March 23, 1998 Contact Ross West (541) 346-2060 Sources: David Markley (541) 346-4987; Kate Harkness (541) 346-1981 EUGENE--Clinical psychologists at the University of Oregon are launching a pair of studies to help shed light on the most common psychiatric disorder facing adult women--major depression. Seventy-five depressed women are needed to take part in the research projects. "Women are more than twice as likely as men to suffer from major depression," says psychologist Kate Harkness, who directs one of the research projects. "There is a lot at stake in this area: women with major depression are at a much higher risk for suicide and other self-destructive behaviors, such as substance abuse and eating disorders." Despite these costs, the field of mental health is still at a very early stage in its search for factors that cause and maintain depression. To help change this, Harkness is investigating the life stresses such as early sexual abuse, death of a loved one, divorce and job loss that are related to depression in women. These traumas are known to be related to the onset of depression. Harkness, however, wants to discover if certain events can be related to symptom patterns in later bouts of depression. To find the answer, she is studying depressed women in the local community. In this study, Harkness will spend several hours discussing with these women their depression and the stressful events in their lives. While Harkness is examining the role of stressful events in depression, another UO psychologist, David Markley, is investigating how depressed and non-depressed women respond to day-to-day events of an interpersonal nature. His research study asks participating women to view videotapes of social interactions and then answer questions about what they've seen. "This work may help us further understand what role a woman's thoughts about and memories of social interactions may play in her depression," Markley explains. "The ultimate goal of our work is really practical," Harkness adds. "We are trying to better understand depression so that more effective treatments can be developed--with the ultimate goal of lessening suffering." Women participating in the studies are given the opportunity to attend a free, half-day workshop on "Coping with Stress and Depression." "We are grateful to the women who choose to participate in our studies. We want to provide them access to some psychological resources that could help them in dealing with their depression or the ups and downs of everyday life," Markley says. In addition to the free workshop, women are paid $10 for each study in which they participate. Depressed women interested in these studies should call 346-4896. -30- #P-7338/Local