Browsing by Subject "Depression, Mental"

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Behavioral and neuronal changes due to 13-Cis-retinoic acid treatment
(2008-05) O'Reilly, Kally Corissa; Lane, Michelle
13-Cis-retinoic acid (13-cis-RA) is a synthetic retinoid and the active ingredient in the oral acne treatment Accutane. The medical literature has suggested that the use of 13-cis-RA for acne treatment can induce depression, but because acne itself can have a negative psychosocial impact on self esteem, whether or not 13-cis-RA can cause depression remains controversial. The purpose of this work was to examine whether chronic 13-cis-RA administration could induce depression-related behaviors in mice and to determine the impact 13-cis-RA has on regions of the brain thought to be associated with mood and depression. We found that chronic treatment of adolescent male mice with 13-cis-RA induced depression-related behaviors, as assessed by immobility in the tail suspension and forced swim tests. Although depression is a multifaceted disease in which many brain regions are involved, the regions that seem particularly vulnerable to the effects of 13-cis-RA are the serotonergic and hippocampal systems. In serotonergic cells in vitro, 13-cis-RA treatment increases protein levels of the serotonergic 5-HT[subscript 1A] autoreceptor and the serotonin reuptake transporter (SERT), two inhibitory components of serotonin (5-HT) signaling. In vivo, the median and dorsal raphe nuclei contain the main 5-HT producing cells. 13-Cis-RA uncoupled the functional connectivity of dorsal raphe nuclei from the hippocampal regions as measured by interregional correlations of cytochrome oxidase (CO) activity, a metabolic marker of neuronal activity. Decreased hippocampal neurogenesis is thought to occur in depression and is decreased by 13-cis-RA. 5-HT is also a known regulator of hippocampal neurogenesis. Uncoupling of the dorsal raphe nuclei from the regions of the hippocampus by 13-cis-RA treatment may be the cause of, or a result from, the decreased neurogenesis. Although retinoids are known regulators of apoptosis, the uncoupling of the dorsal raphe nuclei from the hippocampal regions was not due to serotonergic cell loss. Interestingly, 13-cis-RA treated animals with the lowest CO activity in the dentate gyrus have the highest immobility in the tail suspension and forced swim tests. Ultimately, the effects of 13-cis-RA on the serotonergic and hippocampal systems might be inducing depression-related behaviors.
The cognitive and affective repercussions of thought suppression following negative personal feedback
(2006) Bates, Danielle Elaine; Rude, Stephanie Sandra
Past research into the utility of Wegner’s (1994) “Ironic Processes” theory of mental control for understanding depression vulnerability has demonstrated that thought suppression causes a heightened accessibility of unwanted negative thoughts during suppression, as well as paradoxical effects on post-suppression mood. However, researchers have failed to find that suppression causes the types of intrusive thoughts common to depression. To simulate the type of negative event that could trigger such depression-relevant self-referent thoughts, 76 nondepressed college students were given bogus negative feedback on a purported test of social competence. Participants were then randomly assigned to one of four conditions in which they either suppressed or expressed their reactions to the feedback, concentrated on a previously described memory of vii positive feedback, or were given “free-monitor” control instructions. Thought contents and affect were assessed using self-report measures and five-minute verbal “think-aloud” tasks, first while mental control was attempted, and again after being released from mental control instructions. Two judges counted the number of references to the feedback and rated the valence of thought content in the verbal reports. The results revealed that those who had suppressed their thoughts experienced a greater number of test feedback thoughts following cessation of mental control than did the expression or control conditions. Thus, this study is the first to demonstrate post-suppression intrusions of unwanted thoughts about a personally-relevant negative event. Additional findings supported previous research showing that suppression creates a bond between unwanted thoughts and mood context (Wenzlaff, Wegner, & Klein, 1991), and demonstrated that post-suppression thought intrusions are associated with depressive affect. The results also showed that those who had been instructed to express thoughts about the test feedback subsequently reported the least thoughts about it, and that only those who had concentrated on a positive feedback memory during mental control later reported increased positive affect at the end of the experiment. These findings offer some insight into the role of suppression in the formation of depressive preoccupations and affect, and provide some support for the therapeutic benefits of expression and positively-focused concentration.
