Associative interference in the paired-associate learning of remitted and nonremitted schizophrenics.

This experiment replicates a previous study which showed that recently hospitalized schizophrenics and normals did not differ in susceptibility to associative interference. 80 long-term schizophrenics were divided into remitted and nonremitted groups according to current mental status. The nonremitted Ss tended to exhibit more associative interference than either the remitted Ss or the normals in the previous study (.05     

Cognitive and life stress predictors of relapse in remitted unipolar depressed patients: Test of the congruency hypothesis.

Longitudinally followed remitted depressed Ss (N?=?59) to determine whether dependent or self-critical persons are more vulnerable to relapse after exposure to life events that have a bearing on interpersonal or achievement concerns. Regression analyses indicated that congruency effects, as measured by the occurrence of achievement-related adversity in the lives of self-critical Ss, accounted for a significant increment in relapse variance over each variable entered singly. When data from the 2 mo just before relapse were analyzed, some evidence of congruency effects in dependent Ss experiencing interpersonal-related adversity was obtained. Findings highlight the dimensional qualities of life event impact and call for greater differentiation in modeling the activation of a diathesis and precipitation of depression after life stress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expressed emotion and causal attributions in the spouses of depressed patients.

High levels of expressed emotion are thought to be related to the attributions relatives make about the causes of a patient's illness and problem behaviors. Causal attributions occurring during spontaneous speech in 43 spouses of depressed patients were examined. Consistent with theoretical prediction and with previous research in schizophrenia high critical spouses were more likely than low critical spouses to attribute patients symptoms and negative behaviors to factors that were controllable by and personal to the patients. High critical spouses also made more attributions that implied that they held patients responsible for their difficulties. Although predictive of spouses criticism these attribution dimensions did not predict patient relapse. The results suggest that causal attributions are important for understanding spouses criticism but are of limited predictive validity with respect to depressive relapse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Studying depressed persons' interactions with strangers and spouses.

Comments on L. A. Doerfler and W. F. Chaplin's (see PA, Vol 72:25531 contention that studies of interactions between depressed persons and strangers are irrelevant to the evaluation of an interactional model of depression. It is argued that such studies of the acquaintance process make a unique contribution in that they allow for the emergence of depressive interactions in the absence of participants having had previous negative experiences together. They are also important for the interpretation of studies of the marital interactions of depressed persons. Although stimulated by the emergence of an interactional model of depression, development of interactional treatment strategies need not await the full development of the model and must ultimately be evaluated independently. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributional style among depressed patients.

Male depressed unipolar patients (n?=?30) were more likely to attribute bad outcomes to internal, stable, and global causes than were nondepressed schizophrenics (n?=?15) and nondepressed medical patients (n?=?61). Also, the depressed patients were more evenhanded in their attributions for good and bad events than the other patients. These results support the existence, in clinical depression, of the depressive attributional style postulated by the reformulated learned helplessness model and indicate that it is not a general characteristic of psychopathology. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social support and immune function among spouses of cancer patients.

This study investigated whether social support was related to immune function among spouses of cancer patients. Effects of depression and negative life events were examined as potential mediators. Results showed evidence of greater immunocompetence on 2 of 3 dynamic measures: natural killer cytotoxicity and proliferation response to phytohemaglutinin among spouses who reported high levels of social support. All six components of social support assessed by the Social Provisions Scale (C. E. Cutrona and D. W. Russell, 1987) were strongly related to these indices of immune function. No evidence was found for mediation by either life events or depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Risk factors at intake predict nonremission among depressed patients.

Risk factors assessed at intake for the treatment of unipolar depression were used to predict remission, partial remission, or nonremission 1 year later. The factors included demographic variables, treatment history and severity of symptoms, stressors (medical conditions), personal deficits (avoidance coping), and social support deficits (quality of an important relationship). Each factor considered alone was associated with later remission status such that the prototypical nonremitted patient was a man at least 40 years old who had had prior treatment, an intense depression, and one or more serious medical conditions. In addition, he used avoidance coping strategies to deal with stressors, and his important relationship was not of good quality. When the risk factors were considered together, an increasing number of factors was associated with an increasing likelihood of nonremission. Separate analyses for inpatients and outpatients revealed similar patterns. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Life stressors and social resources affect posttreatment outcomes among depressed patients.

