Depression, Cortisol, &Interpersonal Interaction

Florida State University, Tallahassee FL

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Social rejection predicts a wide range of psychological problems, including the development of depression. In addition, rejection by others appears to maintain and exacerbate depressive symptoms for depressed individuals. The mechanism(s) by which interpersonal rejection causes depression and exacerbates depressive symptoms, however, is currently unknown. The proposed study will therefore measure salivary cortisol before and after a social rejection paradigm to assess the level of psychological distress people experience subsequent to interpersonal rejection and how this might play a role in the development of depression. Specifically, this research aims to 1) determine if salivary cortisol increases in response to social rejection, 2) determine if depression modulates the relationship between social rejection and salivary cortisol, and 3) determine if women experience greater psychological distress than men in response to social rejection. It is hypothesized that 1) salivary cortisol will increase significantly following a social rejection, indicating the experience of psychological distress; 2) depressed individuals (BDI >= 16) will exhibit greater salivary cortisol secretion in response to social rejection than non-depressed individuals (BDI <=6), suggesting that depressed individuals are more sensitive to social rejection than non-depressed individuals; and 3) women will exhibit greater increases in salivary cortisol following rejection by others than will men, demonstrating that women experience greater psychological distress to social rejection.