SUBCLINICAL DEPRESSION AND ROLE FULFILLMENT IN DOMESTIC SETTINGS - SPURIOUS RELATIONSHIPS, IMAGINED PROBLEMS, OR REAL EFFECTS

Considerable evidence has accumulated in support of the hypothesis tha t subclinical depression may inhibit role performance in important way s. However, interpersonal stress and marital discord often precede the development of depressive symptomatology and may independently predic t deficits in family role functioning. In addition, cognitive theories suggest that persons with subclinical depression may report poor role functioning even in the absence of any real performance deficits. The current research examines the possibility (1) that the effect of depr ession on the fulfillment of important family roles is attributable to previously unmeasured contextual variables of ongoing interpersonal s tress and/or relationship dissatisfaction or, alternatively, (2) that this relationship is the result of depressive distortion associated wi th self-report of symptoms and performance. Multiple regression analys es of interview data collected from 495 community-dwelling adults foun d, however, that depression is related to role functioning beyond any spurious effects attributable to interpersonal stress, spousal stress, or marital satisfaction. In addition, the effect of depression persis ts when collateral reports of role functioning utilized. Accordingly, it appears that subclinical depression is related to decrements in rol e performance, and this effect is not entirely due to contextual eleme nts or shared method variance between self-report measures.