Previous personal experience and reactions to depression and physical disability.

Conducted 2 experiments with 121 undergraduates to examine the effects of prior experience with people with disability on interpersonal reactions to depression expressed by a person with a disability. In the 1st study, Ss rejected further involvement with the depressed person and perceived this person to be socially impaired. In the 2nd study, Ss ascribed significantly more negative personal characteristics to the depressed person and evidenced more stereotypic attitudes toward persons with disability than Ss who viewed the nondepressed person. Results provide evidence that prior personal experience with people with disability does not moderate negative reactions to social displays of depressive behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social confirmation of dysphoria: Shared and private reactions to depression.

Investigated the social responses to dysphoria of 120 female undergraduates selected on the basis of their scores on the Beck Depression Inventory. Ss conversed for 15 min with persons selected for presence or absence of depressed mood. Following the conversations, mood measures (e.g., Multiple Affect Adjective Check List) were administered along with social perception questionnaires that were described either as confidential or to be shared with the other person. Ss who interacted with depressed persons were anxious, depressed, and hostile, and Ss rejected them. Contrary to predictions, Ss were willing to share their negative responses with the depressed persons. The depressed persons correctly anticipated rejection and reciprocated. It is argued that cognitive models of depression need to be integrated with a conception of the social environment as being active and responsive. Judgments of cognitive distortion cannot be made without an understanding of the feedback typically available from the social environment. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social disability.

Considers social disability as a form of deviance which refers to a broad class of social adaptations based on failures in the development of competence. The concept is related to R. White's biological conceptualization of effectance and competence motivation and to L. Phillips's developmental view of the origins of symptomatology. Empirical evidence is summarized in support of the position that the developmental failures of social disability in all their forms are linked to identifiable, broad, noninterpersonal dimensions of the physical as well as the social environment. Implications are discussed in terms of a reconceptualization of views of a variety of forms of deviance and related consequences for the present system of classification. Suggestions are made for a complex, multidimensional theoretical model which would accommodate the testing of etiological hypotheses linking the development of competence to the environment. It is also shown that the concept is useful as a unifying rationale for specifications of therapeutic and preventive environments and for providing a conceptual and organizing framework for training in the community mental health fields. (114 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rumination and interpersonal dependency: Explaining women's vulnerability to depression.

Women are twice as likely as men to suffer from a major depressive episode. Reasons for this gender difference in propensity for depression are not completely understood, although a number of explanations have been articulated. In this article we focus on two constructs that have been linked to gender differences in depression--ruminative cognitive style and interpersonal dependency. Ruminative cognitive style refers to the tendency to respond to depressed or dysphoric mood with repetitive thoughts and behaviours that focus attention on the meaning and consequences of the depressed mood (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991). Interpersonal dependency reflects an investment in relationships and communion. We propose a theory of how these constructs interact to increase women's propensity to develop depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patient interpersonal impacts and the early therapeutic alliance in interpersonal therapy for depression.

The therapeutic alliance consistently predicts positive psychotherapy outcomes. Thus, it is important to uncover factors that relate to alliance development. The goal of this study was to examine the association between patient interpersonal characteristics and alliance quality in interpersonal therapy for depression. Data derive from a subsample (n = 74) of a larger naturalistic database of outpatients treated at a mood disorders clinic of a university-affiliated psychiatric hospital. Following Session 3 of treatment, therapists completed the Impact Message Inventory (Kiesler & Schmidt, 1993) to assess patients' interpersonal impacts on them. Also following Session 3, patients completed the Working Alliance Inventory (Horvath & Greenberg, 1989) to assess alliance quality. As predicted, patients' affiliative interpersonal impacts, as perceived by their therapists, were positively associated with alliance quality, controlling for baseline depression severity. Although unrelated to the initial hypotheses, patients concurrently taking psychotropic medications reported better alliances than patients receiving psychotherapy only. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social skills training to improve alcoholics' vocational interpersonal competency.

Many clients seeking vocational assistance may already possess the necessary job skills for satisfactory employment but need training to develop adequate interpersonal skills for finding and holding a job. In this study, 3 clients admitted to an alcohol abuse treatment program volunteered for social skills training related to difficult on-the-job situations. In a multiple-baseline single-case design across behaviors, modeling alone and modeling plus focused instruction were employed to improve several target behaviors. In general, though modeling was somewhat successful, the addition of focused instructions greatly enhanced treatment effects. Furthermore, these behavioral changes were maintained at a 6-mo follow-up session. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical inferences about depression and physical disability.

Individuals who are physically disabled are often expected to be depressed and to mourn their condition. It is relatively unknown, however, how these expectations influence psychologists' inferences about the emotional status of those who have a physically stigmatizing condition. Sixty-nine doctoral students in the American Psychological Association approved clinical and counseling psychology programs rated their expectations for depression in a person after viewing a videotape of the person in varied conditions of physique and affect. The results indicate that the presence of physical disability did not moderate the assessment of depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social acceptance and self-esteem: Tuning the sociometer to interpersonal value.

