title: Negative life events and symptoms of depression and anxiety: stress causation and/or stress generation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Stressful life events are known to contribute to development of depression; however, it is possible this link is bidirectional. The present study examined whether such stress generation effects are greater than the effects of stressful life events on depression, and whether stress generation is also evident with anxiety.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were two large age cohorts (N = 732 aged 44 years; N = 705 aged 63 years) from the West of Scotland Twenty-07 study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Stressful life events, depression, and anxiety symptoms were measured twice five years apart. Cross-lagged panel analysis examined the mutual influences of stressful life events on depression and on anxiety over time.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Life events predicted later depressive symptomatology (p = .01), but the depression predicting life events relationship was less strong (p = .06), whereas earlier anxiety predicted life events five years later (p = .001). There was evidence of sex differences in the extent to which life events predicted later anxiety.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides evidence of stress causation for depression and weaker evidence for stress generation. In contrast, there was strong evidence of stress generation for anxiety but weaker evidence for stress causation, and that differed for men and women.
authors.affiliation: a School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences , University of Birmingham , Birmingham , UK.
authors.forename: Anna C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Carroll
authors.forename: Geoff
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Der
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012737:Sex Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: anxiety; depression; stress causation; stress generation; stressful life events