Benjamin M. Dykman

Automatic and effortful processing in depression.

Automatic processes require few attentional resources, but effortful processes use attentional capacity. Research on cognitive processing by depressed individuals is reviewed and the following is concluded: (a) Depression interferes with effortful processing. The degree of interference is determined by the degree of effortfulness of the task, the severity of depression, and the valence of the stimulus material to be processed. (b) Depression interferes only minimally with automatic processes. Hypothetical causal mechanisms for interference in effortful processes by depression, whether interference in effortful processing is unique to depression or characteristic of psychopathology in general, and whether negative automatic thoughts are associated with current depression or depression proneness are also addressed. The effortful-automatic perspective has implications for understanding depressive clinical features, treating depression, and conducting future research.

Integrating cognitive and motivational factors in depression: initial tests of a goal-orientation approach.

Attempts to predict depression from a strictly cognitive perspective have met with limited success. A goal-orientation model is proposed that integrates motivational and cognitive factors in attempting to explain and predict depression. The model proposes that people differ in their goal orientation, with some people being more validation seeking (VS) and others being more growth seeking (GS). The model predicts that compared with GS persons, VS persons will show greater anxiety in anticipation of a stressful event and greater self-esteem loss, task disengagement, and depression after a negative event. A goal-orientation measure was developed (Study 1), and the predictive validity of the model was tested (Studies 2-5). Findings suggest that the explanatory and predictive power of the cognitive theories can be enhanced, and the arsenal of the cognitive therapist enlarged, by integrating motivational and cognitive approaches to depression.

Perceptions of parenting and depression-proneness in the offspring : Dysfunctional attitudes as a mediating mechanism

This research attempted to clarifythe mechanismthrough which dysfunctional parenting leads todepression in the offspring. Consistent with theorizingbyBeck (1967), we tested a three-stage causal pathway wherein dysfunctional parenting should giverise to dysfunctional attitudes in the offspring which,in turn, should give rise to depression-proneness in theoffspring. Another objective of this study was to further delineate the types of parentingbehaviors that give rise to dysfunctional attitudes inthe offspring. To this end, a large sample of collegestudents (N = 246) completed measures assessing four parenting dimensions (i.e., low care,overprotection, perfectionistic expectations, andcriticalness) as well as measures assessingdysfunctional attitudes, general depression-proneness,and current depression. Support for the depressogenic effects of allfour parenting dimensions was obtained in that eachparenting dimension correlated significantly withdysfunctional attitudes and depression tendencies in the offspring. Moreover, path analyses supportedBecks three-stage causal model with perfectionistic andcritical parenting playing a particularly prominentrole. Last, after controlling for current depression, the partial correlations among the variables inthe three-stage model remained significant, suggestingthat the present findings were not simply the result ofa mood congruency effect. These findings illuminate additional parenting behaviors that can havedepressogenic effects and indicate that these parentingbehaviors exert their effects, at least in part, by wayof instilling dysfunctional attitudes in the offspring.

Cognitive Vulnerability to Depression and Lifetime History of Axis I Psychopathology: A Comparison of Negative Cognitive Styles (CSQ) and Dysfunctional Attitudes (DAS)

The goal of this study was to “unpack” the “generic” cognitive vulnerability employed in the retrospective behavioral high-risk design of Alloy and colleagues (2000), one of the major publications emanating from the Cognitive Vulnerability to Depression (CAD) Project to date. To this end, we used a retrospective behavioral high-risk design with a new sample of unselected undergraduates and examined the unique association between lifetime history of clinically significant depression as well as other Axis I disorders (e.g., anxiety disorders, substance abuse disorders) and both dysfunctional attitudes (DAS, featured in Beck’s theory) and negative cognitive styles (CSQ, featured in hopelessness theory). We present results supporting the cognitive vulnerability factor featured in the hopelessness theory and the construct validity of the CSQ. Negative cognitive styles were more strongly and consistently associated with lifetime history of Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) major depression and hopelessness depression than were dysfunctional attitudes. These results suggest that negative cognitive styles, as assessed by the CSQ, were a potent component of the “generic” cognitive vulnerability effect in Alloy and associates’ (2000) retrospective behavioral high-risk design. Interestingly, negative cognitive styles also were significantly associated with a participant having had a past RDC anxiety diagnosis. Thus, consistent with past research, our results suggest that negative cognitive styles and dysfunctional attitudes are distinct constructs as measured by the CSQ and DAS, respectively. Of further interest, gender differences in depression were obtained with college women in our study exhibiting significantly greater lifetime history of RDC major depression than college men.