The authors draw on sociometer theory to propose that self-esteem is attuned to traits that garner others' acceptance, and the traits that garner acceptance depend on one's social role. Attunement of self-esteem refers to the linkage, or connection, between self-esteem and specific traits, which may be observed most clearly in the association between self-esteem and specific self-evaluations. In most roles, appearance and popularity determine acceptance, so self-esteem is most attuned to those traits. At the same time, interdependent social roles emphasize the value of communal qualities, so occupants of those roles have self-esteem that is more attuned to communal qualities than is the general norm. To avoid the biases of people's personal theories, the authors assessed attunement of self-esteem to particular traits indirectly via the correlation between self-esteem and self-ratings, cognitive accessibility measures, and an experiment involving social decision making. As hypothesized, self-esteem was generally more attuned to appearances than to communal qualities, but interdependent social roles predicted heightened attunement of self-esteem to qualities like kindness and understanding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social skills and stress management training to enhance patients' interpersonal competencies.

23 adult male psychiatric outpatients, who showed evidence of marked interpersonal impairment or social isolation and absence of florid psychotic symptoms or organic brain damage, received social-skills training alone (mean age for this group was 48.4 yrs) or in conjunction with stress-management training (mean age for this group was 46.7 yrs) in 9 sessions. Nine additional men (mean age 53.4 yrs) were assigned to a minimal treatment control group. Social-skills training included modeling, coaching, covert and overt rehearsal, corrective feedback, social reinforcement, and homework assignments involving 5 response classes of social behavior. Stress-management training covered applied relaxation and cognitive restructuring procedures aligned with the same 5 response classes. Compared to the control group, Ss in both treatment conditions showed significant improvements on behavioral measures of social skill. Improvements continued during a 4-wk follow-up period and generalized to new situations not addressed in training. Neither treatment condition had an impact on self-reports of social anxiety or self-esteem. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive distortion in rheumatoid arthritis: Relation to depression and disability.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is often accompanied by significant levels of depression and disability. Previous research has demonstrated that cognitive distortions are related to depression and disability in other chronic pain conditions. Our study tested the relevance of Beck's model to RA by examining the relation between cognitive distortion, as measured by the Cognitive Error Questionnaire, and both self-reported and interview-rated depression and disability in 92 RA patients. Even when disease severity was controlled, cognitive distortion was significantly associated with depression. Although cognitive distortion was also related to physical disability, this relation was smaller. The results are discussed in terms of the potential relevance of Beck's model to the treatment of depression and disability in RA patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The functional relation between depression and problematic interpersonal behavior.

75 depressed patients (mean age 33.9 yrs) were compared with 69 nondepressed high MMPI controls (mean age 25.7 yrs) and 80 normal controls (mean age 29.9 yrs) on self-reported frequency and comfort of various interpersonal events, verbal and nonverbal behavior in group and dyadic interactions, and interpersonal style. Identified as uniquely associated with depression were (a) infrequent engagement, discomfort, and low levels of obtained reinforcement in social activity and in giving and receiving positive responses; (b) discomfort in being assertive and low levels of reinforcement obtained from such behavior; (c) discomfort experienced in conjunction with negative cognitions concerning personal interactions; and (d) self-, peer-, and observer-rated deficiencies in interpersonal style group interactions. On verbal and nonverbal behavior measures, no deficits uniquely associated with depression were identified. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nurse and patient reactions to social displays of depression.

Examined the interpersonal responses of 27 nurses and 27 hospitalized patients with chronic medical conditions to a target who appeared either to have a chronic physical impairment or to be able-bodied, and who enacted either a depressed or nondepressed role. It was predicted that while nurses and patients would have negative reactions to the depressed targets, patient reactions to the depressed target with a physical impairment would be less negative than nurse reactions on the basis of perceived similarity. Results indicated that both groups had negative perceptions of the depressed targets. The similarity hypothesis, however, was not explicitly supported. The reactions of health-care staff to depressed medical patients may reinforce the patients' depressive behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social utility and decision making in interpersonal contexts.

Three studies examined preferences for outcomes to self and a codisputant. Studies 1 and 2 estimated social utility functions from judgments of satisfaction with alternative outcomes. Comparing functional forms, we found that a utility function, including terms for own payoff and for positive and negative discrepancies between the parties' payoff (advantageous and disadvantageous inequality), provides a close fit to the data. The typical utility function is steeply increasing and convex for disadvantageous inequality and weakly declining and convex for advantageous inequality. We manipulated dispute type (personal, business) and disputant relationship (positive, neutral, or negative) and found that both strongly influence preferences for advantageous but not disadvantageous inequality. A third study contrasted implications of the social utility functions with predictions of individual utility theories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Therapist competence and patient outcome in interpersonal psychotherapy of depression.

