Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Feb;32(1):20-7.
doi: 10.1002/smi.2571. Epub 2014 Mar 18.

'Weakest Link' as a Cognitive Vulnerability Within the Hopelessness Theory of Depression in Chinese University Students

Jing Xiao  1 , Yu Qiu  1 , Yini He  1 , Lixia Cui  1 , Randy P Auerbach  2 , Chad M McWhinnie  2 , Shuqiao Yao  3   4
Affiliations

'Weakest Link' as a Cognitive Vulnerability Within the Hopelessness Theory of Depression in Chinese University Students

Jing Xiao et al. Stress Health. 2016 Feb.

Abstract

The current study tested the cognitive vulnerability-stress component of hopelessness theory using a 'weakest link' approach (e.g. an individual is as cognitively vulnerable to depression as his or her most depressogenic attributional style makes him or her) in a sample of Chinese university students. Participants included 520 students in Changsha. During an initial assessment, participants completed measures assessing weakest link, depressive symptoms and occurrence of negative events once a month for 6 months. Results from hierarchical linear modelling analyses showed that higher levels of weakest link scores were associated with greater increases in depressive symptoms following the occurrence of negative events. Higher weakest link level was associated with greater increases in depressive symptoms over time. These results provide support for the applicability of the 'weakest link' approach to the hopelessness theory to Chinese university students.

Keywords: cognitive vulnerability; depression; hopelessness; stress; weakest link.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest

The authors have declared that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Predicted slope of the relationship between negative events and depressive symptoms for Chinese university students possessing either high or low levels of weakest link score
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Abela JRZ. The hopelessness theory of depression: A test of the diathesis-stress and causal mediation components in third and seventh grade children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. 2001;29:241–254. - PubMed
    1. Abela JRZ, Alexander M. Operationalizing cognitive vulnerability and stress from the perspective of the hopelessness theory: A multi-wave longitudinal study of children of affectively ill parents. British Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2007;46:377–395. - PubMed
    1. Abela JRZ, Hankin BL. Cognitive vulnerability to depression in children and adolescents: A developmental psychopathology perspective. In: Abela JRZ, Hankin BL, editors. Handbook of child and adolescent depression. New York: The Guilford Press; 2008. pp. 35–78.
    1. Abela JRZ, Hankin BL. Rumination as a vulnerability factor to depression during the transition from early to middle adolescence: A multiwave longitudinal study. Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 2011;120:259–271. - PubMed
    1. Abela JRZ, McGirr A. Operationalizing “cognitive vulnerability” and “stress” from the perspective of the hopelessness theory: A multi-wave longitudinal study of children of affectively-ill parents. British Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2007;46:377–395. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources