Susannah Starr | Search PubMed

PubMed2006

The relationship between rumination, avoidance and depression in a non-clinical sample.

Recent commentaries have proposed conceptualizations of rumination in terms of both cognitive and behavioral avoidance. This study examined the relationship between rumination, avoidance and depression using a newly developed self-report measure of avoidance in depression, the Cognitive-Behavioral Avoidance Scale (CBAS) [Ottenbreit, N.D., & Dobson, K.S. (2004). Avoidance and depression: The construction of the cognitive-behavioral avoidance scale. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 42, 293-313]. A non-clinical sample (N=104) of undergraduate students completed self-report measures of depression, anxiety, rumination and avoidance. Rumination, avoidance and depression were all significantly correlated. Rumination and behavioral avoidance remained intercorrelated when anxiety was controlled, confirming an association that is independent of anxiety. By contrast, the relationship between cognitive avoidance and rumination disappeared when anxiety was partialled out. Notably, avoidance predicted unique variance in depression scores, over and above anxiety and rumination. Consistent with the proposal of Ottenbreit and Dobson [Avoidance and depression: The construction of the cognitive-behavioral avoidance scale. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 42, 293-313], our findings support the value of clinicians and psychopathologists giving consideration to avoidance in their conceptualization of depression.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2006

The role of negative interpretations of intrusive memories in depression.

BACKGROUND: Recent investigations have shown that intrusive memories of negative past events, the hallmark symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are also commonly experienced in depression. This study explored whether Ehlers and Steil's [Ehlers, A., Steil, R., 1995. Maintenance of intrusive memories in posttraumatic stress disorder: a cognitive approach. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 23, 217-249] model of PTSD maintenance, which focuses on the role played by negative interpretations of intrusive symptoms in the persistence of PTSD, also describes processes that operate in depression. METHODS: Eighty-four undergraduate students were interviewed to identify the presence of intrusive memories in the previous week. Participants who reported an intrusive memory were administered self-report questionnaires that indexed cognitive and affective responses to the memory. RESULTS: Negative interpretations of intrusive memories were significantly correlated with cognitive avoidance (particularly rumination) and depression severity, after controlling for intrusion frequency and severity of memory content. Negative meaning was the strongest predictor of depression, explaining variance over and above intrusion frequency. Ruminative responses to intrusions were highly correlated with depression. LIMITATIONS: The use of an unselected student sample. CONCLUSIONS: The demonstrated utility of Ehlers and Steil's [Ehlers, A., Steil, R., 1995. Maintenance of intrusive memories in posttraumatic stress disorder: A cognitive approach. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 23, 217-249] model of PTSD to account for one aspect of depression maintenance supports recent commentaries [Harvey, A.G., Watkins, E., Mansell, W., Shafran, R., 2004. Cognitive behavioural processes across psychological disorders: A transdiagnostic approach to research and treatment. New York: Oxford University Press] that call for a transdiagnostic approach to understanding the cognitive and behavioural processes that underpin psychological disorders.

Adolescent↗