The relationship among negative life events, cognitions, and depression within three generations.

This study investigates the extent to which cognitions mediate the relationship between negative life events and depression. College students and their same-sex parents and grandparents (N = 171) completed measures of stressful life events, automatic thoughts, dysfunctional attitudes, and depression. There was an interaction between negative life events and cognition for the young adults but not for either of the older groups.