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Personality–event interaction models of depression
Abstract
Several theorists have suggested that excessive concerns about social relatedness or autonomous achievement create vulnerabilities to depression in response to negative interpersonal or achievement events, respectively. In this paper, I describe these models and review empirical studies of them. I then discuss a number of methodological and conceptual issues that arise from these studies and that need to be addressed as this research area matures. Finally, I discuss findings that need to be incorporated by these models, which suggest that the relations among personality, events, and depression are more complex, bi-directional, and recursive.
... Other studies have provided similar general support for the general vulnerability hypotheses in non-clinical populations, but have also generated considerable mixed results regarding the specific congruence hypotheses (Robins et al., 1988, 1995, see Robins 1995 for a review). ...
... Behavioral interviews). The ideal would be to use a combination of these strategies to measure such complex constructs (for further critical discussions see Hammen et al., 1985;Robins, 1995;Segal et al., 1992;Coyne & Whiffen, 1995). ...
... There have been suggestions that the cognitive style, perceptions, and coping strategies of these personality styles may influence the way they report either significant life events or clinical states (symptoms, episodes so on) (Robins, 1995). A Repressive coping mode then is likely to lead one to report fewer negative life events, and also fewer symptoms, thereby seriously complicating the testing of the Personality vulnerability model. ...
Investigated in a non-clinical student population the role of Repressive defenses in A. T. Beck's (1983) Personality Styles of Sociotropy and Autonomy. Among a wider set of hypotheses it was predicted that Sociotropy would be characterized by a Repressive Coping Strategy, whereas the opposite should hold true for Autonomy. To test the research hypotheses 122 university students were assessed on measures of Personality (Personal Style Inventory-II), Coping (Weinberger, 1979 method), Social Desirability (MC), Anxiety, and Self-Reported Depression (BDI). The results provided partial support for the research hypotheses. Initially, both styles yielded significant negative correlations with Repression (Soc r=-0.32 , Aut r=-0.50). Partial correlations though, revealed that Anxiety played a critical role in the pattern of relationships between Sociotropy/Autonomy and Repression. When the effects of Anxiety were controlled, Sociotropy yielded a low positive but significant correlation with Repression (r=0.24), whereas Autonomy retained its negative relationship (r=-0.28). The results are discussed within the Personality Vulnerability model of Affective disorders advanced by Cognitive and Psychodynamic theorists. Emphasis is placed on understanding the intrapersonal and interpersonal Coping strategies of Sociotropic and Autonomic individuals. Finally, the pernicious role and the conceptual and methodological implications of Repressive defenses are discussed with reference to the affective vulnerability framework.
... While sociotropy and autonomy have been linked with depression in general, Beck's (1983) congruency and specificity hypotheses have received mixed support. To review this vast literature, a summary of Robins' (1995) meta-analysis and Coyne and Whiffen's (1995) critique on previous research is provided first. This is followed by a discussion of more recent research (2000 to present) on sociotropy and autonomy, organized by methodology. ...
... Overall, cross-sectional studies found more evidence supporting specific vulnerability for sociotropy than for autonomy. Three studies observed specific vulnerability for sociotropy, two studies observed a general vulnerability and one study observed a general congruence for sociotropy and autonomy simultaneously (Robins, 1995). There were no cross-sectional studies that supported the specific vulnerability hypothesis for autonomy (Robins, 1995). ...
... Three studies observed specific vulnerability for sociotropy, two studies observed a general vulnerability and one study observed a general congruence for sociotropy and autonomy simultaneously (Robins, 1995). There were no cross-sectional studies that supported the specific vulnerability hypothesis for autonomy (Robins, 1995). ...
... Estas relações perturbadas originariam representações objectais igualmente perturbadas, que seriam o pano de fundo da patologia depressiva. Representações objectais perturbadas interagem com acontecimentos de vida negativos específicos para originar a depressão (veja-se para uma revisão de literatura relativa aos estudos sobre os vários componentes da teoria de Blatt, Blatt & Homann, 1992;Blatt & Zuroff, 1992;Coyne & Whiffen, 1995;Nietzel & Harris, 1990;Ouimette & Klein, 1993;Robins, 1995). ...
... Outros autores, psicodinâmicos e de outras escolas, partilham a conceptualização de que a personalidade predisponente interage com os acontecimentos de vida para originar a depressão, e que existem fundamentalmente dois grandes tipos de vulnerabilidade (veja-se Blatt, 1990;Blatt & Blass, 1992;Blatt & Maroudas, 1992;Blatt & Zuroff, 1992;Hokanson & Butler, 1992;Nietzel & Harris, 1990;Robins, 1995;Robins, Hayes, Block, Kramer & Villena, 1995; veja-se ainda, e mais especificamente, Coimbra de Matos, 1982Matos, , 1985Matos, , 1986Matos, , 1995Matos, , 1996, para a compreensão de um modelo psicanalítico de vulnerabilidade à patologia depressiva). ...
... Mas se, para alguns autores, o facto do auto--criticismo apresentar valores de correlação significativos e moderados com as medidas de sintomatologia depressiva ser um factor positivo e o facto da dependência apresentar valores de correlação pouco expressivos ser um factor negativo, outros autores afirmam que ambas as correlações deveriam ser baixas. Robins (1995) refere que na ausência de factores de stress relevantes, «uma escala que mede um factor de vulnerabilidade, deverá ter apenas uma correlação modesta com a depressão. Se a correlação for demasiado elevada poderá estar a medir algum aspecto do estado depressivo em si». ...
No presente trabalho apresentamos os estudos leva-dos a cabo para adaptar o Questionário de Experiências Depressivas (Q.E.D.) de Sidney Blatt e colegas para a população portuguesa. Iniciamos o artigo com uma breve exposição dos aspectos centrais da conceptualização de Sidney Blatt sobre a depressão. Descrevemos depois a versão original do Q.E.D. e as suas propriedades psicométricas. Posteriormente apresentamos o processo de tradução do instrumento, a sua aplicação experimental, a demonstração da equivalência linguística cruzada entre a versão original e a versão portuguesa e, finalmente, alguns estudos psicométricos com a versão portuguesa do questionário, nomeadamente relativos à análise da estrutura factorial e de consistência interna. Calculámos também os valores das médias, medianas e desvios-padrão nas escalas do Q.E.D. e no Inventário de Depressão de Beck, de duas amostras portuguesas de estudantes universitários: uma de rapazes e outra de raparigas utilizadas neste processo de adaptação e comparámos essas duas amostras entre si, no que respeita aos valores médios nas escalas do Q.E.D. Comparámo-las também com as amostras americanas de rapazes e raparigas do estudo de replicação do estudo original de aferição. Calculámos ainda as correlações entre as escalas do Q.E.D. entre si e entre cada uma delas e o Inventáriode Depressão de Beck. Os resultados obtidos são, de uma forma geral, bastante satisfatórios, apesar de ser necessário levar a cabo mais estudos de validade e também de precisão teste-reteste.
... Two and a half decades of intensive research have yielded considerable support for the role of personality in the formation, maintenance, and exacerbation of depression (for reviews, see Beck, 1983;Blatt & Zuroff, 1992;Flett, Hewitt, Endler, & Bagby, 1995;Robins, 1995). However, Coyne and Whiffen (1995), in their critical review of the filed of personality and depression, suggested that these dimensions could serve as outcomes, rather than causes, of depression. ...
... However, despite the testability and common-sense appeal of this hypothesis, only partial empirical support has been obtained. Although most studies demonstrated the specific vulnerability of dependency or sociotropy to interpersonal events, equivalent specific vulnerability of self-criticism or autonomy to failure-related stress has rarely been demonstrated (e.g., Bartelstone & Trull, 1995; for reviews, see Blatt & Zuroff, 1992;Coyne & Whiffen, 1995;Flett et al., 1995;Robins, 1995). ...
... Nevertheless, because these studies were cross-sectional, it is unclear whether these retrospectively reported changes refer to stable personality traits or to more transient mood states or transient functional capacities. This highlights the importance of examining the "scar" model with constructs such as dependency and self-criticism, which are not only the most well-researched constructs in the field of personality and depression (Coyne & Whiffen, 1995;Robins, 1995), but were also demonstrated to be stable personality traits rather than mood states (Zuroff, Blatt, Sanislow, Bondi, & Pilkonis, 1999). ...
Recent criticism of theories of personality vulnerability to depression posits that personality may be an outcome, rather than a cause, of depressive symptoms. In this study, we address this criticism, focusing on the personality dimensions of dependency and self-criticism (S. J. Blatt & D. C. Zuroff, 1992). Dependency, self-criticism, and depressive symptoms were assessed twice over a 1-year interval in a large sample of early adolescent girls and boys. A vulnerability model, in which dependency and self-criticism influence depressive symptoms, was contrasted with a scar model, in which depressive symptoms influence dependency and self-criticism, and with a reciprocal causality model, in which both constructs influence each other over time. Cross-lagged analyses using structural equation modeling supported a reciprocal causality model involving self-criticism (but not dependency) among girls (but not boys). Results suggest that in early adolescence, girls' self-criticism and depressive symptoms contribute to a vicious phenomenological cycle.
... PII: S 0 1 9 1 -8 8 6 9 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 1 1 6 -6 www.elsevier.com/locate/paid considered an indication of maturity and health, the over-reliance on either of these dimensions is seen as a marker of vulnerability (Blatt & Zuro, 1992;Helgeson, 1994;Robins, 1995). ...
... Social context variables such as stressful events and social support are treated as moderators of the vulnerability of dependent and self-critical individuals. For instance, the`congruency hypothesis' (Coyne & Whien, 1995;Robins, 1995) suggests that self-critical individuals will report increased distress as a result of experiencing achievement stress (e.g. an exam failure); increased distress will also be reported by dependent individuals experiencing interpersonal stress (e.g. a romantic breakup). To date, the empirical status of the congruency hypothesis is unclear. ...
... To date, the empirical status of the congruency hypothesis is unclear. Support for this hypothesis has been reported mainly for dependency, but not for selfcriticism (Coyne & Whien, 1995;Robins, 1995). ...
Moderating and mediating models of dependency and self-criticism as vulnerabilities to emotional distress are compared. According to the moderating model, stressful events and social support moderate the vulnerability of self-critical and dependent individuals. In contrast, mediating models relate to stress and support as mediators assuming that individuals generate stress and lack of support over time. One hundred and eighty-two young adults were assessed longitudinally, and hierarchical multiple regression and structural equation modeling were performed. The moderating model was found valid for describing the vulnerability of dependent individuals, who reported increased distress only after experiencing interpersonal stress. The mediating model appropriately described the vulnerability of self-critical individuals, who reported increased stress and decreased support over time, which partly accounted for their increased distress. These findings are discussed in relation to the formulation of causal models of personality and distress.
... The distinction between agency and communion seems particularly useful for the examination of the aetiology of depression inasmuch as it shows a great overlap with the two personality styles most extensively scrutinized within the framework of congruence-depression research, namely autonomy and sociotropy (c.f. Beck, 1983;Robins, 1995;Segal, Shaw, Vella, & Katz, 1992). ...
... First, the results confi rm the notion that external events can account for depressive symptoms if they match important aspects of personality. In previous research on congruency effects in the development of depression, such personality traits were mainly conceived as explicit, cognitive assumptions (see Robins, 1995 for an overview). By demonstrating that in combination with external stimuli implicit and exclusively motivational aspects of personality also have explanatory power for depressive experience, the present study goes beyond this conception. ...
... In previous studies on the congruency hypothesis, it was often not possible to demonstrate such effects for both dimensions. (see Robins, 1995;Segal et al., 1992). Thus, a stronger consideration of implicit motivational processes could be promising for the understanding of depression. ...
In a sample of 61 psychotherapy outpatients, the current study investigated the association between progress at motive‐congruent personal goals and depressivity. In a correlational design, motives were measured with a Picture Story Exercise. Personal goals and goal progress were assessed using a self‐report approach. The Beck Depression Inventory was used to determine patients' levels of depressive symptoms. In accordance with Beck's congruency hypothesis, results showed that only motive‐congruent goal progress was related to depressivity. Motive‐incongruent progress could not account for interindividual differences in depressive symptoms. Implications of the findings are discussed in terms of the aetiology of depression and the definition of explicit treatment goals. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Key Practitioner Message:
• Goal progress per se is not associated with lower levels of depressivity.
