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Frequent Interpersonal Stress and Inflammatory Reactivity Predict Depressive-Symptom Increases: Two Tests of the Social-Signal-Transduction Theory of Depression

Annelise A. Madison^1,2; Rebecca Andridge^1,3; M. Rosie Shrout¹; Megan E. Renna¹; Jeanette M. Bennett⁴; Lisa M. Jaremka⁵; Christopher P. Fagundes⁶; Martha A. Belury^1,7; William B. Malarkey^1,8; Janice K. Kiecolt-Glaser^1,9

¹ Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research, The Ohio State University College of Medicine · ² Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University · ³ College of Public Health, The Ohio State University · ⁴ Department of Psychological Science, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte · ⁵ Department of Psychology and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware · ⁶ Department of Psychology, Rice University · ⁷ Department of Human Sciences, The Ohio State University College of Education and Human Ecology · ⁸ Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University College of Medicine · ⁹ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, The Ohio State University College of Medicine

The social-signal-transduction theory of depression asserts that people who experience ongoing interpersonal stressors and mount a greater inflammatory response to social stress are at higher risk for depression. The current study tested this theory in two adult samples. In Study 1, physically healthy adults ( N = 76) who reported more frequent interpersonal tension had heightened depressive symptoms at Visit 2, but only if they had greater inflammatory reactivity to a marital conflict at Visit 1. Similarly, in Study 2, depressive symptoms increased among lonelier and less socially supported breast-cancer survivors ( N = 79). This effect was most pronounced among participants with higher inflammatory reactivity to a social-evaluative stressor at Visit 1. In both studies, noninterpersonal stress did not interact with inflammatory reactivity to predict later depressive symptoms.

DOI

10.1177/09567976211031225

Volume

33 (1)

Pages

152-164

Language

en

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