Cognitive content specificity of test anxiety and depression in college women
(2007-12) Fishel, Maria Nicholaevna, 1972-; Tharinger, Deborah J.
Anxiety and depression are debilitating disorders that often co-occur. Their differentiation has important ramifications for theory and treatment. Beck's (1976) Cognitive Content Specificity (CCS) hypothesis proposes that depression and anxiety are characterized by unique cognitive profiles that should be reflected, among other variables, in their cognitions. Further, the Balanced States of Mind model (BSOM; Schwartz, 1997) asserts that the cognitive ratio of positive to the sum of positive and negative cognitions is implicated in distinguishing various levels of pathology from optimal functioning. The present study used a cross-sectional design to compare the differentiating abilities of the CCS hypothesis and the joint CCS/BSOM model by examining depression and test anxiety-relevant positive and negative cognitions separately versus the BSOM cognitive ratios. Additionally, the specific interval predictions of the BSOM model were tested for test anxiety and depressive content. Four groups of college women were selected from a larger sample of college women from a large public university: Depressed (n = 51), Test Anxious (n = 51), "Mixed" Depressed and Test Anxious (n = 51), and Control (n = 51). Findings indicated that the Depressed Group differed from Test Anxious Group on test anxious and depressive negative cognitions and BSOM ratios. Consistent with previous literature, positive anxious content yielded less specificity, as it failed to discriminate between test anxious and depressed groups. While the "Mixed" group was most dysfunctional, Controls showed a least dysfunctional cognitive profile on both cognitions and cognitive ratios. Thus, the quantitative parameters of the BSOM model with varying content were partially validated, with depressive content not fitting the predictions as well as test anxious content. Results support the integration of the CCS and BSOM models and the use of a specific anxiety disorder (i.e., test anxiety) as ways to improve depression-anxiety differentiation in nonclinical populations. Theoretical and treatment implications are highlighted, and limitations are discussed.
Do depressed individuals make greater use of contextual information to "correct" self-relevant interpretations?
(2006) Ebrahimi, Arshia; Rude, Stephanie Sandra; Rochlen, Aaron B.
Studies on the major cognitive theories consistently indicate that depressed individuals process information in a selective and negatively biased manner. On the other hand, there is a body of social cognition research that suggests that depressed individuals are more extensive and even-handed compared to nondepressed individuals. The purpose of the two studies presented here was to examine both negative biases and correction processes during the interpretation of self-referent information in depression. The presented studies investigated differences in depressed and non-depressed participants’ judgments about the self-implications of negative events, in hypothetical (Study 1) and simulated (Study 2) contexts. It was predicted that depressives’ selfjudgments would be characteristically negative in the face of mildly negative and ambiguous self-relevant information but that depressed individuals would show greater evidence of correcting these judgments when mitigating information was provided. The results of Study 1 were generally consistent with predictions, whereas Study 2 yielded inconclusive results.
Excessive reassurance-seeking, interpersonal rejection, rejection sensitivity and depressive symptoms: an intervention focusing on mediating mechanisms
(2005) Ragan, Jennifer Dawn; Holahan, Charles J.; Telch, Michael Joseph.