• Only in combination with implicit motives can goal progress account for interindividual differences in depressivity.
• Implicit motives can provide clinicians with important information for the definition of adequate treatment goals.
... Although there are undoubtedly similarities between Blatt's (1974Blatt's ( , 1990) and Beck's (1983) formulations, they are by no means identical (Blaney & Kutcher, 1991;Blatt & Maroudas, 1992; C. J. Robins, 1995;Zuroff, 1994). Sociality includes some of the evaluative concerns that Blatt attributed to self-criticism, and individuality implies positive rather than negative premorbid selfevaluations. ...
... ze dependency and self-criticism as personality variables that are approximately normally distributed within the gen-eral population and that are nearly orthogonal, that is, whose correlation is typically in the range from .00 to .30. Sociotropy and autonomy researchers have also endorsed dimensional conceptualizations (Clark, Beck, & Alford, 1999;C. J. Robins, 1995). How can we reconcile these dimensional approaches with the typological elements in Blatt's (1974Blatt's ( , 1990Blatt & Shichman, 1983) and Beck's (1983) theoretical expositions? ...
... ersonal styles associated with sociotropy and autonomy can influence the vulnerable individual's social environment has been examined by Alden's research group (Alden & Bieling, 1996;Bieling & Alden, 1998), Hammen's research group (Daley et al., 1997;Nelson, Hammen, Daley, Burge, & Davila, 2001), C. J. Robins and his associates (Lynch et al., 2001;C. J. Robins, 1995), and Clark et al. (1999). For example, Daley et al. (1997) demonstrated a stress-generation process associated with autonomy, concluding that "autonomy is not merely an inert vulnerability factor that predisposes one to depression when coupled with an achievement-related stress . . . it also has its own effect on the generation of episo ...
J. C. Coyne and V. E. Whiffen (1995) reviewed research on personality vulnerability to depression, focusing on S. J. Blatt's (1974, 1990) concepts of dependency and self-criticism and A. T. Beck's (1983) concepts of sociotropy and autonomy. The authors discuss 6 issues raised in that review: (a) the typological or dimensional nature of vulnerability, (b) the theoretical implications of "mixed" vulnerability, (c) the relations of vulnerability to Neuroticism. (d) the potential confounding of vulnerability with concurrent depression, (e) the potential confounding of vulnerability with social context, and (f) the differentiation of dependency from relatedness. The authors conclude that Blatt's and Beck's concepts are continuous, nearly orthogonal dimensions that can be identified and measured independently from Neuroticism, depression, and social context.
... Poles adapted for depression in older adults relate to styles of trying to solve problems, accepting reality, relating to others, and maintaining a sense of self. 29 Consequently, for this study, we predicted that DBT would influence personality and coping styles that may increase vulnerability to future depressive episodes (e.g., interpersonal reactivity 36 and/or emotional ambivalence 37 ) ...
... Sociotropy and autonomy. These personality variables, which have been shown to predict increases in depressive symptoms or relapse to depression after personality-congruent stressors, 36 were assessed with the Personal Style Inventory (PSI 52 ). Sociotropy has been defined as a personality style in which an individual is characterized by concerns over interpersonal relationships and a strong need for close relationships. ...
... From reviewing past research on the diathesisstress theory, Coyne and Whiffen (1995) along with various other researchers (e. g., Nietzel & Harris, 1990;Robins, 1995) have concluded that there is more empirical support for the sociotropy dimension than the autonomy dimension. All of these studies in the past are based on sociotropy and autonomy levels measured by either the Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale or the Personal Style Inventory and most of these studies are based on depression levels measured by the BDI. ...
... One possible explanation for these findings is that there may be a problem in the measures used to assess an individual's level of sociotropy and autonomy (Robins, 1990(Robins, , 1995Robins & Block, 1988). To evaluate this point, various examinations of the underlying theory proposed by Beck et al. (1983b) have been conducted and the Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale has undergone a number of revisions in the past (Clark & Beck, 1991;Clark et al., 1995;Robins et al., 1994;Ross & Clark, 1993). ...
According to A. T. Beck's cognitive theory of depression, individuals who score high on the personality dimensions of either sociotropy or autonomy are considered to be vulnerable to depression. Although past research has provided support for the relationship between sociotropy and depression, very little support has been provided for the relationship between autonomy and depression. Two studies were conducted to investigate the relationship between the items of the Beck Depression Inventory, one of the most commonly used measures in the assessment of an individual's level of depression, and measures of sociotropy and autonomy. Participants were 293 undergraduate students (aged 17–27 yrs). In both studies, Ss completed the Beck Depression Inventory and various measures of sociotropy and autonomy. The results suggested that the majority of the items of the Beck Depression Inventory were related to measures of sociotropy rather than autonomy. These findings suggest that the lack of support for the relationship between autonomy and depression may be due partially to the specific measures used in the assessment of sociotropy and autonomy as well as depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
... Almost a decade after Coyne and Whiffen's (1995) critical review of research on personality vulnerability to depression, this field of inquiry continues to thrive (for a recent review, see Zuroff, Mongrain, & Santor, 2004a, b). Nevertheless, one of the greatest impediments for progress in the field is its relative fragmentation, manifested by different research groups drawing from different theoretical orientations and relying on different measures of vulnerability in their attempt to examine the role of personality in depression (Flett et al., 1995;Robins, 1995). It is in the context of such fragmentation that the importance of the PSI, as a measure that draws from both Blatt's and Beck's theories of depressive vulnerability, becomes apparent, indicating the need to investigate this carefully constructed instrument. ...
... Another notable finding of the present study is that the PESC domain interacted with initial depressive symptoms and stressful events to predict increased depression over time. The PESC by stress segment of this interaction is consistent with the stressdiathesis perspective (Monroe & Simons, 1991; although not with the congruency hypothesis [Robins, 1995], see footnote 4), and hence bolsters the predictive validity of the PESC as a domain of depressive vulnerability. The involvement of T1 depression in this interaction is consistent with Joiner's (1994) call to consider the moderating effects of baseline levels of the putative outcome in examining interactions between diatheses and stress. ...
Previous research indicates that the perfectionism/self-criticism (PESC) domain of the Personal Style Inventory (PSI; Robins etal. [1994]. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment,
16, 277–300), which was originally constructed as an indicator of autonomy, serves as an indicator of both sociotropy and autonomy. To shed light on this unexpected finding, the PSI and related constructs were longitudinally examined among Israeli undergraduates (N=260). At both T1 and T2, PESC had significant loadings on sociotropy, autonomy, and depressive symptoms, and it correlated strongly with the self-criticism factor of the Depressive Experiences (Blatt, D’Afflitti, & Quinlan, [1976]. Journal of Abnormal psychology,
95, 383–389). As well, in some analyses PESC interacted with initial depression and subsequent stress to predict T2 depression. Rather than measuring multidimensional perfectionism, PESC appears to measure self-criticism, or a more broadly defined negative self-evaluation.
... Personality dimensions, or traits, describe individual differences in stable behavioral dispositions, including ways of feeling, thinking, and acting, and is an important determinant of how we react in and cope with different situations (DeYoung, 2015;Digman, 1990;Habashi et al., 2016;Roberts et al., 2014). During the last few decades, there has been a growing interest in investigating the influence of personality on health and psychological well-being after major life events (Robins, 1995;. This research reflects the stress-buffering model (Wheaton, 1985), which emphasizes how risk factors and protective factors may modify the effects of stressful situations on psychological well-being, including the development of symptoms of affective disorders. ...
Introduction:
This study investigated whether the Big Five personality dimensions were associated with mental health trajectories and/or intervention effects of a digital divorce intervention from juridical divorce to 12 months following juridical divorce. The study utilized a randomized controlled trial study design (N = 676) and measured mental health outcomes (anxiety, depression, somatization, and stress) at study inclusion (i.e., at juridical divorce) and 3-, 6-, and 12 months after juridical divorce. Big Five personality dimensions were measured 1 month post study inclusion.
Results:
The study found that neuroticism is the personality dimension most predictive of post-divorce mental health outcomes. Specifically, divorcees with higher neuroticism scores indicated worse mental health immediately following divorce, but their symptom levels decreased more rapidly over a 12 months period after juridical divorce compared with lower neuroticism divorcees. It is also notable that their mean scores for the mental health outcomes remained higher at all time points (3, 6, and 12 months post baseline), relative to those lower in neuroticism.
Conclusion:
Findings are discussed in light of divorce-adjustment-theory and the stress-buffering model.
... This body of research has been inspired by studies which tested the congruency hypothesis (Hammen, Marks, Mayol, & DeMayo, 1985), according to which dependency/sociotropy is likely to lead to depression in the context of interpersonal stress (e.g., rejection and separation), whereas self-criticism/ autonomy is likely to lead to depression in the face of failure. Despite its theoretical appeal, the congruency hypothesis was largely disconfirmed (for reviews, see Coyne & Whiffen, 1995;Robins, 1995;Shahar, 2001Shahar, , 2015. Namely, although in several studies dependency was indeed shown to predict depression by interacting with interpersonal stress, other studies did not reveal this effect (e.g., Priel & Shahar, 2000vs. ...
We review the theoretical and empirical literature on the role of the self‐concept in suicidal behavior in the context of mood disorders (i.e., unipolar depression and bipolar spectrum disorders). The main themes emanating from this review are then juxtaposed against (1) the Interpersonal‐Psychological Theory of Suicide (IPTS; Joiner, 2005), and (2) biological research on the role of inflammatory processes in suicidality. Such a juxtaposition paves the way for a bio‐cognitive‐interpersonal hypothesis: Pathologies of the self‐concept—primarily self‐criticism—propel mood disorder sufferers to generate interpersonal stress that culminates in two proximal causes of suicidality: thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness. In turn, these two interpersonal conditions set in motion systemic biosystemic inflammation, serving as a proximal cause for suicidality in mood disorders. We conclude by describing a research project aimed at testing this hypothesis, and by outlining pertinent implications for assessment, treatment, and prevention.
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... Hammen (2005) suggested that chronic stress rather than acute negative life events, in addition to dependent life events (i.e., those to which the person has contributed) rather than independent (i.e., fated) life events, predict depression. In the same vein, Robins (1995) suggested that depression is precipitated by specific life events that are congruent with the vulnerabilities of the individual. From a psychoanalytic/psychodynamic perspective, a life-event scale should be elaborated to capture depressions related to specific loss experiences like loss of love, loss of a significant object, or loss of functionality. ...
Because depression is a recurrent disorder, the therapeutic aim for it should be the prevention of relapse or recurrence. Practitioners of psychoanalytic (PA), psychodynamic (PD) and cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT) claim to achieve stable results by improving patients’ personality functioning (e.g., self- and object representations, capacity to regulate affect and self-esteem). This hypothesis was tested using data from a subsample of 67 patients of the Munich Psychotherapy Study. In addition, we tested a diathesis–stress model, assuming that a failure to improve personality functioning during therapy may represent a vulnerability factor, especially for people confronted with adverse life events after therapy. Depressive symptoms and general psychiatric distress were assessed using the German versions of the Beck Depression Inventory (Hautzinger, Bailer, Worall, & Keller, 1995) and the Global Severity Index of the Symptom Checklist 90–Revised (Franke, 1995) at pretreatment, posttreatment, and 3-year follow-up. Personality functioning was assessed pre- and posttreatment using the Scales of Psychological Capacities (Wallerstein, 1991; Wallerstein, DeWitt, Hartley, Rosenberg, & Zilberg, 1989). Patients were interviewed at 1-year follow-up to detect negative life events in the intervening time. Regression analyses revealed that depressive symptoms and general psychiatric distress at 3-year follow-up were significantly predicted by pre- to posttreatment changes in personality functioning. When controlling for pre- to posttreatment changes in outcome measures, the effects of change in personality functioning were no longer significant. However, we found evidence for an interaction effect between pre- to posttreatment changes in personality functioning and the number of negative life events on general psychiatric symptoms, partially supporting the assumed diathesis–stress model. This suggests that, irrespective of treatment modality, therapists should focus on changes in personality functioning to obtain stable benefits.
