Back to Search
Start Over
Revealing negative thinking in recovered major depression: A preliminary investigation
- Source :
- Behaviour Research and Therapy. Dec, 2007, Vol. 45 Issue 12, p3069, 8 p.
- Publication Year :
- 2007
-
Abstract
- To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2007.05.001 Byline: E.R. Watkins (a), M. Moulds (b) Keywords: Depression; Negative thinking; Mental control; Thought suppression; Effortful strategies Abstract: Previous research suggests that formerly dysphoric individuals engage in effortful strategies (e.g., thought suppression) that may mask underlying depressive thinking. The addition of a cognitive load, such as recalling a 6-digit number, which interferes with effortful mental control, reveals depressive thinking in formerly dysphoric individuals. This preliminary study tested whether this effect of cognitive load on revealing negative thinking generalizes to formerly clinically depressed patients. Currently depressed patients, recovered depressed patients and never-depressed patients unscrambled sentences that could form either positive or negative statements, after random allocation to either cognitive load or no cognitive load conditions. The number of negative statements unscrambled was used as an index of negative thinking. Without a load, recovered depressed patients did not differ from never-depressed controls: both groups completed fewer negative statements than currently depressed patients. However, the cognitive load increased negative statements in the recovered depressed group, making them resemble the currently depressed group more than the never-depressed group. These preliminary findings extend previous demonstrations of cognitive load unmasking negative thinking in dysphoric students to a clinical population, suggesting that formerly depressed patients utilize effortful strategies to minimize the report of negative thinking, which is undermined by the addition of a cognitive load. Author Affiliation: (a) Mood Disorders Centre, School of Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QG, UK (b) School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia Article History: Received 11 October 2006; Revised 19 April 2007; Accepted 2 May 2007
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00057967
- Volume :
- 45
- Issue :
- 12
- Database :
- Gale General OneFile
- Journal :
- Behaviour Research and Therapy
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- edsgcl.218471245