The role of emotional distress tolerance in the development of major depressive disorder in university students

Abstract

University students represent the most affected population regarding major depression disorder (MDD). Following the diatesis-thesis model, the interaction between environmental stress and the presence of preexisting vulnerabilities would explain its development. Besides, researchers studied tolerance for emotional distress (TED) and its influence on the development of multiple psychopathologies. However, no study seems to have looked at the potential influence of TED on MDD development in university students. Therefore, the following article has two aims. Firstly, it proposes a theoretical model where TED would be a moderating variable between environmental stress and MDD development in university students. Secondly, based on the proposed model, a prevention method for MDD will be suggested. This study allows a better understanding of MDD development in the university context.