... Outros autores (e.g., Blatt et al., 1976) colocam a hipótese de variáveis como a dependência e o auto-criticismo poderem ser afectadas pelo estado depressivo e, ainda assim, reflectirem diferenças individuais relativamente estáveis no que se refere a uma vulnerabilidade para a depressão (veja-se Franche & Dobon, 1992;Klein, Harding, Taylor & Dickstein, 1988;Robins, 1995). Este tipo de reflexão vai ao encontro de uma visão de espectro, mas ao mesmo tempo etiológica, da relação entre personalidade e depressão (Klein et al., 2002). ...
... Hartlage, Arduino, and Alloy (1998) found that variables such as low self-esteem and denial of dependency (counterdependency) seem to express both components of both state and trait. Other authors (e.g., Blatt et al., 1976) hypothesize that some depressive characteristics may be expressed in the depressive state and indicate stable individual differences in a vulnerability to depression (Franche & Dobon, 1992;Klein, Harding, Taylor, & Dickstein, 1988;Robins, 1995). This would be consistent with a spectrum as well as an etiological model of the relationship between personality and depression (Klein et al., 2002). ...
This paper proposes a depressive personality organization—a unique set of traits. It proposes a psychodynamic and psychiatric operationalization and reports on a preliminary validation through the construction of a questionnaire and the investigation of its psychometric properties in three nonclinical samples and a clinical sample of depressed patients. Preliminary results support the validity of the instrument and the underlying theoretical conceptualization of a depressive personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved)
... Hammen (2005) suggested that chronic stress rather than acute negative life events, in addition to dependent life events (i.e., those to which the person has contributed) rather than independent (i.e., fated) life events, predict depression. In the same vein, Robins (1995) suggested that depression is precipitated by specific life events that are congruent with the vulnerabilities of the individual. From a psychoanalytic/psychodynamic perspective, a life-event scale should be elaborated to capture depressions related to specific loss experiences like loss of love, loss of a significant object, or loss of functionality. ...
... R. W. Tafarodi and P. Walters harmonization. This invites the speculation that interpersonal or`sociotropicor`sociotropic' concerns (see Beck, 1983;Robins, 1995) constitute the predominant preoccupation, and social loss the predominant trigger, among Spanish depressives. The distinction between self-liking and self-competence ®nds interesting parallel in Wojciszke's (1994) distinction between moral versus competence-based construal of behavior. ...
The theoretical implications of individualism–collectivism for self-esteem suggest that collectivism is associated with (1) relatively higher self-liking and lower self-competence and (2) greater change in self-liking in response to social life events. In contrast, individualism is expected to be associated with (1) relatively higher self-competence and lower self-liking and (2) greater change in self-competence in response to achievement-related life events. A 6-month prospective study comparing students in (collectivist) Spain and (individualist) Britain confirmed the expected differences in relative (adjusted) levels of self-liking and self-competence. The predicted differential sensitivity to social events was also confirmed. No evidence for differential sensitivity to achievement-related events, however, was found. Copyright
... A considerable body of empirical research has demonstrated the relevance of high levels of self-criticism and dependency as vulnerability for depression (Klein, 1989;Ouimette & Klein, 1993;Robins, 1995;Zuroff, Igreja, & Mongrain, 1990; for a recent review, see Flett, Hewitt, Endler, & Bagby, 1995). An important difference between dependency and self-criticism, however, is recently emerging in the research literature: while the association between self-criticism and depression has been corroborated repeatedly in different contexts, dependency appears as including both vulnerability and resilience components (Blatt, Zohar, Quinlan, Zuroff, & Mongrain, 1995;Mongrain, 1998;Priel & Besser, 1999). ...
Using a prospective design, we explored the role of approach and emotional/avoidance-coping strategies in the relations between dependent and self-critical trait vulnerabilities and postpartum depressive symptoms among first-time mothers. It was assumed that dependency and self-criticism associate with approach and emotional/ avoidance strategies respectively, and that approach-coping strategies moderate trait vulnerabilities to depressive symptoms after childbirth. One hundred forty-six first pregnancy participants were assessed during the third trimester of pregnancy and eight weeks postpartum. Dependency was found to associate positively with high approach and low emotional/avoidance-coping strategies, while self-criticism was found to correlate positively with high emotional/avoidance and low approach-coping strategies. In addition, approach-coping scores were found to moderate self-critical trait vulnerability, reducing self-critical participants' depressive symptoms, thus confirming the coping effectiveness hypothesis. Results suggest that personality dispositions may affect the selection of coping processes, but that specific coping strategies are effective beyond personality characteristics, moderating the association between trait vulnerabilities and depressive symptoms. We propose a model in which self-criticism functions as vulnerability to depressive symptoms in the childbearing period. Our results illustrate the need to distinguish dependent and self-critical personality traits, and point to the need to integrate personality and contextual factors in the study of childbirth depressive symptoms.
... The autonomous individual, on the other hand, often presents as a negative, distant, withdrawing, coldly logical, and generally disagreeable individual. Beck (1983) and Robins (1995) suggested that relative to the sociotrope the autonomous type exhibits chronic depressive features. The data from our large sample of patients with depression suggests a somewhat different picture. ...
A. T. Beck (1983) has proposed the existence of two personality dimensions, sociotropy and autonomy, as specific and influential factors in the onset, course, and treatment of major depression. In this study, the stability and discriminant validity of the Revised Personal Style Inventory (PSI-II), a measure designed to assess the sociotropy and autonomy dimensions, was examined with a sample of outpatients diagnosed with major depression receiving pharmacotherapy. Sociotropy and autonomy were found to be relatively stable across time, despite significant reductions in depression severity. The two personality dimensions also produced a distinct and thematically consistent pattern of correlations with the dimensions and facets of the five-factor model of personality. These results suggest that the sociotropy and autonomy dimensions, as measured by the PSI-II, are reliable and valid measures of these personality constructs.
... Representing three lines of psychoanalytic thought (Arieti & Bemporad, 1980;Blatt, 1974;Blatt & Zuroff, 1992;Bowlby, 1980) and a cognitive-behavioral perspective (Beck, 1983;Robins, 1995), clinicians and researchers have proposed two distinct theory-based personality subtypes Cognitive/Personality Subtypes of Depression of depression: Dependent/Sociotropic Depression (D/S Dep) and Self-Critical/Autonomous Depression (S-C/A Dep). D/S Dep is hypothesized to occur in an individual who is very concerned about interpersonal relatedness. ...
As a complement to clinical and quantitative approaches to subdividing the depressive disorders, some recent researchers have taken a theory-based approach and hypothesized the existence of three cognitive/personality subtypes: Hopelessness Depression (HD), Dependent/Sociotropic Depression (D/S Dep), and Self-Critical/Autonomous Depression (S-C/A Dep). We describe and compare these hypothesized subtypes. In so doing, we present new findings from our ongoing Cognitive Vulnerability to Depression (CVD) project. Conceptual analysis and preliminary empirical results from our CVD project suggest that HD overlaps, in part, with D/S Dep and S-C/A Dep. However, the relationship does not appear to be as simple as vulnerability to HD in the interpersonal domain mapping directly on to D/S Dep nor vulnerability to HD in the achievement domain mapping directly on to S-C/A Dep. We identify and discuss three critical issues that need to be addressed to conduct a more powerful search for HD, D/S Dep, and S-C/A Dep: (1) the problem of specifying congruency between vulnerability and stress; (2) surprising vulnerability-stress interactions; and (3) going beyond common language definitions of symptoms. Finally, we conclude by pointing out that research on the cognitive/personality subtypes has a cumulative character and hasn't succumbed to the General MacArthur Syndrome.
... On the basis of previous theoretical (Beck, 1983; Blatt et al., 1976) and empirical (Robins et al., 1989; 1995 ) work, we developed sets of depression and anxiety symptoms proposed to be related to sociotropy and autonomy. The theoretical sociotropic symptoms composite was the sum of standardized scores on five BDI items—sad feelings, crying, decision-making difficulty , negative body image, and somatization; four HRSD itemsdepressed mood, general somatic problems, somatic anxiety, and psychic anxiety; and all 10 anxiety and all seven phobic anxiety items from the SCL-90-R. ...
The purposes of this study were: (a) to investigate the relations between the Personal Style Inventory (PSI) measures of sociotropy and autonomy and symptoms of psychopathology in depressed patients (n = 103), and (b) to compare the relative utility of categorical and dimensional approaches to differentiating depressed patients on the basis of sociotropy and autonomy. Sociotropy was related to interpersonal sensitivity, guilt and self-blame, and symptoms suggesting anxious depression or high negative affectivity. Autonomy was related to interpersonal distance and hostility, hopelessness/suicidality, feelings of failure, and anhedonia, suggesting low positive affectivity. These results provide support for the relevance of sociotropy and autonomy to depression and for the construct validity of the PSI. Cluster analysis did not identify clear categorical groups of participants, and differences between the most interpretable groups on symptoms could be predicted from the dimensional sociotropy and autonomy scores, suggesting no incremental utility of a categorical approach to these personality variables over a dimensional one.
... However, one must be cautious when interpreting this line of research because many researchers in the "schema-congruent events" tradition have shifted their focus to the depressing effects of life events that match individuals' personality weaknesses, such as an overdependence on other people, an overemphasis on the importance of achievement, and dysfunctional attitudes (see review inRobins, 1995). In these studies, a positive self-conception is not threatened by a negative life event; instead, a negative self-conception is confrrmed by it. ...
By this point, the reader may be wondering where stressors leave off and coping responses begin, where self-esteem is, or
should be, located in the stress process, and at what points self and identity concepts are identical to or distinguishable
from stress experiences. I have suggested that some stressors are direct threats to an identity, some are threats only if
an identity is salient, and some changes in identity salience may be coping strategies. Identity losses may be stressors in
themselves, may be caused by cumulative stress exposure, or may be ways of coping with unrelenting stress. Self-esteem may
enable the avoidance of stress, may mediate stress effects, may modify the impacts of stress, or may itself be influenced
negatively by stress experiences. Minimally, it should be clear that one is at risk of confounding one concept with another
if one does not take great care in defining terms and specifying the particular links in the stress process being examined.
Maximally, the degree to which self and identity factors pervade the stress process should be apparent, increasing appreciation
of just how complex stress and coping dynamics really are and how important it can be to draw from theories of the self to
explain these dynamics. I believe incorporating self and identity mechanisms into stress theory is crucial for developing
it further, given the virtual impossibility of talking about stress, coping, and social support processes without some reference
to these constructs. Their roles in the stress process have received less empirical attention than they deserve; it is likely
that the next generation of stress studies will begin to elaborate and test a number of proposed theoretical mechanisms in
detail. As we understand further how and when stress experiences result in psychological problems, we uncover points in the
unfolding process at which increasingly specific, deliberate, and potent mental health interventions can be aimed.
... In contrast, significant social loss has been identified as a primary predictor of clinical depression in Western countries (Brown & Harris, 1978). Morever, high ego-investment in interpersonal relationships has been extensively discussed in Western theory as a personality factor associated with vulnerability to depressive disorder (Blatt & Zuroff, 1992; Nietzel & Harris, 1990; Robins, 1995). Beck's (1983) ''sociotropic'' depression, for example, characterized by preoccupation with social loss or rejection, is often triggered by interpersonal stressors. ...
In addressing the mental health of international students, individualism-collectivism is treated as a dimension of cultural distance that produces differential sensitivity to life events. A collectivist cultural orientation is hypothesized to promote depressive dysphoria in response to negative social events and to increase the inhibitory effect of positive social events. An individualist cultural orientation is hypothesized to promote depressive dysphoria in response to negative achievement-related events and to increase the inhibitory effect of positive achievement-related events. A prospective study comparing Malaysian and British students at the same university confirmed the predicted cultural differences in sensitivity to social events. Predicted differences for achievement-related events were partially confirmed. Malaysian students were also considerably more dysphoric than their British counterparts, as expected.
... An additive pattern assumes that perfectionism and PD features are relatively independent, as both constructs address different personality processes. Whereas PD refers to stable behavioral manifestations, patients' perfectionism, as measured by the DAS, may refer to a latent cognitive vulnerability to depression, which may or may not impact clinical outcomes, depending on the life events experienced by patients (Robins, 1995). Because these two constructs tap different personality processes, they should have independent effects on treatment outcome. ...
