Effects of marital role problems and the self-concept on wives' depressed mood.

Evaluated the mutual contribution of role interaction problems and self-concept to the depressed mood of wives in the marital relationship, using a linear recursive model incorporating path analysis and multiple regression. A random sample of married couples was interviewed, including 85 couples that had a child or children younger than 6 yrs old and in which the wife was less than 45 yrs old; 88 couples with a child or children aged 6–18 yrs, the wife being of any age; 81 couples with no children at home and the wife aged 45–59 yrs; and 82 couples with no children at home and the wife older than 60 yrs old. Roles selected to measure interaction problems included cooking, housekeeping, companionship to spouse, and caring for children. Role disagreement, depressed mood, and wives' self-concepts and the actual and perceived appraisals of the husbands for the wives were measured. Results indicate that the path model proposed a causal effect of marital role disagreement and reflected self-concept on wives' depressed mood. The key variable in the model was wives' perceptions of husbands' evaluations, which had a direct effect on wives' mood and mediated much of the effect of role disagreement on wives' depressed mood. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-discrepancies in clinically anxious and depressed university students.

Self-discrepancy theory proposes that anxiety and depression are the result of different types of conflicting self-beliefs. This study examined self-discrepancies in 4 groups of university students who completed a questionnaire assessing levels of self-discrepancy and were characterized by the following disorders: (1) depression, (2) anxiety, (3) both anxiety and depression, or (4) no psychiatric disorder. As predicted, Ss with anxiety or depressive disorders had higher levels of self-discrepancy than normal Ss. Depressive Ss had higher levels of actual:ideal discrepancies than nondepressive Ss. Anxious Ss (with or without depressive disorders) had higher levels of actual:ought discrepancies than nonanxious Ss (normals and depressed-only Ss). Results provided general support for self-discrepancy theory in accounting for depressive and anxiety disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributional style in clinically depressed and conduct disordered adolescents.

We tested the reformulated learned helplessness theory of depression with adolescent inpatients (N?=?63) who were diagnosed by Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III; American Psychiatric Association, 1980) criteria as depressed, or conduct disordered, or both. Adolescents with major depression diagnoses differed from nondepressed adolescents with significantly lower attributional style scores for positive events. The study also evaluated the relation of self-reported depression, anxiety, and social maladjustment to attributional style. Subjects who reported more severe depression had a significantly lower composite score for internal, stable, and global attributions for positive events. The composite of internal, stable, and global attributions for negative events was not significantly related to either diagnosed or self-reported depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The self-concept: Fact or artifact.

Research interest in the last 10 years has been sufficient enough so that it is now possible to ask whether the self is an objective reality or a nebulous abstraction. Assessment of the emipircal and theoretical foundations as well as the philosophical suggest that the self is an artifact which has been invented to explain experience. From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:3HJ25L. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality characteristics of formerly depressed women.

Confirms and extends the implications of a study by J. H. Altman and J. R. Wittenborn (see record 1980-25740-001) that indicated that formerly depressed women now in remission described certain aspects of their personality in a manner different from that of comparable women who had no psychiatric history. Present Ss were 48 remitted depressives and 90 normal controls (average age 40 yrs). 15 items that had discriminated significantly in the Altman and Wittenborn study were included in the present inventory. When factor analyzed, the 43 items that distinguished between the 2 groups generated 5 factors identified as Unhappy Outlook, Narcissistic Vulnerability, Low Self-Esteem, Critical Mother, and Dependency-Fostering Father. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Running versus weight lifting in the treatment of depression.

We compared the effectiveness of an aerobic and nonaerobic exercise in the treatment of clinical depression in women. A total of 40 women, screened on the Research Diagnostic Criteria for major or minor depressive disorder, were randomly assigned to an 8-week running (aerobic), weight-lifting (nonaerobic), or wait-list control condition. Subjects were reassessed at mid- and posttreatment, and at 1-, 7-, and 12-month follow-ups. Depression was monitored by the Beck Depression Inventory, Lubin's Depression Adjective Check List, and the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression; fitness level was assessed using submaximal treadmill testing. Results were remarkably consistent across measures, with both exercise conditions significantly reducing depression compared with the wait list control condition, and generally appearing indistinguishable from each other. No significant between-group fitness changes were noted. These findings indicate that both types of exercise conditions significantly reduce depression and that these results are not dependent on achieving an aerobic effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Phenomenology and treatment of depressed women.

Argues that differences exist between depressed women and men in terms of their psychological symptoms and their affective, cognitive, interpersonal, and family functioning. These differences, which must be understood within the prevailing sociocultural context, impact on the manner in which depressed women and men present for help. Intervention with depressed women must take into consideration the sociocultural factors associated with the development and maintenance of women's depressive episodes, the tasks and challenges that their current lifestage presents, and the centrality of interpersonal relationships in a woman's construction of self. The primary goal of treatment with a depressed woman is conceptualized as a process in which she learns to balance her needs for power and autonomy with her desires for intimacy and sharing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of parent involvement in isolation or in combination with peer tutoring on student self-concept and mathematics achievement.

