Final answer:
Divorce is a social factor that can significantly increase the risk for depression. It contributes to stress that can lead to depression and can affect long-term health behaviors and outcomes.
Step-by-step explanation:
A social factor that may pose a risk for depression is Divorce (A). Factors like genetic predispositions (B), neurotransmitter changes (C), and immature defense mechanisms (D) are also relevant to depression but fall more under biological and psychological categories. Studies such as Mazure (1998), which discusses life stressors as risk factors in depression, have helped to establish the connection between challenging life events like divorce and the development of depressive symptoms.
The stress associated with divorce can trigger depression, as can other life stressors. Moreover, the psychological and behavioral patterns that emerge in response to these stressors can perpetuate a cycle of negative health outcomes, highlighting the intricate interplay between social factors and depression. Compounding this, negative health behaviors, such as smoking and physical inactivity, are often associated with early-life depression, as mentioned in the study by Rottenberg et al. (2014).