Using data from the Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research Program (TDCRP), the authors compared the role of patients' perfectionism and features of personality disorder (PD) in the outcome of brief treatment for depression. Data were extracted as to patients' intake levels of symptoms; perfectionism; and PD features, measured as continuous variables, as well as their symptoms at termination; their contribution to the therapeutic alliance; and their satisfaction with social relations. Poorer therapeutic outcome was demonstrated for patients with elevated levels of perfectionism and odd-eccentric and depressive PD features. Patients' contribution to therapeutic alliance and satisfaction with social relations were predicted by perfectionism but not by PD features. Results highlight the central role played by patients' personality in the course of brief treatment for depression.
Résumé
Objectif
L’échelle SAS (pour sociotropy-autonomy scale) a été élaborée pour mesurer les caractéristiques de sociotropie et d’autonomie au sein de différentes populations pathologiques ou asymptomatiques. Toutefois, des variations de contenu et de structure existent entre les différentes versions. L’objectif de ce travail a consisté à réviser les propriétés des items de l’échelle SAS en interrogeant des étudiants français primo-entrants à l’Université en 2017.
Méthodes
Des étudiants inscrits en première année de formation technologique et de formation en santé ont été contactés. Des analyses des propriétés psychométriques et des mesures d’invariance ont été réalisées sur les réponses obtenues avant d’opérer des comparaisons statistiques entre groupes.
Résultats
L’analyse a montré que seuls 20 items sur les 60 constituant l’échelle SAS satisfaisaient aux critères d’acceptabilité. Une fois regroupés, ces items ont défini un outil consistant mesurant la dépendance sociale au travers de cinq facteurs (par exemple le besoin d’affection, la peur de l’abandon, la peur de la solitude, l’attention portée à autrui et l’inquiétude par rapport à la désapprobation d’autrui). Des mesures d’invariance ont permis la caractérisation de différences liées au genre et à la formation des étudiants.
Conclusion
Ce travail invalide l’utilisation de l’échelle SAS pour la mesure de la sociotropie et de l’autonomie chez des primo-entrants universitaires. En revanche, il définit un nouvel outil d’évaluation de la dépendance sociale à 20 items permettant des mesures fiables et des comparaisons intergroupes. Des études complémentaires devront être entreprises afin d’en étendre l’utilisation à de plus larges populations.
zet Tüketicinin satın alma davranışı, pazarlama iletişim araçlarının seçimi, pazar bölümlendirmesi, konumlandırma, hedef pazar seçimi, pazarlama karması oluşturma ve neredeyse pazarlama ile ilgili oluşturulan hemen hemen her strateji ve politikaların tüketicinin kişiliğine bağlı olduğu düşünülebilir. Bu araştırma alışveriş yönelimi ve tüketici kişilik yapısı ile ilgili henüz doldurulmamış bir boşluğu gidermek üzere yapılmış olup, tüketici kişilik boyutlarından sosyotropik ve otonomik kişilik yapısının alışveriş yönelimi üzerindeki etkisini irdelemeye yöneliktir. Bu amaç doğrultusunda, çevrimiçi ortam üzerinden anket çalışması yapılarak, kolayda örnekleme yöntemi aracılığıyla toplam 193 anket doldurulmuştur. Araştırma modeli kapsamında geliştirilen hipotezler doğrusal regresyon analizi ile test edilmiştir. Analiz Abstract It can be considered that consumer buying behavior, selection of marketing communication tools, segmentation, positioning, target market selection, marketing mix and almost every marketing strategy and policies are connected to the consumer personality. This research is based on an unfilled gap in shopping orientation with consumer personality structure and the effect of sociotropic and autonomic personality structures, which are consumer personality dimensions, on shopping orientation is intended to scrutinize. For this purpose, a total of 193 questionnaires were filled in online sampling via convenience sampling method. Hypotheses developed under the research model were tested by linear regression analysis. As a result of the analysis the sociotropic personality trait is related to recreational shopping tendency, store loyalty, brand loyalty, brand consciousness and confusion due to many options and additionally, autonomic personality trait was statistically significant on price awareness and frugality, self-confidence in shopping, antipathy of shopping, and recreational shopping tendency.
The personality traits sociotropy and autonomy are seen as vulnerability factors in depression research. A german adaptation of the Sociotropy- Autonomy Scale by Beck, Epstein, Harrison and Emery (1983) was used to investigate the relationship between sociotropy, autonomy and depression and anxiety, respectively. Female patients with the clinical diagnosis of an emotional disorder (Major Depressive disorder, Anxiety disorder) and female controls answered the S-A Scale, the BDI and the STAI (Trait and State format). A factor analysis of all 60 items of S-A Scale yielded four factors labeled true dependency (neediness), activity, freedom (independence) and connectedness. Sociotropy, especially true dependency is positively related to depression and anxiety. In contrast, autonomy, especially freedom/independence shows a negative relationship to depression in the clinical sample. The results make it necessary to reformulate the concept of autonomy as a vulnerability factor for depression.
Research by Baumeister et al. (1998) suggests the existence of a limited source of mental energy that can be used for self-control. Personality differences, however, can influence how rapidly this mental energy is lost after engaging in tasks requiring self-control (Tangney, Baumeister, & Boone, 2004). Additionally, recent research suggests that personality differences in sociotropy and autonomy can contribute to how an individual attempts to replenish the lost mental energy (Sato, Harman, Donohoe, Weaver, & Hall, 2010). In his theory of depression, Beck (1983) suggests that individuals high in the personality dimensions of sociotropy and autonomy are at an increased risk of depression. Highly sociotropic individuals have a strong need for social acceptance and are more likely to resort to seeking help from others in stressful situations (Beck, 1983). Conversely, highly autonomous individuals tend to place great emphasis on personal accomplishments and may feel de-energized and depressed when they believe they have failed (Beck, 1987). This chapter summarizes two studies which investigate how highly sociotropic and autonomous individuals differ in their response to the loss of mental energy following tasks that require active self-control. Study 1 investigated whether individuals high in sociotropy or autonomy have less mental energy to begin with and whether they expend more mental energy when they engage in tasks that require self-control than those low in the respective personality traits. Study 2 examined how the loss of mental energy affects the motivation of individuals high in sociotropy and autonomy compared to those low in the respective personality dimensions. The results of Study 1 suggest that while highly sociotropic individuals have less mental energy to begin with than those low in sociotropy, they may not expend more mental energy while engaging in tasks requiring self-control. Study 2 revealed two interesting results. The first was that highly autonomous individuals have more motivation to perform well on personal tasks requiring self-control than individuals low in autonomy overall. The second interesting result was that highly autonomous individuals' motivation to perform well on personal tasks increases more than those low in autonomy following a task requiring high levels of self-control.
Self processes have a prominent role in the conceptual foundations of cognitive therapy. Cognitive therapy is based upon a constructionist viewpoint and assumes that each individual's construal of his or her experiences constitutes a reality of primary importance for that person (Guidano and Liotti, 1985). These perceptions pertain not only to events in the external world, but also to internal attributes of the self (Beck, 1976). Self-referential thought processes accordingly have received significant attention in cognitive theories of psychopathology and treatment (Beck et al., 1990; Freeman et al., 1990; Beck, 1995; Dattilio and Reinecke, 1996; Young, 1999). It has been recommended that assessment of these types of cognitions, as distinct from those with an external orientation, be used to inform treatment planning for individual clients (Beck and Freeman, 1990; Freeman et al., 1990). Furthermore, intervention strategies directed toward changing beliefs about the self play an essential role in cognitive therapy for specific disorders (e.g., depression). Despite these considerations, theory and research on the self currently exist as an independent literature. Whereas studies in this area have been concerned primarily with the development and testing of general conceptual models, the emphasis in the cognitive therapy literature has been on the role of self factors within an applied context (i.e., psychotherapy). Furthermore, the focus of most self research has been on nonclinical populations.
Postpartum depressive symptoms (PPDS) are likely to have a multifactorial etiology. The relationships among identified PPDS risk factors, however, remain inconclusive. A vulnerability-stress conceptualization of PPDS was tested with a sample of 144 U.S. mothers aged 18-46 years, who had given birth in the last 12-months. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, Dysfunctional Attitude Scale Form A-17, Parenting Sense of Competence Scale, and Quality of Relationships Inventory were completed. The conceptual model and three alternative models were tested using structural equation modeling. A variation of the conceptual model yielded the best fit, Χ (2) (98) = 133.541, p = 0.0099, Standardized Root Mean Residual (SRMR) = 0.071, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) = 0.050 (90% CI = 0.026-0.070), Tucker Lewis Index (TLI) = 0.953, Comparative Fix Index (CFI) = 0.961. Dependency and partner conflict were positively related to PPDS, while maternal-efficacy was negatively related to PPDS. Dependency moderated the relationship between maternal-efficacy and PPDS, so that this relationship was stronger for mothers with higher dependency than for those with lower dependency. Dependency, partner conflict, and maternal-efficacy should be considered when building interventions that target the wellbeing of mothers in the first year after birth.
The purpose of this article is to introduce thePsychological Vulnerability Scale (PVS), a six-itemmeasure of a set of cognitions that promote harmfulreactions to stress. Maladaptive cognitive reactions tointerpersonal events can affect coping behavior andpsychological and physical well-being. A measure ofpsychological vulnerability that reflects detrimentalcognitive beliefs could be valuable in identifyingindividuals most in need of cognitive-behavioralinterventions. Three samples (ns = 90, 138, and 137) ofindividuals with rheumatoid arthritis provide evidencefor the reliability and validity of the PVS, which has adequate internal consistency and test-retestreliability. Convergent validity of the scale isdemonstrated by positive correlations with measures ofperceived helplessness, negative affect, maladaptive pain coping behaviors, and disease activity,and negative correlations with measures of positiveaffect, life satisfaction, adaptive pain-copingbehaviors, perceived social support, and personal coping resources such as self-efficacy. Thesensitivity of the PVS to cognitive-behavioralintervention is also demonstrated.
Zusammenfassung. Ziel der Untersuchung war eine Analyse der Faktorstruktur der Skala dysfunktionaler Einstellungen (DAS). Die DAS dient der Erfassung kognitiver Konstrukte, die im Beckschen Depressionsmodell als Vulnerabilitatsfaktoren depressiver Erkrankungen angesehen werden. Einer studentischen Stichprobe von 502 Probanden wurde die 40-Item Version der DAS vorgegeben. Eine Teilstichprobe bearbeitete zusatzlich Messverfahren zur Erfassung von Angst und Depression. Zwei Faktoren konnten identifiziert werden, die dem DAS-Gesamtscore zugrunde liegen: “Dysfunktionale Einstellungen bezuglich Leistungsbewertung“ und “Dysfunktionale Einstellungen bezuglich Anerkennung durch andere“. Die entsprechenden Subskalen zeigten gute interne Konsistenzwerte und Hinweise auf konvergente und diskriminante Korrelationen mit den Angst- und Depressionsskalen. Weiterhin konnte in einer unabhangigen Stichprobe depressiv-vulnerabler Probanden gezeigt werden, dass nur die Werte auf der Subskala “Anerkennung durch andere“ in dies...
The Personal Style Inventory (PSI) was developed to assess individuals’ levels of sociotropy and autonomy, two personality characteristics considered to be associated with increased vulnerability to depression. This study used the approach of latent means analysis (LMA) within the framework of structural equation modeling (SEM) to explore the factor structure and gender differences associated with the PSI in a sample of Korean undergraduates (N = 508). Results of the confirmatory factor analysis are consistent with previous work and support the cross-cultural stability of the PSI factor structure. However, in contrast to previous research, results of the LMA showed women to have higher scores than men on sociotropy and autonomy dimensions, raising the possibility of cross-cultural differences in the interaction between these personality styles and vulnerability to depression.
Whereas both Blatt (1974) and Beck (1983) postulated the existence of two basic cognitive-personality vulnerabilities to depression—sociotropic/anaclitic and autonomous/introjective—recent research and theorizing suggest that self-criticism is a third dimension of vulnerability. To examine the supposition that sociotropy, autonomy, and self-criticism constitute three distinct dimensions of vulnerability, we administered the Personal Style Inventory (PSI; Robins et al., 1994), six items from the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ; Blatt, D'Afflitti, & Quinlan, 1976) and the Brief Symptoms Inventory (BSI; Derogatis & Melisaratos, 1983) to 203 Israeli young adults. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) provided support for the hypothesized three-factor solution. Regression analyses indicated that each of these dimensions was associated with psychopathology. Findings encourage further integrative work in the field of personality vulnerability.
