An Interpersonal Addendum to the Hopelessness Theory of Depression: Hopelessness as a Stress and Depression Generator

Abstract

An integration of the hopelessness theory of depression and the stress generation model was offered and tested in a longitudinal study of 169 undergraduates. It was expected that hopelessness would lead to increases in both depressive symptoms and interpersonal stress. Furthermore, it was predicted that hopelessness would produce increases in depressive symptoms partly as a function of generating interpersonal stress. Results conformed to prediction. Suggestions for future theoretical and empirical work on the hopelessness and stress generation views were offered.