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Updated: Jun 27, 2025
08:42
Design and Implementation of an fMRI Study Examining Thought Suppression in Young Women with, and At-risk, for Depression
Published on: May 19, 2015
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Electrocortical Reactivity During Self-Referential Processing Predicts the Development of Depression Across
Sarah B Barkley1, Greg Hajcak2, Daniel N Klein1
1Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York.
Summary
A larger late positive potential (LPP) to negative self-referential words in childhood predicts the development of chronic depression. This electrocortical reactivity indicates a risk for a more severe subtype of depression across adolescence.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Negative attentional biases and self-schemas are linked to depression.
- A larger late positive potential (LPP) to negative self-referential words correlates with depression and family history of depression.
- The predictive value of LPP for depression development remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if electrocortical reactivity during self-referential processing predicts depression development in adolescents.
- To examine the relationship between LPP to self-referential words and the onset of depressive disorders.
Main Methods:
- 165 girls aged 8-14 without prior depression history underwent an electroencephalography (EEG) recording during a self-referential encoding task.
- Participants and parents completed the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children at baseline and 2, 4, and 6-year follow-ups.
Main Results:
- A larger LPP to negative self-referential words at baseline predicted an increased likelihood of developing chronic-intermittent depression.
- LPP did not predict nonchronic, single-episode depression.
- Neither recall biases nor LPP to positive self-referential words predicted depression development.
Conclusions:
- Electrocortical reactivity to negative self-referential words in late childhood predicts a more severe subtype of depression in adolescence.
- The findings underscore the importance of considering clinical course when identifying depression biomarkers.
- Negative self-schema reactivity may serve as a biomarker for chronic depression risk.
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