Transdiagnostic model of psychological factors and sex differences in depression in a large sample of Ecuador

• Pablo Ruisoto ^[1] ; Víctor Manuel López-Guerra ^[3] ; Carla López-Núñez ^[2] ; Rafael Sánchez-Puertas ^[1] ; María Belén Paladines-Costa ^[3] ; Nairoby Jackeline Pineda-Cabrera ^[3]
  1. [1] Universidad Pública de Navarra

     Universidad Pública de Navarra

     Pamplona, España

     
  2. [2] Universidad de Sevilla

     Universidad de Sevilla

     Sevilla, España

     
  3. [3] Universidad de Loja, Ecuador

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• Localización: International journal of clinical and health psychology, ISSN 1697-2600, Vol. 22, Nº. 3, 2022, págs. 111-120
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Background/Objective Depression represents a leading cause of disability and a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease with women systematically reporting a higher prevalence than men. This study aimed to examine the predictive value and relation of three transdiagnostic psychological factors (perceived stress, psychological inflexibility and loneliness) on depression and its sex differences for the general population in a large sample of Ecuador.

    Method A non-probabilistic and non-clinical sample of 16.074 people from across Ecuador were online surveyed using a cross-sectional design. The structural equation model was based on scores from standardized questionnaires as measures of depression, psychological perceived stress, psychological inflexibility, and loneliness.

    Results Women reported significantly higher levels of depression, mediated by differences in perceived stress, psychological inflexibility and loneliness. Perceived stress was the most important predictor of depression and mediated the effect of loneliness on depression. Complementarily, psychological inflexibility partially mediated the effect of perceived stress and loneliness on depression. The overall model accounted for the 78% of the total variance in depression.

    Conclusions Results of this study provide a novel and robust transdiagnostic model of sex differences on depression and insights on how to design effective programs for preventing depression targeting modifiable transdiagnostic risk factors.