Abstract: The current study sought to experimentally test an established interpersonal theory of depression and a new cognitive-behavioral theory of depression. Coyne’s interpersonal theory suggests that dysphoric individuals engage in excessive reassurance-seeking to assuage fears of being abandoned (Coyne, 1976), which then elicits interpersonal rejection, further exacerbating depressive symptoms (Joiner et. al., 1992). A new cognitive-behavioral theory postulates that excessive reassurance-seeking temporarily reduces rejection sensitivity (anxious expectations of rejection) in depressed individuals (Schmidt, et. al., 1999), but in the long-run reinforces rejection sensitivity, which exacerbates depressive symptoms (Ayduk et. al., 2001). The current study tested these models by experimentally manipulating excessive reassurance-seeking within the context of employing a psychosocial intervention with individuals experiencing depressive symptoms. Eighty-three participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: 1) ERS-Fading (N=33), 2) Expressive Writing (N=34), or 3) Wait-list (N=16). Participants in the ERS-Fading (ERS) condition were asked to reduce their reassurance-seeking and to talk about their rejection sensitivity. To control for expectations for improvement and non-specific treatment factors, participants in the Expressive Writing (EW) intervention were asked to write about their rejection sensitivity, but were not told to reduce their reassurance-seeking. The wait-list was included to control for the effect of time. Treatment outcome was evaluated for depressive symptoms and quality of life. Five treatment mediators were evaluated: excessive reassurance-seeking, interpersonal rejection, rejection sensitivity, health quality, and sleep quality. Results revealed significant decreases in depressive symptoms for both treatment conditions in comparison to wait-list control. No differences were detected between the two treatment groups on any outcome variables, except that ERS-fading participants demonstrated greater response and clinically significant change rates than EW participants. Both treatment groups demonstrated similar expectations for improvement and all three groups demonstrated significant decreases in excessive reassurance-seeking, with the ERS-fading and the Expressive Writing conditions demonstrating equally robust decreases that differed significantly from smaller decreases reported by the Wait-list control. Mediation analyses revealed that decreases in excessive reassurance-seeking mediated the effects of treatment on depressive symptoms in both treatment conditions. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Improving mood through acceptance of emotional experience
(2007) Santos, Veronica Michelle, 1976-; Rude, Stephanie Sandra
Depression research demonstrates that self-focused processing, such as rumination, causes and maintains depressive disorders (Pyszczynski & Greenberg, 1987; Kuhl & Helle, 1986; Nolen-Hoeksema, 1987), while emotional processing literature shows beneficial effects to self-focus under some circumstances (Rachman, 1980; Foa & Kozak, 1986; Pennebaker, 1989). Therefore, it seems that self-focus is not inherently detrimental; rather, the way a person self-focuses could differentiate between unhealthy rumination and healthy emotional processing. Rude, Maestas, and Neff (2006) demonstrated that when the wording of a well-known rumination measure was altered to reduce judgment, the measure no longer correlated with depression. Mindfulness approaches that emphasize a non-judgmental acceptance of one's experience have produced beneficial outcomes (Baer, 2003), thus corroborating this finding. This dissertation investigated the role of acceptance in emotional recovery from a distressing event. It was hypothesized that encouraging participants to process emotions in an accepting manner would help them recover from a dysphoric mood more quickly than participants not given acceptance instructions or those given instructions to evaluate and change their emotions. Recovery was defined as return to baseline on measures of heart rate, skin conductance, skin temperature, self-reported positive and negative affect, and rumination (cognitive priming). In addition, the study investigated whether differences in the effects of emotional processing condition would be greatest for participants with low trait acceptance of emotions or high trait rumination. As predicted, Acceptance participants reported less negative affect than Control participants at the end of the study. There were no significant differences on negative affect between Acceptance and Evaluation conditions, however. Hypothesized differences in recovery as measured by heart rate, skin conductance, skin temperature, positive affect, and rumination were not found. As predicted, trait rumination and emotional acceptance interacted with processing condition for negative mood and heart rate: Acceptance and Evaluation conditions reduced negative mood more than the Control group for participants low in trait Emotional Acceptance, and the Acceptance condition reduced heart rate for high ruminators more than the Control group. Interestingly, and contrary to prediction, Acceptance participants showed evidence of greater priming of failure-related words than the other two groups on the reaction time measure.
Maternal depressive symptoms and parenting behavior: child behavior as an activator of maternal responsiveness
(2007-05) Meunier, Leah Justine, 1978-; Dix, Theodore
Maternal depression is an important correlate of parental competence and child outcomes. The relationships among maternal depression and both parent and child outcome variables have been empirically validated. However, the mechanisms through which depression exerts its influence on maternal responsiveness have received less scrutiny. 137 mother-toddler dyads from a non-clinical sample were observed during a 20-minute interaction. Results showed that low child emotional expressiveness and behavioral assertiveness both result from and contribute to the unsupportive parenting of mothers high in depressive symptoms. The presence of both child effects and parent effects implies a bidirectional system of mother-child influence in the regulation of supportive interactions.
