R. (Rebecca) Schulz

Life meaning and depression: A comprehensive methodological journey into their causal links to advance treatment options for depressive disorder

Depression is one of the most common mental disorders and many affected people experience recurring symptoms, often despite therapy. Within my PhD project, we will explore risk factors that might play a role in causing depression to help improve prevention and treatment outcomes. We are especially interested in the role of (low) life meaning in this context. To better evaluate our findings, we take different statistical (causal discovery, structural equation modeling) and methodological approaches (RCT and longitudinal single case design) in each of the studies to assess how the risk factors connect to depression. This multiverse approach helps us to gain a nuanced picture of the potential causal mechanisms underlying depression. Ultimately, our goal is to support the development of more targeted and effective treatments for those at risk of or experiencing depression.