About This Project

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What is the context of this research?

The question of whether depression can be contagious has intrigued various psychologists before us. The idea almost seems intuitive. Although a large body of work supports the depression contagion hypothesis, the idea that depression can be ‘caught’ like the common cold, a small but significant amount of research has called this into question.

Researchers who were able to document a contagion effect were not able to understand exactly how the depression was transmitted from person to person. Additionally, virtually no research has been conducted that looks at what factors may exacerbate this phenomenon or what factors can prevent it.

What is the significance of this project?

Our primary goal in this project is to document an instance of depression contagion among first year college roommate pairs. Given the conflicting status of existing research, more work is need to help validate (or debunk) the depression contagion hypothesis.

Secondly, we are also examining previously overlooked variables that may play a pivotal role in the proposed contagion effect such as empathy, worrying, and optimism/pessimism. We also intend to utilize daily checklists. Each evening, participants check off whether certain events happened to them that day. This allows researchers to capture life as it lived. The use of daily checklists in a depression contagion study has never been attempted. We hope to document the contagion of depression as it occurs day by day.

What are the goals of the project?

• Help validate (or debunk) depression contagion and identify the specific mechanisms that underlie this phenomenon
• Recruit 200 first year college roommate pairs
• Have participants electronically complete self-reported surveys and daily checklists from their dorm rooms during two distinct time points
• Compensate participants
• Collect and analyze data
• Publish results