Emotional stress-reactivity and positive affect among college students: the role of depression history

Multiple theories posit that people with a history of depression are at higher risk for a depressive episode than people who have never experienced depression, which may be partly due to differences in stress-reactivity. In addition, both the dynamic model of affect and the broaden-and-build theory suggest that stress and positive affect interact to predict negative affect, but this moderation has never been tested in the context of depression history. The current study used multilevel modeling to examine these issues among 1,549 college students with or without a history of depression. Students completed a 30-day online diary study in which they reported daily their perceived stress, positive affect, and negative affect (including depression, anxiety, and hostility). On days characterized by higher than usual stress, students with a history of depression reported greater decreases in positive affect and greater increases in depressed affect than students with no history. Furthermore, the relations between daily stress and both depressed and anxious affect were moderated by daily positive affect among students with remitted depression. These results indicate that students with a history of depression show greater stress-reactivity even when in remission, which may place them at greater risk for recurrence. These individuals may also benefit more from positive affect on higher stress days despite being less likely to experience positive affect on such days. The current findings have various implications both clinically and for research on stress, mood, and depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).