The purpose of the study was to extend the research on the model of Centrality (Bernstein, 1987) by exploring which central issues are given the highest importance based on the developmental transitions and life experiences of traditional college students. As part of a validation study, 48 first-year college youth were interviewed to assess the importance of ten core issues, and to identify recent life events considered stressful. They were also given the Scale of Central Issues(SOCI) to complete. Results indicated that the three most important issues were Intimacy, Achievement, and Autonomy. Approval, Structure and Affiliation were considered moderately important whereas Change, Adventure and Control were rated as moderately unimportant. Isolation was rated as least important. The importance of these core issues was consistent over two time periods. A significant number of participants reported stressful situations involving intimate relationships, moving away from home for the first time and concerns about academic achievement. The central issues identified as most important by the SOCI were also consistent with those reported as important during the interview. Implications for the use of the model of Centrality in counseling and psychotherapy are presented.
Sociotropy (an aspect of interpersonal dependence) and sociability (affiliative need) were examined as moderator variables of the relationship between shyness and interpersonal concerns in two studies. In Study 1, sociotropy, but not sociability, predicted unique variance in three indices of interpersonal concerns through both direct and interactive relations with shyness. An initial analysis in Study 2 showed that sociotropy, but not sociability, was predictive of participants’ perceived competence in situations that involved initiation of conversations and assertion. In the second part of Study 2, sociotropy accounted for significant increments in variance when predicting cognitive and affective manifestations of distress related to simulated conversation and assertion situations, while sociability did not. Study 2 results suggest that sociotropy operates primarily in an additive manner with shyness in predicting interpersonal concerns, rather than moderating the relation between shyness and interpersonal concerns. Differences in the results of the two studies and implications for future research are discussed.
We evaluated the hypothesis that interpersonal relationships of depressed persons would vary as a function of the personality variables sociotropy and autonomy. Depressed psychiatric patients who reported being in a current intimate relationship for at least six months were administered measures of sociotropy, autonomy, and several aspects of relationship functioning. Results indicated that sociotropy was related significantly to patients' reporting their own behavior as demanding and their partners' behavior as withdrawing, whereas autonomy was related to patients' reporting their partners' behavior as demanding and their own behavior as withdrawing. Autonomy also was related to greater relationship dissatisfaction, and there was a trend for autonomy to be related to greater criticism of the partner. The results are consistent with a model in which sociotropy and autonomy increase vulnerability to depression, in part, through their effects on interpersonal relationships. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol.
This study examined two depression-related individual difference variables, Dependency and Self-Criticism, in relation to communication about the self and a romantic partner. Sixty-five women varying on Dependency and Self-Criticism were assessed with their partners during an interaction in which they appraised their own and each others' performance on a previous conflict resolution task. Irrespective of current depression levels, highly self-critical women were found to emit higher proportions of negative statements about their own and their partners' performance. Partners responded, in turn, with more negative feedback about the self-critic. Highly dependent women were not distinguished with respect to their own behavior, but elicited less negative feedback from their partners. The roles of Dependency and Self-Criticism in the elucidation of different interpersonal cycles of depression are discussed.
In his cognitive theory of depression, Beck (1987) suggested that highly sociotropic individuals have a strong need for social acceptance whereas highly autonomous individuals
have an excessive need for achievement. Research by Baumeister (2000) has suggested that a phenomenon known as ego depletion, the weakening of performance on tasks following active self-control,
occurs because it depletes a limited inner resource. The present study examined whether individuals who are highly sociotropic
or autonomous would respond differently when faced with tasks requiring self-control. Participants completed the Sociotropy-Autonomy
Scale (Clark et al. 1995) and engaged in two active self-control tasks. The results revealed that sociotropy levels were negatively correlated with
persistence on tasks that require self-control whereas autonomy was positively correlated to persistence on the same task.
In addition, the results suggested that, following a task requiring self-control, highly sociotropic individuals expend less
effort, whereas highly autonomous individuals expend more effort on subsequent tasks requiring self-control.
KeywordsEgo depletion-Self-control-Personality-Depression
This study located the specific cognitive-personality vulnerability measures proposed by S. J. Blatt (1974; Levels of object representation in anaclitic and introjective depression. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 29, 107–157), i.e. dependency and self-criticism, and by A. T. Beck (1983; Cognitive therapy of depression: New perspectives. In P. J. Clayton and J. E. Barrett (Eds.), Treatment of depression: Old controversies and new approaches, pp. 265–290. New York: Raven), i.e. sociotropy and autonomy, within a comprehensive measure of personality, the NEO-PI-R developed by P. T. Costa Jr. & R. R. McCrae (1992, The NEO Personality Inventory manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources). University students (102 men, 131 women) completed the NEO-PI-R, the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire, the Revised Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale, and CES-D depression. Results indicated that: (1) the 30 NEO-PI-R facets illuminate the similarities and differences between dependency, sociotropy, self-criticism, and autonomy; (2) the different forms of interpersonal content reflected by the specific vulnerability constructs descriptively distinguish them from the neuroticism domain and its facets; and (3) the main effects of dependency, sociotropy, self-criticism, and autonomy in predicting depression are explained by shared variance with neuroticism.
We tested a mediating/suppressing model linking personality vulnerability, negative and positive life events, and adolescent emotional distress. The model relied on three hypotheses. The first hypothesis was that negative life events would mediate the effect of adolescent dependency and self-criticism on distress. The second hypothesis was that positive events would mediate the effect of self-criticism on distress. The third hypothesis was that positive events would suppress, rather than mediate, the effect of dependency on distress. These hypotheses were tested and confirmed in a 16-week longitudinal study of 603 Israeli adolescents. Results elucidate the mechanism by which self-criticism confers vulnerability, suggest that a dialectic tension between risk and resilience is embedded in the construct of dependency, and extend action perspectives on distress.
Moderating and mediating models of the depressogenic effect of personality (dependency and self-criticism), interpersonal behavior (excessive reassurance-seeking), and specific life stressors were examined. The moderating model posits that these factors augment each others' depressogenic effects. The mediating model postulates that personality and interpersonal behavior generate life stress, resulting in depression. Support for both models was found in a two-wave longitudinal study of undergraduates (N=198). Family and friends-related stress moderated the effect of dependency, and a wide range of life events mediated the effect of self-criticism on depression. Reassurance-seeking behavior predicted only spouse-related stress. Results illuminate the need to assess specific, rather than general, life stress domains, and suggest that the vulnerability of dependency is reactive, whereas that of self-criticism is proactive.
Sociotropy and autonomy are conceptualized as two personality dimensions that relate to an individual's vulnerability to depression. Sociotropy is characterized as an excessive investment in interpersonal relationships and autonomy is characterized as an excessive concern with personal achievement and control over the environment. The present research project consisted of two studies examining the relationships between sociotropy-autonomy and interpersonal patterns in close relationships. Data collected via self-report and behavioural observations suggested that highly sociotropic individuals have a tendency to be high in control and low in affiliation towards individuals who are close to them. In contrast, the data suggested that highly autonomous individuals may be low in both control and affiliation towards people who are close to them. These findings are discussed in the context of the literature regarding the interpersonal characteristics of sociotropic and autonomous individuals.
Hintergrund: Depressive Störungen gehen damit einher, dass Personen sich und andere negativ wahrnehmen. Über diese negative Wahrnehmungstendenz hinaus hat das depressive Beziehungserleben einen spezifischen interpersonalen Gehalt: Depressive Personen suchen auf exzessive Weise nach Bestätigung und erleben sich anderen gegenüber eher submissiv. Außerdem erleben sie ihre Mitmenschen wenig unterstützend und eher kritisch und ablehnend. Diese Befunde basieren fast ausnahmslos auf Studien an nordamerikanischen oder mitteleuropäischen Stichproben. In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden depressive Patienten und Kontrollpersonen aus Deutschland und Chile hinsichtlich ihres dysfunktionalen Beziehungserlebens verglichen. Die explorative Fragestellung lautet, ob Kultur das depressionsspezifische Beziehungserleben beeinflusst und welche kulturvermittelnden Prozesse dafür verantwortlich sind. Methode: Vor der Prüfung der Hauptfragestellung wurden theoretische, konzeptuelle und empirische Vorarbeiten durchgeführt. Hierzu gehören (a) ein empirisches Review zu interpersonalen Variablen und Depression, (b) die Entwicklung eines Q-Sort-Instruments (Beziehungsmuster-Q-Sort; OPD-BQS) zur Erfassung dysfunktionalen Beziehungserlebens, (c) eine empirische geleitete Auswahl von Selbstbild, Geschlechtsrollenüberzeugungen und familiärer Normgebundenheit als potentiell kulturvermittelnden Wirkmechanismen, (d) die Entwicklung eines formalen Modells zur Prüfung des kulturvermittelnden Effekts, (e) die empirische Konstruktion von BQS-Subskalen zur Erfassung von individuellen Unterschieden im dysfunktionalen Erleben von Nähe und Macht (n = 12) und (f) die empirische Untersuchung der Bedeutungsäquivalenz der BQS-Items in Deutschland und Chile (n = 406). In der Hauptstudie wurde der BQS mit jeweils 15 depressiven Patienten und 15 Kontrollpersonen aus Deutschland und Chile durchgeführt. Parallel wurden Daten zu Depressivität (BDI; Beck et al., 1961) sowie Selbstbild, Geschlechtsrollenüberzeugungen und familiärer Normgebundenheit (KFB; Freund et al., im Druck) erhoben. Durch die Bildung von matched samples wurde sichergestellt, dass es zwischen deutschen und chilenischen Teilnehmern hinsichtlich Depressivität und soziodemographischen Variablen keine bedeutsamen Unterschiede gab. Ergebnisse: Auf BQS-Skalenebene zeigte sich, dass depressive Patienten im Vergleich zu Kontrollpersonen (a) sich und anderen insgesamt mehr dysfunktionale interpersonale Verhaltensweisen zuschreiben und (b) andere als besonders autokratisch erleben. Hinsichtlich des interpersonalen Selbsterlebens ergab sich der erwartete Interaktionseffekt von Nation und Depression. Demnach geht Depression in Deutschland mit einem submissiven Selbsterleben einhergeht, in Chile aber nicht. Auf Itemebene ließ sich dieser Interaktionseffekt weiter präzisieren: Depressive Patienten aus Deutschland erlebten es als besonders typisch, Einflussnahme auf andere zu vermeiden, sich selbst klein zu machen und sich von anderen abzuschotten. Depressive Patienten aus Chile erlebten es als besonders typisch, sich anderen aufzudrängen und zu widersetzen. Allerdings konnten diese Unterschiede nicht durch kulturvermittelnde Variablen erklärt werden. Diskussion: Die Ergebnisse legen nahe, dass depressive Störungen in Deutschland und Chile mit einer unterschiedlichen interpersonalen Dynamik assoziiert sind. Daher lassen sich die Befunde an nordamerikanischen und mitteleuropäischen Stichproben nicht auf Chile verallgemeinern. Aufgrund der geringen Teststärke und fehlender SKID-Diagnostik muss allerdings offen bleiben, ob die gefundenen Unterschiede durch kulturelle Faktoren wie z.B. Unterschiede im Selbstbild und in familiärer Normgebundenheit oder durch klinische Faktoren wie z.B. Unterschiede in Chronizität und Komorbidität zustande kommen.
Background: Surprisingly few studies have examined whether individuals diagnosed with depression (
) show the same types of impairments in emotional, cognitive, and social functioning across cultures (Tsai & Chentsova-Dutton, 2002, p. 480). In line with this suggestion, this study aims at testing whether culture shapes the interpersonal nature of depression. Method: Fifteen depressed inpatients and fifteen non-depressed controls were recruited both in Germany (Heidelberg) and Chile (Santiago de Chile). Subjects were matched across culture for gender, age, and severity of depressive symptoms. Subjects described their maladaptive interpersonal patterns by means of a newly developed Q-sort instrument based on Operationalized Psychodynamic Diagnosis (OPD-2: OPD Task Force, 2008). The Q-sort ranking procedure minimizes common methodological problems in cross-cultural research such as the reference group effect or culture-specific response styles. Because previous studies suggest that Chileans have tighter family networks, more traditional sex role ideologies, and more pronounced self-construals than Germans, these variables were assessed as potential active cultural ingredients (Matsumoto & Yoo, 2006) that might explain cultural differences in depressotypic interpersonal patterns. Results: Compared to controls, depressed patients perceived more maladaptive interpersonal patterns in self and others across cultures (main effect of depression). However, the specific interpersonal content of depressotypic behavior differed across cultures (interaction effect of depression and culture): Depressed Germans tended to perceive themselves as being more submissive, whereas depressed Chileans did not differ from controls. This interaction effect could not be explained by cultural differences in family tightness, sex role ideologies, or self-construals. Discussion: This study is one of the first to show culture-specific interpersonal dynamics in unipolar depression. However, due to low power, an empirical explanation for this finding remains open.
