Cognitive vulnerability to depression: an investigation of two hypotheses

Two hypotheses concerning cognitive vulnerability to depression were examined. One suggested that there are persistent individual differences in cognitive processing related to neuroticism which predispose to depression. The other suggested that individuals in whom depressogenic processes are activated by mildly depressed mood are particularly vulnerable to becoming more seriously depressed. Compared to women who had never met Research Diagnostic Criteria for depressive disorders, women who had recovered from such disorders scored higher on measures of depression as an enduring characteristic; scored higher on measures of neuroticism; used more globally negative words, highly descriptive of depressed patients, to describe their personality; showed poorer recall of self-referred positive words, suggesting reduced activation of positive aspects of the self-schema; and in induced depressed mood showed better recall of self-referred global negative words, suggesting greater activation of related aspects of the self-schema. Results provided support for both hypotheses.