engleski

The role of teacher feedback in cognitive vulnerability to depression in college students

Significant increase of depression among students have been noticed at many universities across the globe. According to cognitive models, cognitive vulnerability interacts with stressful life events to result with depression. Cognitive vulnerability normally develops and stabilize during high school, but it can also wax and wane over time depending on the social context. The efficacy of cognitive interventions in cognitive therapy for depression demonstrate that cognitive vulnerability can be alleviated. On the other side, some authors suggest that cognitive vulnerability may also increase during major life transitions through direct inferential feedback or modeling. The goal of this study was to check the cognitive vulnerability and depressive symptoms at the beginning of college, when students experience a major life transition that involves a significant change in the social environment. It is also a peak age for developing depression. Additionally, we wanted to check the effect of exposure to positive and negative feedback from their teachers during the first semester on the cognitive vulnerability and the level of depressive symptoms at the beginning of the second semester. Method The scale for measuring negative and positive feedback from university teachers was developed. The scale resulted with two interpretable and reliable factors. The first one describes negative feedback (15 items, Cronbach Alpha=. 89) and the second positive feedback from teachers (5 items, Cronbach Alpha=. 85). To validate the new scale, we have also applied Social Feedback Questionnaire (SFQ) as a measure of specific risk factor for depression. The correlation between Negative Feedback Scale and SFQ is significant (r=.49), while Positive Feedback Scale is not significantly correlated with SFQ. Cognitive vulnerability was measured by Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) and Persistent and Intrusive Negative Thoughts Scale (PINTS). Depressive symptoms were measured by the subscale from Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS). The first set of measures (DAS, PINTS and DASS) was applied at the beginning of the first semester with 495 freshmen (30% males ; mean age 19 years), while 281 students participated in the second measurement, with the measure of teachers’ feedback added. Results The results of the study show that freshmen report higher levels of depressive symptoms and maladaptive perfectionism at the beginning of the second semester, comparing to the beginning of the study. Negative academic experiences are positively correlated with negative repetitive thinking, perfectionism and depression, and have significant independent contribution to the increase in perfectionism and depression, when controlling stress and perceived social support. Negative repetitive thinking and perfectionism have mediating role in relationship between negative academic experiences and depression, at the second time point. Negative academic experiences lead to a greater propensity for ruminative and perfectionistic thinking and consequently higher levels of depressive symptoms. Conclusion The results stress the importance of initial academic experiences which, in interaction with an individual’s existing cognitive style, have effect on individual’s emotional adjustment. They can also be useful in development of intervention programs for freshmen, as well as for education of the university teachers in order to prevent rising increase of depressive symptoms among college students.

teacher feedback ; cognitive vulnerability ; depression ; college students

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