Conventional wisdom is that depression lowers productivity. The magnitude of this effect has been of interest to economists and other social scientists as well as medical researchers. In this paper, I take advantage of the longitudinal nature of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 to investigate the effects from a dynamic perspective and to control for unobserved heterogeneity in a fixed-effects framework. Exploiting the fact that the data set provides information about depressive symptoms in multiple years, I am able to study how changes in depressive symptoms impact productivity. My results indicate that taking personality into account is important in estimating how depression affects wages. While ordinary least-squares results render a strong negative significant effect to depressive symptom measures (especially in the men’s sample), taking unobserved personal characteristics into account reduces the effects of these measures.
We evaluated the hypothesis that interpersonal relationships of depressed persons would vary as a function of the personality variables sociotropy and autonomy. Depressed psychiatric patients who reported being in a current intimate relationship for at least six months were administered measures of sociotropy, autonomy, and several aspects of relationship functioning. Results indicated that sociotropy was related significantly to patients' reporting their own behavior as demanding and their partners' behavior as withdrawing, whereas autonomy was related to patients' reporting their partners' behavior as demanding and their own behavior as withdrawing. Autonomy also was related to greater relationship dissatisfaction, and there was a trend for autonomy to be related to greater criticism of the partner. The results are consistent with a model in which sociotropy and autonomy increase vulnerability to depression, in part, through their effects on interpersonal relationships.
Although there is evidence for the efficacy of antidepressants and for some individual and group psychotherapy interventions for depressed older adults, a significant number of these do not respond to treatment. Authors assessed the benefits of augmenting medication with group psychotherapy.
They randomly assigned 34 (largely chronically) depressed individuals age 60 and older to receive 28 weeks of antidepressant medication plus clinical management, either alone (MED) or with the addition of dialectical behavior therapy skills-training and scheduled telephone coaching sessions (MED+DBT).
Only MED+DBT showed significant decreases on mean self-rated depression scores, and both treatment groups demonstrated significant and roughly equivalent decreases on interviewer-rated depression scores. However, on interviewer-rated depression, 71% of MED+DBT patients were in remission at post-treatment, in contrast to 47% of MED patients. At a 6-month follow-up, 75% of MED+DBT patients were in remission, compared with only 31% of MED patients, a significant difference. Only patients receiving MED+DBT showed significant improvements from pre- to post-treatment on dependency and adaptive coping that are proposed to create vulnerability to depression.
Results from this pilot study suggest that DBT skills training and telephone coaching may offer promise to effectively augment the effects of antidepressant medication in depressed older adults.
Sociotropy and autonomy (Beck, 1983) are sets of beliefs, concerns, and behavioral tendencies that are proposed to create vulnerability to depression and other psychopathology and to influence its manifestation and treatment response. Other theoretical frameworks (Blatt, 1974) have made similar suggestions. We investigated the differential relations of sociotropy and autonomy to dimensional scores for each DSM-III-R personality disorder (PD) in a sample of 188 psychiatric patients, controlling for the other set of characteristics and for the other PDs. Histrionic and dependent PD traits were related specifically to sociotropy. Paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal, and passive-aggressive PD traits were related specifically to autonomy. Borderline, narcissistic, avoidant, and self-defeating PD traits were related significantly and about equally to both sociotropy and autonomy. Obsessive-compulsive PD traits were not related consistently to either. Results were mostly as predicted and suggest that sociotropy and autonomy may be useful constructs for understanding and treating PDs.
Sociotropy and autonomy are 2 personality dimensions related to an individual's vulnerability to depression (A. T. Beck, 1983). The Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale (D. A. Clark, R. A. Steer, A. T. Beck, & L. Ross, 1995) and the Personal Style Inventory (C. J. Robins et al., 1994) were developed to assess these personality dimensions independent of each other. The present study is an examination of the relationship between the 2 scales and an attempt to specify the various factors that emerge when the items of the 2 scales are integrated. Participants (N = 514) responded to the Personal Style Inventory, the Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale, and the Beck Depression Inventory (A. T. Beck & R. A. Steer, 1987). A principal component analysis on all of the items of the 2 scales revealed a four-factor structure (2 sociotropy and 2 autonomy). The author examined the relationships between depression, the 4 factors, and the 2 original scales and discussed the results in the context of vulnerability to depression.
Sociotropy and autonomy are conceptualized as two personality dimensions that relate to individuals' vulnerability to anxiety and depression. Sociotropy is characterized as an excessive investment in interpersonal relationships, and autonomy is characterized as an excessive concern with independence as well as a lack of concern for others. The present study investigated the relationships between sociotropy-autonomy and trait anxiety associated with four types of situations, i.e., Social Evaluation, Physical Danger, Ambiguous Situation, and Daily Routine. 255 undergraduate students completed the Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale, the Endler Multidimensional Anxiety Scale, and the Beck Depression Inventory. Analyses indicated that scores on Sociotropy were positively correlated with rated trait anxiety in situations of Social Evaluation, Physical Danger, and Ambiguous Situations, whereas scores on Autonomy were positively correlated with rated trait anxiety in Daily Routines. These findings are discussed in the context of the diathesis-stress model of anxiety and depression.
Two hypotheses were tested: (a) One mechanism contributing to the high rate of disorder in children of women with affective disorders is elevated exposure to stressful events and conditions and (b) the children of depressed women, particularly women with unipolar depression, contribute to event occurrence because of increased interpersonal conflict. Life stress interview assessments were made at 6-month intervals for 3 years on 53 children of unipolar, bipolar, medically ill, and normal women. Both hypotheses were confirmed. Transactional models of risk and further studies of the interpersonal functioning of children at risk for depression are needed.
Although research reliably finds an association between stressful live events and depression, little progress has been made on understanding which events will lead to depression in which people. A cognitive - life stress integrative model was tested that predicted depressive symptoms following stressful life events when the negative events were personally meaningful the the individual, and likely to be interpreted as depletions or failure in the domain of central relevance to self-worth. Using Beck and colleagues' Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale to classify participants according to the value they placed on interpersonal and autonomy/achievement goals, unipolar depressed outpatients were followed prospectively for periods of up to two years, with periodic assessments of life events and symptoms. As predicted, patients' periods of worst symptoms followed a 3-month period m which life event stress that matched their personally relevant domain significantly exceeded that of the non-relevant domain. Also, of patients 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. The results provide some support for the integration of cognition and life event approaches to depression, but limitations in the study, including small sample size, necessitate further research.
Two independent types of experiences of depression have been identified among normals—dependency and self-criticism. Using the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire, this study investigates their utility in differentiating depression in patients. 197 patients (mean age 34 yrs) and 262 normal controls (mean age 26.7 yrs) also completed the MMPI, Beck Depression Inventory, and Self Rating Depression Scale. There were consistent differences among patients as a function of whether their experiences of depression focused primarily on issues of dependency and/or self-criticism or an absence of these issues. The subjective experiences around which an individual's depression focuses seem to provide a valid basis for differentiating among types of depression. Judges using case records were able to differentiate patients who were high on dependency or self-criticism, on both, or on neither of these dimensions. The distinction between these 2 different foci of depression may provide valuable differentiations for clinical research, and have important implications for the therapeutic process with different types of depressed patients. (55 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Using data from 4 waves of an Australian panel study, this study offers a dynamic account of relations between personality, life events, and subjective well-being (SWB). Members of the Victorian Quality of Life panel study were interviewed in 1981, 1983, 1985, and 1987. The initial sample size was 942; 649 respondents remain. The study shows that very stable personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, and openness to experience) predispose people to experience moderately stable levels of favorable and adverse life events and moderately stable levels of SWB. However, contrary to previous research (P. T. Costa and R. R. McCrae, 1984) life events influence SWB over and above the effects of personality. A dynamic equilibrium (DE) model is outlined, in which each person is regarded as having "normal" equilibrium levels of life events and SWB, predictable on the basis of age and personality. Only when events deviate from their equilibrium levels does SWB change. The DE model is compared with 3 alternatives: personality models, adaptation level models, and models that treat life events as being wholly exogenous. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
We present a revision of the 1978 reformulated theory of helplessness and depression and call it the
hopelessness theory of depression. Although the 1978 reformulation has generated a vast amount of empirical work on depression over the past 10 years and recently has been evaluated as a model of depression, we do not think that it presents a clearly articulated theory of depression. We build on the skeletal logic of the 1978 statement and (a) propose a hypothesized subtype of depression—
hopelessness depression, (b) introduce hopelessness as a proximal sufficient cause of the symptoms of hopelessness depression, (c) deemphasize causal attributions because inferred negative consequences and inferred negative characteristics about the self are also postulated to contribute to the formation of hopelessness and, in turn, the symptoms of hopelessness depression, and (d) clarify the diathesis—stress and causal mediation components implied, but not explicitly articulated, in the 1978 statement. We report promising findings for the hopelessness theory and outline the aspects that still need to be tested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
We conducted five studies with depressed patients, demographically matched controls, and college students to develop and psychometrically evaluate new measures of concerns about interpersonal relationships (sociotropy) and autonomous achievement (autonomy), constructs that have been proposed to confer vulnerability to depression. The final version of the Personal Style Inventory (PSI) Sociotropy and Autonomy scales showed a good factor structure, internal consistency reliability, and test-retest stability, a low correlation with each other, and weak or no gender differences. Convergent and discriminant validity were examined with respect to depressive symptom levels, the Dependency and Self-Criticism scales of the Revised Depressive Experiences Questionnaire, and a social desirability scale and were generally acceptable. Further evaluations of the construct validity of the PSI are indicated.
Interpersonal but not achievement scales of the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ), Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale (DAS), and Sociotropy/Autonomy Scale (SAS) were substantially correlated. Factor analysis of items from all instruments yielded two stable factors: Dependency
f
and Performance Evaluation
f.All interpersonal scales except that of the DAS showed interactions with frequency of interpersonal but not achievement life events in predicting depression symptoms. Strongest support for the predicted interaction was obtained using Dependency
f.The Achievement vulnerability scales yielded no significant interactions with life event frequencies.
We examined life events, emotional intensity, and ambivalence over the expression of emotion as possible mediators to account for the relation between Dependency, Self-Criticism and depressive symptoms. Dependency in both men (N = 74) and women (N = 76) was related to a greater number of negative relationship events and ambivalence over the expression of emotion, both of which predicted self-reported, depressive symptoms. Self-Criticism in women was related to a greater number of negative academic events and ambivalence, both of which also predicted depression. Self-Criticism in men was related only to ambivalence, which predicted depression. The mediational model including life events and ambivalence successfully accounted for 74% of the effect of personality on depression for women, and 47% of the effect for men.
Remitted depressed subjects (N = 59) were followed longitudinally 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 subjects, accounted for a significant increment in relapse variance over each variable entered singly. When data from the 2 months just before relapse were analyzed, some evidence of congruency effects in dependent subjects experiencing interpersonal-related adversity was obtained. These findings highlight the dimensional qualities of life even impact and call for greater differentiation in modeling the activation of a diathesis and precipitation of depression after life stress.
The effect of stressful events on depression has been amply demonstrated, but the opposite relation is also important. I examined event occurrence over 1 year in 14 women with unipolar depression who were compared with demographically matched groups of women with bipolar disorder (n = 11), chronic medical illness (n = 13), or no illness or disorder (n = 22). Interview assessments of life events, severity, and independence of occurrence confirmed the hypothesis that unipolar women were exposed to more stress than the normal women, had significantly more interpersonal event stress than all others, and tended to have more dependent events than the others. The implication is that unipolar women by their symptoms, behaviors, characteristics, and social context generate stressful conditions, primarily interpersonal, that have the potential for contributing to the cycle of symptoms and stress that create chronic or intermittent depression.