Dysfunctional attitudes and vulnerability to depressive symptoms : A 14-week longitudinal study

Becks acute-onset model of depression proposesthat initially asymptomatic individuals with high levelsof dysfunctional attitudes (DA) will become depressedwhen stressors occur. Using a large student sample (n = 275), we conducted a 14-weeklongitudinal study aimed at testing Becks model as anacute-onset model. Consistent with past studies (Monroe,Bromet, Connell, & Steiner, 1986; Roberts & Monroe, 1992), a DA Stress interaction did notobtain when all subjects (both symptomatic andasymptomatic) were included in the data analyses.However, when analyses were restricted to initiallyasymptomatic subjects, the predicted DA Stress interactioneffect did obtain. Specifically, under conditions ofhigh stress, initially asymptomatic subjects with highlevels of dysfunctional attitudes showed greater increases in depressive symptoms than initiallyasymptomatic subjects with low levels of dysfunctionalattitudes. Follow-up analyses revealed that this DAStress interaction was specific to females and not males. Possible reasons for the female-specificeffect are discussed. In general, these findings callattention to the fact that subject selection proceduresmay affect a researchers ability to predict future onset of depression.

Depressive Realism and Nondepressive Optimistic Illusions: The Role of the Self

Clinicians and laypeople alike have known for a long time that people think negatively when they are depressed. Indeed, overly pessimistic thinking is typically viewed as a hallmark feature of depression. From the perspective of the major cognitive theories of depression (e.g., Abramson, Alloy, & Metalsky; 1988, this volume; Abramson, Metalsky & Alloy, 1988b; c; Alloy, Abramson, Metalsky & Hartlage, 1988; Beck, 1967; 1976; Beck, Rush, Shaw & Emery, 1979), such negative thinking is not only a core symptom of depression, but a cause of this disorder as well. While it is well known that depressives’ perceptions are negative in content, the more unique aspect of Beck’s cognitive model is that it hypothesizes that depressed individuals’ inferences about themselves and their experiences are unrealistically negative, extreme, and distorted. In contrast, normal, nondepressed individuals’ information processing is hypothesized to be realistic and free from cognitive biases (but see Beck, 1986, for a more recent revision of his views on nondepression).

Schematic Processing: A Comparison of Clinically Depressed, Dysphoric, and Nondepressed College Students

Reformulations of Beck’s theory (e.g., Dykman et al. J Pers Social Psychol 56:431–445, 1989) propose that depressed and nondepressed people are equally likely to use schematic processing to interpret information. The few studies to test this hypothesis have had methodological shortcomings. Past studies have not included a clinically depressed sample and have failed to assess a full range of potential biases (negative, neutral, and positive). To address these limitations, a recognition-of-information task was administered to clinically depressed, dysphoric, and nondepressed college students. Clinically depressed participants were significantly more likely than nondepressed participants to generate negative interpretations of a self-relevant ambiguous story. Clinically depressed participants also were more likely than both dysphoric and nondepressed participants to refute positive interpretations of the story. However, consistent with reformulations of Beck’s theory, dysphoric participants and nondepressed participants also tended to “go beyond” the information given in the story. Indeed, all three participant groups were equally biased in their interpretations. The difference among the groups was in the direction (negative vs. positive) and the heterogeneity of the biases.

Depression and negative processing of evaluative feedback

Becks cognitive behavioral model of depression served to predict that depressed college students would negatively bias their processing of evaluative feedback relative to nondepressed college students. Depressed and nondepressed students performed a dot estimation task and received “good,” “average,” “poor,” or ambiguous feedback following each of 40 trials. Half of each subject group also received feedback under conditions of high or low task importance to assess the generality of depressive biasing tendencies. Analyses revealed significant negative processing biases among depressives relative to nondepressives in immediate perception and latencies of response to feedback stimuli during the latter 20 feedback presentations but not in response to earlier feedback trials. In addition, biases in the immediate perception of feedback stimuli were most pronounced under ambiguous feedback conditions. No differences were observed between depressives and nondepressives in the long-term recall of evaluative feedback, and measures of bias were not significantly affected by the perceived importance of the experimental task. Explanations are offered for the specificity of the findings obtained.

Social comparison by dysphoric and nondysphoric college students: The grass isn't always greener on the other side

We manipulated information about a comparison-other in order to resolve contrasting findings regarding social comparisons of dysphoric and nondysphoric individuals. In Study 1, subjects rated themselves and either an average college student, an average depressed college student, or an average nondepressed college student on depression-relevant, nondepression-relevant, and depression-irrelevant items. In Study 2, detailed information about one of five comparison-others ranging from very positive to very negative was presented to subjects. In both studies, dysphoric and nondysphoric subjects did not make pervasively unfavorable or favorable social comparisons; instead, social comparisons were a function of the similarity between self and other. That favorable, unfavorable, and evenhanded social comparisons could be observed for both dysphoric and nondysphoric subjects by manipulating the identity of the comparison-other suggests that mixed findings for previous social comparison research may be attributed to differences and ambiguities in the comparison-others used.