1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«This study aimed to extend current evidence suggesting that acute cortisol response to stress and coping strategies may play a role in the association between child maltreatment and adult depressive symptoms.» (p. 43)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«Specifically, two research questions were investigated. First, [the authors] tested whether acute cortisol response to stress and/or coping strategies partly explains the association between maltreatment and depressive symptoms […]. Second, [they] examined whether maltreated participants are more likely to report higher levels of depressive symptoms if they secrete higher (or lower) cortisol responses to stress or if they reported using more frequently avoidance and emotion-oriented coping strategies and fewer proactive strategies […].» (p. 43)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
L’échantillon provient d’une étude plus large. Pour le présent article, les auteurs ont mobilisé un sous-échantillon composé de 156 hommes. La région de provenance des participants n’est pas mentionnée, mais l’étude est conduite par une équipe de Montréal.

Instruments :
Questionnaires

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«First, [this] study revealed a positive association between maltreatment and depressive symptoms among participants with higher acute cortisol responses to stress, over and above individual differences in coping strategies, whereas no significant association was noted for those with lower-to-moderate responses.» (p. 45) «Second, [the authors] found that maltreated participants who more frequently adopted task-oriented coping strategies to manage stress reported lower levels of depressive symptoms.» (p. 46) «Third, [they] found that maltreated individuals were more likely to adopt emotion-oriented coping strategies which, in turn, were related to higher levels of depressive symptoms.» (p. 46) These «findings extend previous research on the hypothesized mediating versus moderating roles of cortisol response and coping strategies in the association between child maltreatment and depression in adulthood. [This] study lends support to targeting coping strategies in interventions for depressed adults who were maltreated as children. […] More generally, [these] findings are compatible with cognitive-behavioral therapy, which is reported as particularly effective among depressed patients with severe maltreatment experiences […].» (p. 47)