Examined pre- and posttreatment changes in life stressors and social resources and their association with treatment outcomes in a 12-mo follow-up of 424 Ss (aged 18–83 yrs) with unipolar depression. Assessment measures included the Family Environment Scale, Work Environment Scale, and Health and Daily Living Form. As expected, Ss reported significant, multidimensional improvements in their functioning at follow-up. There were modest increases in Ss' social resources but, suprisingly, no overall decrease in stressors. Life stress and resource factors were significantly related to Ss' functioning at follow-up, even after considering the severity of their dysfunction at treatment intake and their length of treatment. Implications for developing a general body of knowledge about the process of recovery and relapse in behavioral disorders are discussed. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Quality of life of cancer patients and their spouses in palliative home care

Debates about the "ideal" timing of orthodontic treatment have focused on issues of biologic development and readiness. In this article we examine psychologic issues that should be considered in the decision to initiate orthodontics in the younger child or to wait until adolescence or later. Psychologic development during the preadolescent and adolescent stages may influence the child's motive for, understanding of, and adherence to treatment regimens. Results of a study of some personality characteristics, motives, and aesthetic values of young phase I patients are presented. Questionnaires were completed by 75 children (mean age 10.85 years, 52.1% female, 84% white) and their parents. Children's perceived reasons for treatment were consistent with their parents' reports (chi 2 = 76.08, p < .001); most were referred for crowded teeth (56%) and overbite (17.3%). Although body image and self-concept scores were within the normal range, both children and their parents expected the most improvement in self-image and oral function, with greater expectations by parents on self-image (p < .0001), oral function (p < .0001), and social life (p < .03) than children themselves. Although white and minority children were similar in their self-ratings and expectations from orthodontics, the former were more critical in their aesthetic judgments. They rated faces with crowded teeth (p < .02), overbite (p < .02), and diastema (p < .01) more negatively than did ethnic minorities. These results suggest that younger children are good candidates for Phase I orthodontics, have high self-esteem and body-image, and expect orthodontics to improve their lives. White children who have been referred for Phase I orthodontics appear to have a narrower range of aesthetic acceptability than minority children.     

Dreams in patients remitted from reactive depression.

Ten female and 1 male 23-63 yr old patients who had been fully remitted from serious reactive depression and 11 matched normal controls slept 3 nights in the laboratory where sleep mentation (mainly from REM periods) was collected. REM dreams from remitted patients still showed more masochism than dreams from controls, more hostility in the environment, and more inanimate objects exerting physical effort. Remitted patients also dreamed more about the past than controls. Furthermore, REM and sleep onset narratives were shorter in remitted patients than in controls, but NREM narratives were of equal length. Results suggest that some personality traits are chronically disturbed and do not improve when patients remit from reactive depression. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vulnerability to specific life events and prediction of course of disorder in unipolar depressed patients.

Tested a cognitive-life stress integrative model that predicted depressive symptoms following stressful life events when the negative events were personally meaningful to the individual, and likely to be interpreted as depletions or failure in the domain of central relevance to self-worth. 27 unipolar depressed outpatients completed a sociotropy-autonomy scale and were followed prospectively for periods of up to 2 yrs, with periodic assessments of life events and symptoms. As predicted, Ss' periods of worst symptoms followed a 3-mo period in which life event stress that matched their personally relevant domain significantly exceeded that of the nonrelevant domain. For Ss who experienced an onset following a symptom-free period, the severity of symptoms was significantly predicted by the interaction of their autonomy score and achievement events; however, the same pattern did not occur for sociotropy score and interpersonal events. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Heterogeneity of cognitive style among depressed inpatients.

An inference from the cognitive theories of depression is that only a subset of depressed individuals should exhibit distinctively negative cognitive styles. Although this inference has been supported by previous research, attempts to characterize these depressives have yielded few identifying variables. This study of psychiatric inpatients and normal control subjects identified several characteristics of depressives with very negative cognitive styles by (a) examining traditional depression subtypes, (b) grouping depressives on the basis of clinical observations, and (c) asking whether sex, developmental events, and history and severity of depression predict cognitive styles. We found that borderline personality disorder, negative family dynamics during childhood, a history of sexual abuse, and severity of depression predict cognitive styles. We speculate that aversive developmental events may contribute to cognitive vulnerability to depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory complaints and abilities among depressed older adults.

The relation between complaints of memory problems and memory test performance was examined among depressed (n?=?25) and nondepressed (n?=?25) adults over the age of 40 years. Depressed adults were diagnosed from interviews using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) criteria and from responses to the Beck Depression Inventory. A dissociation between memory complaints and performance was observed. Depressed adults complained of greater problems in memory than nondepressed adults. However, the memory test performances of both groups were in the average-to-above-average range. These results are discussed in light of the role of self-deprecating cognitive distortions in the tendency of depressed individuals to negatively evaluate all their abilities, including their memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive deficit among remitted schizophrenics: The role of a life-history variable.

