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Depression is a relatively common mental disorder, affecting roughly 16% of the population at some point throughout the lifetime (Kessler et al. 2003). Along with the distress associated with depressive symptoms—which cannot be understated—depression is also associated with high levels of impairment and decreased quality of life, including decreased educational att
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