The Associations among Distress Tolerance, Unhelpful Coping Behaviors, and Symptoms of Depression: A Network Analysis

Difficulty tolerating emotional distress has been identified as a transdiagnostic risk factor for psychopathology. However, despite evidence that low distress tolerance is associated with increased symptoms of depression, little is known as to how and why this relationship exists. Previous work suggests that difficulty tolerating distress may lead to coping behaviors that reduce distress quickly, but ultimately prove to be problematic (e.g., avoidance, rumination). The use of unhelpful coping behaviors may be an important factor in explaining how one’s ability to tolerate distress may contribute to and maintain symptoms of depression. We have thus designed a study aimed to explore and identify important interactions among aspects of distress tolerance, unhelpful coping behaviors, and symptoms of depression. This study used network analysis to explore the relationships among distress tolerance, unhelpful coping behaviors, and symptoms of depression in a sample of college students (N = 1042). Results of this analysis show a strong association among aspects of distress tolerance, unhelpful coping behaviors, and symptoms of depression. This finding corroborates previous findings showing an association between distress tolerance and symptoms of depression and presents a need for future work in this area.