This article examines whether the therapist's level of competence in conducting interpersonal psychotherapy of depression (IPT) is associated with patient improvement. Data from 35 depressed outpatients treated for up to 16 sessions as part of the IPT training program for the National Institute of Mental Health Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research Program were used. Multiple regression analyses were performed to predict outcome from 4th-session ratings of therapist skill while controlling for important pretreatment patient characteristics including level of depression, social adjustment, and expectations of treatment outcome. The results showed that measures of therapist performance contributed significantly to the prediction of patient-rated change and change in the apathy associated with depression but not to measures of social adjustment at 16 weeks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Responses to depressed interpersonal behavior: Mixed reactions in a helping role.

We placed 144 female subjects in a helping role and randomly assigned them to interact with a confederate in a 3?×?3?×?2?×?2 (Psychopathology?×?Blaming?×?Advice Seeking?×?Sex of Confederate) factorial design. In order to study behaviors that mediate interpersonal responses to depression, male and female confederates enacted depressed, anxious, or normal roles and blamed themselves, others, or no one for their problems. The confederates requested advice in half of the conditions. Results indicated that depressed confederates were rejected more on questionnaire measures; however, depressed confederates received more conversational advice and support from subjects than did the equally disturbed anxious confederates. The self-blaming and advice-seeking manipulations did not interact with depression to produce more negative reactions in subjects. There was no evidence of a negative mood induction in subjects, nor did the sex of the confederate have important interpersonal consequences. Results are discussed in terms of theoretical and methodological issues in studies of interpersonal factors in depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social anxiety and the evaluation of negative interpersonal feedback.

Results of a study with 211 college students indicate that Ss high and moderate in anxiety perceived the same feedback as being more negative than did lows. In addition, high-anxiety Ss had a greater expectancy that others would evaluate them negatively. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social perception and the motivational structure of interpersonal relations.

An extension of a previous research (see 28: 673). The introduction of another variable, viz., the knowledge of the result of cooperative or competitive ventures, affected the perception of the partner. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of diagnosis on reactions to patient optimism and depression.

Explored the implicit theories of 145 health professionals regarding disability and rehabilitation as revealed by their ratings of the psychological state, adjustment, likeability, and proposed treatment of depressed and optimistic patients from 4 diagnostic groups. Discriminant analyses showed significant differences between the reactions to optimistic and depressed patients in all diagnostic groups, but these differences were more extensive for less stigmatized conditions (heart attack and rheumatoid arthritis) than for more stigmatized diagnoses (cancer and paraplegia). The implications of the findings for R. A. Scott's (1970) theory of professionals' ideologies and B. Wright's (1983) notion of the social requirements of cheerfulness and mourning in the disabled are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social judgment theory and the analysis of interpersonal conflict.

Presents the general framework of social judgment theory as it applies to the analysis of interpersonal conflicts caused by cognitive differences, a general experimental paradigm for the study of cognitive conflicts, and the principal results of the experiments conducted so far. The experiments have been concerned with the structure of conflict, sources of cognitive change, and effects of the characteristics of the policy task as generated in a situation in which 2 persons with divergent thoughts about a given policy task are required to work out agreements for a series of policy decisions. Results show that (a) cognitive conflicts are not resolved; (b) Ss are able to reduce the systematic differences between their cognitive systems as they interact, but they are prevented from reaching agreement by inconsistency in their cognitive systems; (c) Ss change their cognitive systems to adapt to the task; and (d) the structure of the Ss' policies is affected by the characteristics of the policy task, and thus their agreement, as well as the structure of their agreement, is affected by the structure of the task. Results demonstrate that cognitive factors are sufficient to explain certain forms of conflict, as well as why the conflicts are not resolved, and that the analysis of conflict will have to take into account not only the persons in conflict, but also the nature of the task facing them. (61 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social exclusion and early-stage interpersonal perception: Selective attention to signs of acceptance.

Social exclusion can thwart people's powerful need for social belonging. Whereas prior studies have focused primarily on how social exclusion influences complex and cognitively downstream social outcomes (e.g., memory, overt social judgments and behavior), the current research examined basic, early-in-the-cognitive-stream consequences of exclusion. Across 4 experiments, the threat of exclusion increased selective attention to smiling faces, reflecting an attunement to signs of social acceptance. Compared with nonexcluded participants, participants who experienced the threat of exclusion were faster to identify smiling faces within a “crowd” of discrepant faces (Experiment 1), fixated more of their attention on smiling faces in eye-tracking tasks (Experiments 2 and 3), and were slower to disengage their attention from smiling faces in a visual cueing experiment (Experiment 4). These attentional attunements were specific to positive, social targets. Excluded participants did not show heightened attention to faces conveying social disapproval or to positive nonsocial images. The threat of social exclusion motivates people to connect with sources of acceptance, which is manifested not only in “downstream” choices and behaviors but also at the level of basic, early-stage perceptual processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)