Advances in the conceptualization and measurement of life stress in the past 2 decades raise several questions concerning traditional diathesis-stress theories of psychopathology. First, comprehensive measures of life stress force investigators to become more precise about the particular stressful circumstances hypothesized to interact with diatheses. Second, the influence of the diathesis on a person's life is typically ignored, which results in several types of possible bias in the assessment of life stress. Finally, information is available on diatheses and stress for specific disorders to provide a foundation for more empirically based hypotheses about diathesis-stress interactions. This possibility is outlined for depression. Such an approach provides the basis for developing broader, yet more specific, frameworks for investigating diathesis-stress theories of psychopathology in general and of depression in particular.
This article investigates mechanisms through which neuroticism leads to distress in daily life. Neuroticism may lead to distress through exposing people to a greater number of stressful events, through increasing their reactivity to those events, or through a mechanism unrelated to environmental events. This article evaluates the relative importance of these three explanations. Subjects were 339 persons who provided daily reports of minor stressful events and mood for 6 weeks. Exposure and reactivity to these minor stressors explained over 40% of the distress difference between high- and low-neuroticism subjects. Reactivity to stressors accounted for twice as much of the distress difference as exposure to stressors. These results suggest that reactions within stressful situations are more important than situation selection in explaining how neuroticism leads to distress in daily life.
The causal relationships between neuroticism (N), long-term difficulties (LTDs), life situation change (LSC), and psychological distress (PD) were examined using self-report and interview data from a 7-year, 3-wave study in a general population sample (N = 296). LTDs were classified as either endogenous (dependent) or exogenous (independent). We found that earlier neuroticism had a strong direct and a moderate indirect effect (through endogenous LTDs) on PD. The direct effect was strikingly stronger than those of LTDs and LSC. In addition, much correlation between endogenous LTDs, LSC, and PD could be attributed to the confounding effects of earlier neuroticism. High neuroticism tended to strengthen the effect of LSC on PD. These findings suggest that temperamental dispositions are more powerful than environmental factors in predicting PD.
Consistent with the personality-event congruence hypothesis, highly sociotropic depressed patients (n = 19) reported more recent negative interpersonal events than negative autonomy events and more negative interpersonal events than did highly autonomous depressed patients (n = 22), for whom the hypothesis was not supported. There was no evidence of such congruence among nondepressed schizophrenic patients (n = 44). In a second study, there was significant personality-event congruence in dysphoric students (n = 26) but not in nondysphoric students (n = 56). Both the high-sociotropy and high-autonomy dysphoric groups separately yielded nonsignificant trends consistent with congruence. These findings add to the growing support for the importance of the sociotropy construct in depression and weaker support for the autonomy construct or its measurement, and they suggest that the congruence effect does not generalize to all psychopathologies.
Followed samples of unipolar and bipolar patients for a 6-month period, with independent assessment of symptoms and life events. Patients were initially categorized into subtypes using Beck's Sociotropy/Autonomy Scale, with the prediction that onset or exacerbation of symptoms, as well as more total symptoms, would occur for sociotropic individuals experiencing more negative interpersonal events than achievement events, and for autonomous-achievement patients experiencing more achievement events than interpersonal events. Results were confirmed for unipolars, indicating that the course of disorder was associated with the occurrence of personally meaningful life events, but not for bipolars. Further research is recommended to examine whether the effect is equally robust for both subtypes of unipolars, whether longer study duration may be required for bipolars, and whether a cognitive self-schema mechanism may account for the specific vulnerability to a subset of stressful events.
The relationship between life events and depressive disorder was assessed in 83 families ascertained through depressed probands. Contrary to expectation and to previous suggestions, we found no inverse relationship between the presence of familial loading and reactivity to stress. Thus the relatives of probands whose onset of depression followed life events or chronic difficulties had slightly higher lifetime rates of depression than the relatives of probands whose onset was not associated with adversity. There was only a weak and non-significant relationship between recent life events and current disorder among relatives, and no apparent tendency for life-event-associated depression to 'breed true' within families. Comparison with a community sample showed that the first-degree relatives of depressives had significantly elevated rates both of current depression and of recent threatening life events. This finding still held when proband-associated life events were discounted, suggesting that both liability to depression and propensity to experience life events are familial.
To test the hypothesis that self-report of dysfunctional attitudes is mood-state dependent, dysfunctional attitudes were assessed in 43 women before and after they received a depressed or elated mood induction. As predicted, the mood induction produced reliable changes in mood and in dysfunctional attitudes, although the increase in dysfunctional attitudes following the negative mood induction was not large enough to be statistically significant. We also tested the hypothesis, from the cognitive theory of depression, that subjects with previous episodes of depression would report more dysfunctional attitudes than would subjects without such a history. As predicted, subjects who reported previous episodes of depression endorsed more dysfunctional attitudes than did subjects who did not report such a history. However, this effect occurred only for subjects who were in a negative mood state when their dysfunctional attitudes were assessed. These findings support the proposition of the cognitive theory that dysfunctional attitudes are traits but suggest that these traits are mood-state dependent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
We tested Beck's (1983) hypothesis that depressive symptoms occur when an individual experiences a negative life event that specifically matches the individual's personal motivational vulnerability. Ninety-eight undergraduates completed measures of depression level, recent life events, and sociotropic and autonomous achievement motivations. Consistent with the theory, sociotropy was associated with depression level and also served as a moderator of the relations between depression and frequency of recent negative social events. However, sociotropy also demonstrated nonpredicted interactive effects with negative events categorized a priori as autonomy related. Autonomy was unrelated to depression and showed no evidence of being a vulnerability to any type of life event. The findings generally support the value of examining the role in depression of interactions between personality characteristics and life events, although they do not support the specific matching predictions.
A vulnerability model of depression was tested by hypothesizing that depressogenic self-schemas that interact with schema-congruent negative life events will be associated with depression. Ninety-three college students were followed prospectively for four monthly assessments of both interview- and questionnaire-measured stressful life events, and clinical interview- and questionnaire-measured depression. An information-processing schema model of vulnerability was used to define subgroups of 46 dependent and 32 self-critical schematic individuals at the beginning of the study; the schema groups were based on clinical subtypes discussed both by Beck and by psychodynamically oriented theorists. As predicted, the dependent subgroup showed significantly stronger associations between depression and schema-relevant interpersonal life events than between depression and schema-irrelevant negative achievement events. The predicted opposite pattern for self-critical schematics was observed, but was less often statistically significant. The results are discussed in the terms of the need for integration of cognitive and life-stress models of depression.
Relationships between Beck's constructs of sociotropy/autonomy and Blatt's constructs of dependency/self-criticism and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev.; American Psychiatric Association, 1987) Axis II personality disorders were examined. Two measures of personality styles and a structured diagnostic interview for personality disorders were administered to 138 outpatients. Significant relationships were found between both sets of constructs and a number of personality disorders using both categorical and dimensional measures of Axis II psychopathology. These relationships were consistent with previous theory, supporting recent conceptualizations extending the range of psychopathology associated with these personality styles from depression to the personality disorders. However, the autonomy/self-criticism dimension was correlated with a broader range of personality disorder traits and diagnoses than anticipated.
In this paper the authors discuss personality development as part of a complex transaction of two fundamental developmental lines - an anaclitic developmental line leading to the establishment of satisfying, intimate interpersonal relationships, and an introjective development line leading to a stable, realistic, and essentially positive identity. These two developmental lines normally develop as a complex dialectical process. Psychopathology in the anaclitic configuration includes anaclitic depression (or the infantile personality) and hysteria. Predominant are concerns about interpersonal relationships and the capacity to be close, intimate and to give and receive care and love. Psychopathology in the introjective configuration focuses primarily on issues of self-definition, self-control, self-worth, and identity. These issues can be expressed in primitive form in paranoia, in somewhat advanced form in obsessive-compulsive disorders, or at a high developmental level in introjective guilt-laden depression and phallic narcissism. Each of these forms of introjective psychopathology expresses exaggerated and distorted attempts to establish self-definition and identity.
• Although characterologic constellations such as obsessionalism, dependency, introversion, restricted social skills, and maladaptive self-attributions are popularly linked to the pathogenesis of depressive disorders, the evidence in support of this relationship remains modest. Indeed, many of these attributes may reflect state characteristics woven into the postdepressive personality. Current evidence is strongest for introversion as a possible premorbid trait in primary nonbipolar depressions. By contrast, driven, work-oriented obsessoid, extroverted, cyclothymic, and related dysthymic temperaments appear to be the precursors of bipolar disorders. Other personalities, while not necessarily pathogenic in affective disorders, nevertheless may modify the clinical expression of affective disorders and their prognosis.
Blatt (1974) has suggested that dependency and self-criticism are important dimensions in depression. They represent, according to this model, differing presentations of both clinical and normal depression, as well as aspects of character that predispose individuals to the development of depression following stressful events. The present study of 188 college students demonstrated that self-criticism, but not dependency, as measured by the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire, was closely correlated with scores on the Beck Depression Inventory. Consistent with the vulnerability notion, self-criticism moderated the association between negative life events and depression in women, as did dependency in men. Results are discussed in terms of Blatt's (1974) model and in terms of possible sex differences in vulnerability to depression.
Clinical observers and theorists have written extensively on the relationship between personality and depression. Psychoanalytic theorists have described the depression-prone personality as one characterized by high dependency on others for support and approval, low frustration tolerance, and labile self-esteem (Chodoff 1972). Social learning theorists have emphasized constricted social skills and behaviors (Lewinsohn 1974), and other behavioral psychologists have focused on deficits in learning mastery (Seligman 1974). Cognitive theorists have described a pessimistic, negative perception of self and the world (Beck 1972).
Two prospective studies examined whether high levels of dysphoria placed persons at risk for experiencing certain types of negative events and vulnerability to increased dysphoria in response to life events. In both samples, more dysphoric persons reported more negative events in the domains of academics, finances, health, and relationship problems. However, they were not more likely to report unwanted termination of relationships, sexual events, or events experienced by close friends or relatives. Further, dysphoric persons continued to report more negative events even when analyses were restricted to events that were consensually negative. In instances in which persons reported experiencing the same type of event, more dysphoric persons were not more likely to rate these events as negative. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that dysphoric persons are at greater risk for the actual occurrence of negative events. Nonetheless, the relation between negative events and increases in dysphoria remained when initial symptoms were controlled statistically. There was some evidence that dysphoric persons were more likely to experience worsening of symptoms in response to negative and neutral events, as well as improvement of symptoms following positive events. However, these results were not robust across samples. Results were discussed in terms of implications for understanding the reciprocal relation between dysphoria and life events.
Administered the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale—Form A (developed by A. N. Weissman and A. T. Beck [1978]) to 664 university students and factor analyzed the results. Approximately 61% of the variance was accounted for by 2 factors: Performance Evaluation and Approval by Others. Analyses conducted on 2 subsamples indicated that the obtained factor solution was stable. Results are discussed with respect to personality subtypes hypothesized to be vulnerable to depression. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Blatt (1974) . . . described two types of depression, depending on the level of developmental disturbance: anaclitic (dependent) and introjective (self-critical) depression / in 1983, Aaron Beck proposed two personality types, sociotropic and autonomous, that are strikingly similar to Blatt's dependent and self-critical / both theorists have hypothesized that their personality dimensions are traitlike / review the literature and present some new data [from two studies, using college students and psychiatric outpatients, that we recently conducted to address this issue] (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale (SAS) was developed as a means of assessing two cognitive-personality constructs postulated as vulnerability factors in depression (Beck, 1983). While studies have confirmed the validity of the SAS Sociotropy Scale, the construct validity of the Autonomy Scale has not been well supported. The present study was conducted to improve on the measurement of autonomy by generating additional items which were added to the original questionnaire. This 93-item SAS was administered to 485 undergraduates along with the Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, PRF Affiliation and Autonomy Scales, Positive and Negative Emotionality Measures, and Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Four factors labeled Sociotropy, Solitude/Interpersonal Insensitivity, Independence, and Individualistic Achievement emerged from a principal-factor analysis of the SAS item pool. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that positive emotionality and solitude/interpersonal insensitivity were specifically related to dysphoria, while negative emotionality and sociotropy had significant associations with both anxious and depressed mood states.
