History of childhood maltreatment, negative cognitive styles, and episodesof depression in adulthood

Participants at high (HR) and low (LR) cognitive risk for depression, based on the presence versus absence of negative cognitive styles, were followed longitudinally for 2.5 years. Reported levels of childhood emotional bur n ot physical or sexual, maltreatment were related to levels of hopelessness and episodes of nonendogenous major depression (NE-MD) and hopelessness dep ression (HD) during the prospective follow-Lip period. HR participants repo rted more childhood emotional maltreatment but less childhood physical malt reatment than did LR participants. In support of Beck's (1967, 1987) theory , cognitive risk fully mediated the relation between childhood emotional ma ltreatment and NE-MD. In support of the hopelessness theory (Abramson, Meta lsky, & Alloy, 1989), cognitive risk partially mediated the relation betwee n childhood emotional maltreatment and hopelessness and fully mediated the relation between childhood emotional maltreatment and HD. Additionally, hop elessness partially mediated the relation between cognitive risk and HD.