The present study investigates the degree of cognitive impairment shown by remitted schizophrenics relative to nonpsychiatric controls and the relationship of such deficit to educational level. It was hypothesized that grade-school-educated remitted schizophrenics would perform more poorly than comparably educated controls, and that college-educated schizophrenics would perform significantly closer to comparably educated controls on a battery of cognitive tasks. Both hypotheses were confirmed. The findings were discussed in terms of their implications for understanding the relative roles of symptoms and life-history variables in accounting for cognitive deficit. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conformity and achievement-related characteristics of depressed patients.

Conformity and achievement-related characteristics of 10 hospitalized depressed patients and 11 matched acute schizophrenics were studied in an Asch-type conformity situation, and by the use of self-report inventories. It was found that in the conformity situation, depressed Ss showed a greater tendency to conform to social pressure than did the controls. When conformity and achievement were assessed by the use of self-reports, the results were either nonsignificant or opposite to those found in the conformity situation. The results were compared with recent theory and research dealing with cyclical affective disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perfectionism and relationship adjustment in pain patients and their spouses.

The authors assessed whether social facets of perfectionism were associated with indexes of dyadic and family adjustment. A sample of 83 pain patients and their spouses completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, Dyadic Adjustment Scale, Family Assessment Device, Beck Depression Inventory, and Multiaxial Pain Inventory. After controlling for depression, the authors found that pain patients' relationship adjustments were associated with their spouses' other-oriented perfectionism. Also, pain patients rated their other-oriented perfectionistic spouses as less supportive. Spouses' reports of poor dyadic and family adjustment were associated with their own socially prescribed perfectionism. The findings suggest that social aspects of perfectionism contribute to poor family adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of parental guilt induction among depressed parents.

This study builds on prior research by Rakow et al. (2009) by examining the role of parental guilt induction in the association between parent depressive symptoms and child internalizing problems in a sample of parents with a history of major depressive disorder. One hundred and two families with 129 children (66 males; Mage = 11.42 years) were studied. The association of parental depressive symptoms with child internalizing problems was accounted for by parental guilt induction, which was assessed by behavioral observations and child report. Implications of the findings for parenting programs are discussed and future research directions are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Confiding in others and illness rate among spouses of suicide and accidental-death victims.

Surveyed 19 spouses (mean age 37.5 yrs) of suicide and accidental death victims (representing a 61.3% response rate of all relevant cases that occurred in 1982 in a metropolitan county) concerning their health and coping strategies approximately 1 yr after their spouse's death. Results show that the more Ss discussed their spouse's death with friends and the less that they ruminated about the death, the fewer were the increases in health problems reported. A significant negative correlation was found between confiding and ruminating. Effects were independent of Ss' self-reported number of close friends. It is suggested that the sudden death of a spouse is associated with increased health problems irrespective of the cause of death, but that confiding appears to play a central role in the coping and health process. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive theory and the generality of pessimism among depressed persons.

38 depressed (as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory) and 52 nondepressed college students were given a series of anagrams to solve. A 1-chance subgroup was informed that they would win a free movie ticket if they were successful in the task. A 2nd-chance subgroup received the same instructions as the 1-chance subgroup but were also informed that if they failed, they would have another opportunity in a different, undefined task. Ss were subdivided into success and failure subgroups that either succeeded at or failed the anagram task. Immediately afterwards, Ss reported their emotional state on the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List. Depressed Ss reported greater depression, anxiety, and hostility than nondepressed Ss in the 1-chance condition but not in the 2nd-chance condition; this interaction occurred independent of Ss' success or failure in the task. Results are viewed as indicating that current cognitive theories about the generality of pessimism in depression are incomplete. An explanation of the results in terms of the saliency of future reward opportunity is suggested as a basis for further study. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress responses and coping propensity among paranoid and nonparanoid, episodic, and remitted schizophrenics.

28 remitted and 28 episodic paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenics performed a "coping task" consisting of a simple tapping response purported to affect the duration of stressing loud sounds. Cognitive appraisals of the effectiveness of the available response, and task-performance measures of propensity (vis-à-vis reticence) to engage in the response were monitored. Results indicate both paranoid and nonparanoid Ss appraised the available coping response as being less effective than did controls; behavioral measures indicated generally lower propensity to cope among the nonparanoid Ss; the paranoid Ss were similar to controls on selected coping-propensity measures. These differences remained constant across episodic and remitted stages of illness. Psychophysiological evidence of stress arousal (heart-rate acceleration) indicated elevated responsivity specifically among the episodic patients. Results were discussed in terms of current formulations concerning vulnerability to schizophrenic episodes and efforts to cope with environmental stressors. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)