Do early adverse experiences establish a cognitive vulnerability to depression on exposure to mirroring life events in adulthood?

Background: We pursue a 'lock and key' hypothesis which posits that early a dverse events ('locks') create an increased vulnerability to depression in the face of mirroring life events ('keys') in adulthood. Here we examine wh ether any such vulnerability links are cognitively mediated. Methods: We st udy a sample of 96 clinically depressed patients who reported an identifiab le 'cognitive schema' bring activated when depressed. We examine for signif icant associations between early adverse events and later precipitants to t he patients' depression, and then assess the extent to which any identified links are cognitively mediated. Results: Qualitative analyses suggested qu ite strong associations between early childhood experiences and identified schemas, while the quantitative analyses identified few links. Limitations: These contrasting results may present a challenge to the hypothesis or ref lect methodological limitations, and we therefore detail some of the comple xities involved in identifying cognitive schemas. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.