title: Self-efficacy as a mediator between stressful life events and depressive symptoms. Differences based on history of prior depression.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Self-efficacy, a characteristic that is protective against depressive symptoms, may be undermined by stressful life events.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the effects of stressful life events on self-efficacy, and to examine self-efficacy as a mediator of the effect of stressful life events on symptoms of depression.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using a sample of 2858 respondents from the longitudinal Americans' Changing Lives study, path analyses were used to evaluate interrelationships between self-efficacy, life events and symptoms of depression controlling for a variety of potentially confounding variables. Separate models were estimated for those with and without prior depression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For those with prior depression, dependent life events had a significant, negative impact on self-efficacy. For those without prior depression, life events had no effect on self-efficacy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  For those with prior depression, self-efficacy mediates approximately 40% of the effect of dependent stressful life events on symptoms of depression.
authors.affiliation: Donaghue Women's Health Investigator Program, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Maciejewski
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Prigerson
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Mazure
mesh_terms: D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020377:Self Efficacy