The mental and physical well-being of formerly depressed college students: a preventive intervention study
(2005) Gortner, Eva-Maria; Rude, Stephanie Sandra.; Pennebaker, James W.
This study examined the benefits of a therapeutic writing intervention (Pennebaker, 1989) in a depression-vulnerable student population. In applying the expressive writing paradigm to a depression-vulnerable population, the purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to determine the long-term therapeutic and preventive effects of expressive writing in formerly depressed college students over the course of 6 months and (2) to assess the therapeutic effectiveness of booster writing sessions 5 weeks after the initial writing intervention. Effects were assessed at a 5-week and 6-month followup. Ninety-seven undergraduate students who met the criteria of a past episode of mild to moderate depression were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control writing condition. The experimental group was instructed to write about their deepest thoughts and feelings on emotional upheavals, while the control group was instructed to write objectively about how they manage their time. Each group wrote for 20 minutes on three consecutive days. Half of the participants in each group were randomly assigned to receive a booster session at the 5-week follow-up visit. Dependent variables included: (1) symptoms of depression (2) illness-related visits to a physician, (3) GPA, (4) selfreported physical symptoms and (5) measures of emotion-regulation. Participants who were in the expressive writing condition and received a booster session showed significantly greater declines in symptoms of depression than those in the expressive writing condition who had not received a booster session. Also, the expressive writing group displayed a tendency toward better physical health, as indicated by fewer illnessrelated physician visits, than the control group at the 5-week, but not the 6-month followup. In addition, participants who scored high on suppressive emotion-regulation strategies at the beginning of the study showed greater improvement in both depressive symptoms and rumination than participants who scored low on suppressive emotionregulation strategies. Finally, participants in the expressive writing group reported that they both thought and talked more about their writing themes and were more willing to participate in the study again than control group participants. Overall, results suggest that Pennebaker’s (1989) expressive writing intervention appears to have therapeutic and preventive effects in depression-vulnerable individuals.
Personality, life stressors, and depressive symptoms : an explanatory model
(1995-05) Potthoff, John Gary, 1967-; Not available
Toward an integration of Beck's cognitive theory and Bowlby's attachment theory : self-schema and adult attachment classification in relation to depressive symptoms
(2001-08) Sander, Amy Janay Boswell, 1973-; Stark, Kevin Douglas; Jacobvitz, Deborah
This investigation examined relationships among depressive self-schema content, attachment classification, and depressive symptoms. Self-schema was based on Beck’s cognitive theory of depression. Depressive cognitive patterns are presumed to form through early family interactions, and some family variables have been identified as risk factors for depression, but the specific pathways and early family interactions leading to depressive selfschema have not been documented. Attachment theory, defined by Bowlby, is distinct from, yet highly compatible with, Beck’s theory of depression, including the cognitive concept of an internal working model. Although the specific internal working models associated with attachment classifications may be related to specific depressogenic cognitive styles, empirical viii investigation of the link between attachment status and cognitive selfschema is sparse. Participants included 52 females and 44 males from a community sample, age 21 to 35. Each participant completed the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and self-report questionnaires about depressive symptoms (CES-D). Researchers applied verbal transcript coding on the AAIs to measure depressive self-schema content, including unlovable and helpless schemas. Attachment status included secure, preoccupied, dismissing, and unresolved/disorganized classifications. ANCOVAs, MANOVAs, and structural equation models were used to examine the relationships among self-schema, attachment status, and depressive symptoms. Results indicated that patterns of depressive self-schema content did not vary according to attachment status. Greater numbers of depressive symptoms were not linked with either attachment status or depressive selfschema content. However, the participants in this investigation had low levels of depressive symptoms, and the depressive symptoms were measured two years after the AAIs were administered. This aspect of the methodology became an important consideration in interpretation of the findings. However, it appears possible to measure depressive self-schemas using verbal transcript coding on the AAI. This study supports further investigation into links between cognitive self-schemas and attachment status to better understand risk and psychopathology.