Some studies suggest that excessive interpersonal and achievement concerns (1) create vulnerability to depression in response to specifically congruent negative stressors, and (2) are related to specific constellations of symptoms among subjects who are depressed. We tested both hypotheses together in one prospective study of students, using Beck's Sociotropy and Autonomy scales, a measure of life events, and self-reported depressive symptoms. Both sociotropy and autonomy were associated with stronger relations between events and depression, but evidence for domain-specific congruence was weak. The specific symptoms hypothesis was supported for both sociotropy and autonomy. We also used Blatt's Dependency and Self-Criticism scales in testing this hypothesis. Dependency showed specificity, but self-criticism was associated with both predicted and nonpredicted depressive symptoms. The findings are discussed in the context of measurement issues and research directions in interpersonal and achievement concerns and psychopathology.
This study investigates Beck's cognitive diathesis—stress model of depression by comparing dysphoric and nondysphoric subjects on the Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale (SAS) and a self-report life event measure specially developed to assess subjects' perceptions of sociotropic and autonomous life events. Despite reporting similar frequencies for both types of events, the dysphoric subjects rated their negative life experiences as significantly more upsetting, and perceived that the events involved more loss within the interpersonal and achievement domains than the nondysphoric control group. As predicted by the cognitive diathesis—stress model, sociotropy significantly interacted with negative social but not autonomously related life events in the prediction of dysphoria. Dysphoria was also associated with ratings of increased loss of social resources due to negative interpersonal events, and ratings of increased loss of personal goal attainment due to negative achievement events. Autonomy, however, failed to show any significant relation with dysphoria or type of life event experienced.
The hypothesis that depression results from the match between an area of particular meaning to the self and the occurrence of negative life events in that domain was tested in a sample of 8- to 16-year-old children. The children included a group at risk for psychopathology who were offspring of mothers with affective disorders or chronic medical illness, and control children of normal mothers. They were classified as attaching particular meaning to the sense of self in either the interpersonal or achievement areas, based on recollections of recent personal events, a procedure employed formerly by Hammen and colleagues with college students (Hammen et al.,1985). The youngsters were then followed for a 6-month period, assessing occurrence of stressful life events and symptoms. As predicted, there was a significant association between onset or exacerbation of depression and the experience of stressors relevant to the child's self-schema classification. Although the hypothesis was confirmed overall, the results must be qualified by noting that the effect was especially marked for children of depressed mothers, and for those in the interpersonal vulnerability group.
The present study compared levels of self-criticism and of dependency in 20 currently clinically depressed patients, 20 remitted patients, and 20 normal controls. Results from the Depressive Experience Questionnaire (DEQ) and the Interpersonal Dependency Inventory (IDI) indicated that currently depressed and remitted patients had equally high levels of self-criticism and of dependency, which were significantly higher than those of normal controls. Dependency and self-criticism of DEQ and IDI scales correlated positively, raising the question of the independence of the two constructs. Overall, results supported the status of self-criticism and dependency as stable vulnerability factors to depression, in that these factors remain active beyond the end of a depressive episode. Discussion about the research methodology is presented.
S. J. Blatt (Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 1974, 29, 107–157) distinguished between two types of depressive experiences, one characterized by strong dependency needs and the other by self-criticism and guilt. This paper reports a series of validation studies of the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ), which was developed to measure individuals' vulnerabilities to these types of experiences (S. J. Blatt, J. P. D'Afflitti, & D. M. Quinlan, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1976, 85, 383–389). The Dependency and Self-Criticism scales were shown to be stable in the face of both a 13-week interval and the receipt of midterm grades. Dependency was associated with conflict concerning the expression of hostility and, in males, feelings of helplessness. Self-Criticism was associated with low self-esteem and high levels of morality-conscience guilt. In a study of behavior in dyadic problem-solving tasks, Dependency in males was found to be negatively related to task leadership, and Self-Criticism in females tended to be negatively related to judged likeability. On the other hand, little support was found for the hypotheses that Dependency would be related to field dependent cognitive style and to the use of primitive defense mechanisms. The results were viewed as supporting the utility of Blatt's distinction between the two types of depression, but a number of anomalous findings indicated a need for further study of the DEQ. The question of the developmental level of the two types of depression, possible sex differences in the correlates of the scales, and the possibility of situational specificity in individuals' responses were identified as the areas most in need of study.
This paper reviews recent research that indicates the importance of differentiating subtypes of depression based on two types of experiences that lead individuals to become depressed: (a) disruptions of interpersonal relations and (b) threats to self-integrity and self-esteem. We review research with clinical and nonclinical samples that investigated the relationships of these distinctions to the quality of current interpersonal relationships and to differential sensitivity to various types of stressful life events, as well as to aspects of early life experiences, especially the quality of the parent-child relationship. We also evaluate research evidence that considers the role of these two dimensions in clinical depression. In addition to proposing an etiologic model about aspects of the onset and recurrence of depression based on the interaction between personality predispositions and types of stressful life events, we place these observations about depression in a broad theoretical context of contemporary personality theory which defines two primary dimensions of personality development and psychopathology.
An account is given of attachment theory as a way of conceptualizing the propensity of human beings to make strong affectional bonds to particular others and of explaining the many forms of emotional distress and personality disturbance, including anxiety, anger, depression and emotional detachment, to which unwilling separation and loss give rise. Though it incorporates much psychoanalytic thinking, many of its principles derive from ethology, cognitive psychology and control theory. It conforms to the ordinary criteria of a scientific discipline.
Certain common patterns of personality development, both healthy and pathological, are described in these terms, and also some of the common patterns of parenting that contribute to them.
Investigated depression as a normal affect state that could have continuity with types of clinical depression. A 66-item Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ) was constructed to assess a wide range of experiences that, though not direct symptoms of depression, are frequently associated with it. The DEQ, the Wessman-Ricks Mood Scale, a version of the semantic differential, and the Death-Concern Questionnaire were administered to 500 female and 160 male college students. In another sample, 128 college students were given the DEQ and the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale. Three highly stable factors emerged from the DEQ: Dependency, Self-Criticism, and Efficacy. These factors had significant differential correlations with other measures, which support the interpretation of the factors derived from the items. These data indicate the need to consider dependency and self-criticism as 2 primary dimensions of depression and the value of investigating the continuity between normal mood states and the clinical phenomena of depressions. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Several theorists have posited two focuses for depressive experience and/or vulnerability: dependency and rejection, and self-criticism and failure. In turn, three instruments have emerged, each addressing these two components, respectively: the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ; Dependent and Self-Critical scales), the Sociotropy-Autonomy Scales (SAS), and the Anaclitic and Introjective Dysfunctional Attitude Scales (DAS). In this study, we addressed the relations within and among these three pairs of scales in a large undergraduate sample. Generally, the DEQ-Dependent, SAS-Sociotrophy, and DAS-Anaclitic scales showed substantial convergent and discriminant validity. Although this was true also for the DEQ-Self-Critical and DAS-Introjective scales, neither scale was closely related to the SAS-Autonomy scale, which appeared instead to be a better measure of counter dependency than a measure of self-critical, introjective features.
The validity of Blatt's (1974) model of depression was explored in a clinical population. Subjects included 63 female outpatients with major depression and 15 women with no lifetime history of psychopathology. All subjects received structured diagnostic and family history interviews and completed the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ), which was developed to assess Blatt's concepts of anaclitic and introjective depression. In addition, the depressives received extensive follow-up assessments 6 months later. The depressives had significantly higher levels of anaclitic and introjective traits, respectively. Dependency and, to a lesser extent, self-criticism appeared to be influenced by clinical state, as recovered depressives' scores exhibited a greater decline between the initial and follow-up assessments than did nonrecovered patients' scores. Finally, analyses examining the relation between dependency and self-criticism and a broad range of clinical, family history, and short-term outcome variables provided little support for Blatt's (1974) model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A variety of theories have explained inappropriate negative affective states in terms of the activation of cognitive-affective structures by stressful events. To have predictive value, such theories need to specify the conditions under which activation will occur. The principle of specificity states that the degree of congruence between an event and a structure determines the probability of the structure's being activated. Counterposed to this principle is the principle of nonspecificity, based on the notion of the assimilation of diverse events by highly accessible structures. To test the relative importance of specificity and nonspecificity, dependent (n = 16), self-critical (n = 14), and control (n = 15) female college students were selected using the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire. They listened to audiotaped portrayals of rejection by a boyfriend and of failure to be accepted into graduate school. The dependent variables were measures of anaclitic (dependent) and introjective (self-critical) state depression. Dependent subjects' anaclitic depressions were specific to rejection (specificity), but self-critical subjects reported introjective depression in response to both failure and rejection (nonspecificity). Surprisingly, dependent subjects also reported high levels of introjective depression. Application of the theoretical framework to clinical depression and to other negative affective states is suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The present study presents a new, unit-weight scoring system for the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ). One hundred thirty-one college students completed the DEQ, the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The revised DEQ scales were shown to have substantial levels of internal consistency. The three subscales of the revised DEQ were significantly correlated with the BSRI masculinity and femininity scales but not with gender. Significant correlations were also obtained between DEQ anaclitic, DEQ introjective scales and the BDI.
Although characterologic constellations such as obsessionalism, dependency, introversion, restricted social skills, and maladaptive self-attributions are popularly linked to the pathogenesis of depressive disorders, the evidence in support of this relationship remains modest. Indeed, many of these attributes may reflect state characteristics woven into the postdepressive personality. Current evidence is strongest for introversion as a possible premorbid trait in primary nonbipolar depressions. By contrast, driven, work-oriented obsessoid, extroverted, cyclothymic, and related dysthymic temperaments appear to be the precursors of bipolar disorders. Other personalities, while not necessarily pathogenic in affective disorders, nevertheless may modify the clinical expression of affective disorders and their prognosis.
The influence of the clinically depressed state on personality assessment was evaluated by comparing self-report personality inventories of patients while clinically depressed and at follow-up 1 year later. The authors examined two groups from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-Clinical Research Branch Collaborative Program on the Psychobiology of Depression: Clinical Studies--patients whose symptoms had completely remitted and those who had not recovered. The clinically depressed state strongly influenced assessment of emotional strength, interpersonal dependency, and extraversion. Assessment of rigidity, level of activity, and dominance did not change after symptomatic recovery.
On the basis of the intensive psychotherapy of about 40 depressed patients over the course of two decades, the authors describe three premorbid types of depressive personality: 1) one based on a "dominant other" relationship, 2) one based on a "dominant goal," and 3) one that is a form of character structure or personality disorder. They also describe typical childhood experiences of depressive adults and discuss their theory of the nature of depression as a human experience. They characterize depression as a limitation of alternate ways of thinking and as self-inhibition from new experiences.
A congruency between personality and life stress is assumed to pose a particular risk for depression. The authors review relevant research as a way of examining broader issues entailed in diathesis-stress models of depression. Topics include the identification of distinct personality modes and the differentiation of these modes from the phenomena of depression and the influence of the social context. Diathesis-stress models face formidable conceptual and methodological challenges. More complex models are needed to accommodate the dynamics of a person's life course, involvement in significant social contexts, and fluctuations in vulnerability to depression. Base rates of key phenomena favor development of models of depression recurrence in high-risk samples rather than its onset in the general population.
The depressive personality constructs described by Blatt (1990; Dependency and Self-Criticism) and Beck (1983; Sociotropy and Autonomy) were examined in relation to the five-factor model of personality. Male (N = 91) and female (N = 81) undergraduates completed the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (Blatt, D'Afflitti, & Quinlan, 1976), the Personal Style Inventory (Robins et al., 1993), and the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI; Costa & McCrae, 1985). Friends of the subjects completed a peer-report version of the NEO-PI. Dependency and Sociotropy were positively correlated with Neuroticism and with Agreeableness in both men and women. In women, Self-Criticism and Autonomy were positively correlated with Neuroticism and negatively correlated with Agreeableness. In men, Self-Criticism was positively correlated with Neuroticism, but Autonomy was negatively correlated with Agreeableness and Openness. Similarities and differences between Blatt and Beck's constructs were discussed. Research addressing vulnerability to depression may be able to profit from work on the five-factor model of personality.