The present study examined the effects of a home-based, parent involvement (PI) intervention and the reciprocal peer tutoring (RPT) intervention on the self-concept and mathematics achievement of academically at-risk urban elementary school students. Seventy-two 4th- and 5th-grade students evidencing difficulties in mathematics were selected. Students were assigned randomly to 3 conditions: PI?+?RPT, PI, and practice control (PC). Student self-concept reports showed that students in the PI?+?RPT and PI conditions reported higher ratings of scholastic and behavior conduct than controls. Students in the PI?+?RPT conditions perceived themselves as more socially confident than did PI or PC students. Mathematics findings indicated that students who received PI?+?RPT displayed higher levels of accurate mathematics computations on a curriculum-based measure than PI or PC students. PI?+?RPT students also had significantly higher scores on a standardized measure of mathematics computation than PC students. The relationships between the PI intervention components and school adjustment were discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of self-concept on children's causal attributions and self-reinforcement.

Studied self-concept as a dispositional variable influencing children's cognitive-attributional and affective-self reinforcing reactions to achievement outcomes. 64 6th-graders classified as high or low in self-concept on an abbreviated version of the Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale were given an achievement task on which they succeeded or failed. A preinstructional set was used to allow Ss to interpret their performance as being determined by skill or luck. More high than low self-concept children attributed their success to the skill cue. High self-concept Ss also engaged in more self-reward for success. Both self-concept groups used lack of skill to account for their failure, but the low group responded with more self-punishment. Results are discussed within an attributional model of achievement behavior. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory for emotional trait adjectives in clinically depressed youth

An experiment was conducted to examine memory for emotional trait adjectives in depressed children and adolescents. Two groups of children and adolescents, clinically depressed participants and non-clinical controls, were compared on computerized versions of recall and recognition memory tasks. Three groups of words (positive trait adjectives, negative trait adjectives, and categorized neutral words) were used in the experiment. Results showed that the depressed group recalled significantly more negative adjectives than positive adjectives, whereas the control group recalled the same number of positive and negative adjectives. This effect was predicted by the association between age and level of depression, with the depression-related bias becoming stronger with age. Signal detection analysis revealed that the depressed group did not show any bias in the recognition task. The findings are discussed with respect to cognitive theories of depression with consideration of the developmental implications.     

Marital interactions of depressed men and women.

This article examined marital interactions in 50 couples with a depressed husband, 41 couples with a depressed wife, and 50 nondepressed control couples. As expected, couples with a depressed partner evidenced more disturbed marital interaction than control couples. Furthermore, couples with a depressed wife demonstrated less positive communication than couples with a depressed husband, notwithstanding the fact the depressed husbands exhibited greater depression severity than depressed wives. Findings are integrated with recent research on gender differences in affective expression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of imbalance in the self-concept on the perception of persons.

From consistency or balance theories of attitude change the present investigation derives a systematic statement relating self-cognitions to perceptions of other persons and performs an empirical test of the statement. By means of a false personality assessment, persons are led to believe that they possess a trait that they negatively value. The prediction that they will resolve imbalance by attributing the trait to their friend is tested and confirmed. Attribution to a friend partially resolves imbalance by shifting the scale referents for the trait, using the friend as an anchor point. As a result, a S is able to believe that he possesses the trait only in average degree. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal and impersonal problem-solving skills in mildly and clinically depressed university students.

Administered the Beck Depression Inventory and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory to 20 nondepressed and 20 depressed university students and 8 nondepressed and 10 depressed university students being treated at a university counseling service. Ss were then tested on the Means–Ends Problem-Solving Procedure (a measure of interpersonal problem-solving ability) and the anagram task used in the investigations of learned helplessness (a measure of impersonal problem-solving ability). All Ss were administered the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry version of the Vocabulary subscale of the WAIS. A significant negative correlation was found between depression and interpersonal problem-solving ability, while only anxiety was correlated with anagram performance. Differences between groups were found only in interpersonal problem-solving performance. Nondepressed Ss performed significantly better than the other 3 groups, while depressed counselees obtained the lowest scores on the interpersonal measures. No relationship was found between performance on the anagram task and performance on the Means–Ends Problem-Solving Procedure. Results are consistent with predictions generated by interpersonal theories of depression, but they raise questions about the validity of the learned helplessness model as an analog of clinical depression. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of verbal interaction conditions on self-concept discrimination and anxiety.

