Relations of cognitive styles, depressive symptoms, and blood pressure in community college students.

Objective We proposed cognitive styles described in the Hopelessness Theory would be associated with depressive symptoms and Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) and that depressive symptoms mediate these associations. Participants This cross-sectional study had 324 community college student participants (ages: 18 to 62 years, M = 24.08, SD = 9.10; 57.3% female; 57.3% White, 29.8% Black, 8.8% Latinx, 8.8% Other). Methods Besides self-reports of cognitive styles and depressive symptoms, resting blood pressure was measured three times at 1-min intervals and the mean was used in the analysis. Results Path analyses demonstrated differing associations between each cognitive style and SBP and no mediation, suggesting cognitive styles and depressive symptoms are independently associated with SBP. Conclusions When conceptualizing and measuring the associations of cognitive styles with depressive symptoms and SBP, the styles should be evaluated individually. Interventions targeting cognitive styles might be especially beneficial as changing them might improve mental and physical health.