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Link to original content: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31150432/
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. 2019 May 31;14(5):e0217320.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0217320. eCollection 2019.

Romantic relationship breakup: An experimental model to study effects of stress on depression (-like) symptoms

Anne M Verhallen  1 , Remco J Renken  1 , Jan-Bernard C Marsman  1 , Gert J Ter Horst  1
Affiliations

Romantic relationship breakup: An experimental model to study effects of stress on depression (-like) symptoms

Anne M Verhallen et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

The occurrence of a stressful event is considered to increase the risk of developing depression. In the present study we explore whether the breakup of a romantic relationship can be used as an experimental model to study a depression-like state during a period of stress in individuals without a psychiatric disorder. The primary aim of our study was to investigate: 1) whether individuals with a recent romantic relationship breakup (''heartbreak") demonstrate symptoms of depression, 2) how to describe heartbreak characteristics based on data from a comprehensive questionnaire battery, and 3) whether this description can capture severity of depression symptoms. Secondary, we were interested in gender differences with regard to the above study objectives. Subjects who have experienced a relationship breakup in the preceding six months (N = 71) or are in a romantic relationship (N = 46) participated in our study. A questionnaire battery was administered to acquire information related to depression, mood, the breakup and (former) relationship. Principal Component Analysis with Procrustes bootstrapping was performed to extract components from the questionnaire data. Even though our sample of individuals who recently have experienced a relationship breakup can be on average considered non-depressed, group-level depression scores were elevated compared to individuals in a relationship (p = .001) and 26.8% reported symptoms corresponding to mild, moderate or severe depression. We described heartbreak by two principal components interpreted as ''sudden loss" and ''lack of positive affect", respectively. Highly significant correlations between the component scores and depression scores were found (p < .001 and p < .001, respectively), although these correlations differed between the genders. Based on these findings, we propose that the experience of a romantic relationship breakup is a viable experimental model to examine symptoms of depression in individuals without a psychiatric disorder. This way, stress-related coping and depression vulnerability can be studied in further research.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Severity of depression symptoms (MDI scores) in the relationship group and the heartbreak group.
Outliers (values that are between Q1-1.5*IQR or Q3+1.5*IQR and Q1-3*IQR or Q3+3*IQR) are indicated with a circle. Extreme outliers (values that are beyond Q1-3*IQR or Q3+3*IQR) are indicated with a star.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Relationship between each of the components and MDI scores.
(A) Relationship between the ‘‘sudden loss” component and MDI. (B) Relationship between the ‘‘lack of positive affect” component and MDI.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Publication types

Grants and funding

The study was funded by a donation of Mr Hazewinkel to the Research School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences and Prof G.J. ter Horst. Mr Hazewinkel had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.