Over macht en depressiviteit: een sociaal-relationele visie

Abstract

Depressive behavior is more prevalent among social categories of persons characterized by relative powerlessness. To explain this general observation a social-relational theory is developed linking status and power to depressive behavior, based on the theory of learned helplessness and other cognitive and behavioral theories of depression, and centered around the concepts status and self-esteem and power and self-efficacy. Special attention is paid to the bi-directional nature of the causal paths linking power and status to depressive behavior; while a lack of power and a lack of prestige leads to more depressive behavior, the latter helps to consolidate status and power differentials. Furthermore, notice is given to neuro-endocrinological processes linking powerlessness to depressive behavior. Finally, the merits of a power model of depression are stressed, i.e, for the study of treatment effectiveness, for the explanation of gender differences in depression and for the development of a specific sociological theory of depression supplementary to the social stress model.