Mauas Viviana, Kopala-Sibley Daniel C, Zuroff David C
Department of Psychology, McGill University, 1205 Dr. Penfield Avenue, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 1B1, Canada.
Arch Womens Ment Health. 2014 Aug;17(4):279-89. doi: 10.1007/s00737-014-0434-7. Epub 2014 Jun 24.
Although the transition to menopause represents a period of risk for depressive symptoms, there is little research into personality or trait-like factors that may confer vulnerability to depression during the transition to menopause. This study investigated whether the personality trait of self-criticism moderated the effects of irritability on depressive symptoms in women transitioning to menopause and whether these effects were mediated by lower levels of emotional regulation. Participants were 376 women, of whom 157 had entered the transition phase to menopause. These women in the transition phase completed measures of self-criticism, irritable mood, emotional regulation, and depressive symptoms. All analyses controlled for attitudes toward menopause and somatic symptoms. Moderated mediation regression analyses showed that higher levels of irritability were associated with poorer emotional regulation in highly self-critical women, but not in less self-critical women, and poorer emotional regulation was, in turn, related to higher levels depressive symptoms. Findings suggest that the transition to menopause may represent an especially vulnerable period for women with high levels of self-criticism. Although irritability is transitory for most women, for women who are highly self-critical, irritability may tax their ability to self-regulate and lead to more encompassing symptoms of depression.
尽管向更年期过渡代表着出现抑郁症状的一个风险期，但对于可能使女性在向更年期过渡期间易患抑郁症的人格或特质类因素的研究却很少。本研究调查了自我批评的人格特质是否调节了易激惹性对处于更年期过渡阶段女性抑郁症状的影响，以及这些影响是否由较低水平的情绪调节介导。研究参与者为376名女性，其中157名已进入更年期过渡阶段。这些处于过渡阶段的女性完成了自我批评、易怒情绪、情绪调节和抑郁症状的测量。所有分析均对更年期态度和躯体症状进行了控制。调节中介回归分析表明，在高度自我批评的女性中，较高水平的易激惹性与较差的情绪调节相关，但在自我批评程度较低的女性中并非如此，而较差的情绪调节反过来又与较高水平的抑郁症状相关。研究结果表明，向更年期过渡对于高度自我批评的女性来说可能是一个特别脆弱的时期。虽然易激惹性对大多数女性来说是暂时的，但对于高度自我批评的女性来说，易激惹性可能会消耗她们的自我调节能力，并导致更广泛的抑郁症状。
