The performance of depressed and manic patients on some repertory grid measures: a longitudinal study

Sixteen of the depressed patients and nine of the manic patients, who were studied by Ashworth et al. (1982), were retested after clinical recovery. As on the previous occasion, each patient completed a repertory grid whose 10 elements were role titles and which employed 12 elicited constructs and one provided construct. After principal component analysis of each grid, various measures of cognitive structure and perception of self were derived. Whereas in the previous study the clinically depressed and manic patients had differed from one another, and usually also from normals, on 'cognitive simplicity', 'integration of self and others' and 'self-esteem', after recovery these differences had disappeared although there was a tendency for the previously depressed patients to view themselves as different from other people, and for the previously manic patients to have abnormally high self-esteem. However, for the most part, the cognitive abnormalities and features identified in the earlier study appear to have reflected the patients' clinical status rather than more permanent aspects of their thinking.