Randomly assigned 40 male and 40 female undergraduates equally by sex to self-positive or self-negative discussion topic groups in which they either received or did not receive verbal comment from the interviewer. While no sex differences appeared, a silent interviewer produced less discrimination of the self as a concept and, depending upon the positive or negative direction of S verbalization, interviewer nonparticipation resulted in less or greater anxiety about the self. It is concluded that the interview behavior of a counselor interacts with discussion content in specific and potent ways. The dyadic interaction may affect both the definitional (denotative) and feeling (connotative-affective) aspects of concept meaning. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Home observations of family interactions of depressed women.

The family interactions of 27 intact families with clinically depressed mothers were compared with those of 25 normal families. Each family had at least one child between the ages of 3–16 years. Spouses in half of the depressed families were maritally distressed. A system of coding interactions was developed, and observations were conducted in each home on 10 separate days. Six categories of nonverbal affective behavior were analyzed. Depressed mothers emitted significantly higher rates of dysphoric affect and lower rates of happy affect than normal mothers. Among depressed families, the mother"s dysphoric affect appeared to suppress the family"s aggressive affect, whereas the family"s aggressive affect appeared to suppress the mother"s dysphoric affect. These data suggest that aversive behavior may function to provide brief respites from the aversive behavior of others. The presence of marital discord in depressed families appeared to exacerbate such problematic interaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Brief report. Social self-concept of educated employed and educated unemployed women

A prospective cohort study on 1103 consecutive patients undergoing general surgery with a follow-up of up to 30 days was undertaken to analyse the risk factors for surgical-site infection (SSI). Relative risks (RRs), crude and multiple-risk factors adjusted for by logistic regression analysis, and their 95% confidence intervals were calculated. One hundred and four patients (9.4%) developed infection, 81 in hospital and 23 at home. Predictors for in-hospital SSI differed from those for post-discharge SSI. In a crude analysis, an increased risk of post-discharge SSI occurred after clean-contaminated surgery (but not contaminated surgery). Stepwise logistic regression failed to identify any significant predictor for post-discharge SSI.     

Metaphors in the talk of "depressed" women in psychotherapy.

Variations in how we describe, explain, and treat depression and in who is labeled depressed attest to the significance of the social-historical contexts in which our understandings and practices are based. A prevalent, modern-day (Western) conception of depression is as a gendered (primarily female), devalued condition characterized by a discourse of the deficient self. In an effort to learn more about the particular forms of this discourse, the metaphors used by 10 depressed women (aged 28–62 yrs) to talk to their psychotherapists about their selves in relation to their perceived difficulties were studied. Two broad cultural imperatives were constructed from these metaphors: (1) Don't be too mothering and (2) Don't be too child-like. At the core of these 2 imperatives were messages about the importance of autonomy, for both oneself and others. This valuing of autonomy can be clearly located at the heart of 20th-century Western ideals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Diminished response to pleasant stimuli by depressed women.

This study examined the self-report and facial expressions of emotional response to pictorial stimuli and the incidental learning of pleasant and unpleasant words by depressed (n?=?20) and nondepressed (n?=?20) women. Depression was associated with reports of diminished emotional response and reduced frequency and intensity of facial expressions only to pleasant stimuli. The 2 groups did not differ in response to hedonically unpleasant stimuli, even those specifically relevant to the emotion of sadness. In a similar vein, depressed and nondepressed participants showed differences in incidental recall for only pleasant self-referential terms. There was no difference in recall of unpleasant words. These findings suggest the importance of hedonic deficits on psychological processes in clinical depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sharing stories. Group therapy with elderly depressed women

As the population ages, nurses are challenged to seek and use relevant and effective nursing strategies to assist clients to cope with major life events and chronic conditions. Depression in the elderly, particularly among elderly women, is increasing. This is a serious problem which pervades community, acute and chronic care settings. In order to provide proactive care in the treatment of depression, two nurses in a psychogeriatric clinic developed a unique program, consisting of 10 weekly group sessions for elderly women with a diagnosis of depression. This article describes the formal, content of group sessions and outcomes. Key themes that emerged are illustrated by the stories shared by the women. These stories were central to shaping the group experience and enhanced the learning of group members and facilitators as well. The method of group process and insight into dynamic strategies for teaching/learning in the elderly are discussed. In conclusion, recommendations for future programs have been identified.     

Sequential interactions in the marital communication of depressed men and women.

Despite studies showing patterns of sequential interaction between depressed wives and their husbands, no published research has contrasted sequential interactions of depressed husbands and their wives. This study compared problem-solving interactions of 49 couples with a depressed husband, 41 with a depressed wife, and 50 normal controls. Interactions were coded using the Marital Interaction Coding System. Although no clear patterns of sequential interaction distinguished couples with a depressed wife from normal control couples, results suggested a unique pattern of interaction between depressed husbands and their spouses, whereby positive communications from the husband resulted in decreased positivity and increased negativity from their wives. Given the importance of positivity for promoting effective problem solving, this pattern appears to have important implications for couples' long-term marital satisfaction and husbands' mood regulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)