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Are dysfunctional attitudes in depressive disorder trait or state dependent?
T Ohrt1, L H Thorell, I Sjödin
1Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University, Sweden.
Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica
|July 21, 1998
Summary
Euthymic patients in remission on lithium prophylaxis did not score higher on the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) than healthy individuals. This suggests dysfunctional attitudes in depression are state-dependent, not a persistent trait.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Clinical Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Recurrent unipolar depression is often associated with dysfunctional attitudes.
- Lithium prophylaxis is a common treatment for bipolar disorder and recurrent unipolar depression.
- The Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) measures negative cognitive biases.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if euthymic patients in remission on lithium prophylaxis exhibit higher Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) scores compared to healthy controls.
- To determine if dysfunctional attitudes represent a trait characteristic in unipolar depression.
Main Methods:
- A cohort of 79 patients with recurrent unipolar depressive episodes was compared to 79 individually matched healthy controls.
- The Swedish version of the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) was utilized for assessment.
- Statistical analysis was performed to compare DAS scores between the patient and control groups.
Main Results:
- Euthymic patients on lithium prophylaxis did not show significantly higher scores on the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) compared to healthy subjects.
- The findings indicate that elevated DAS scores are not a stable trait in individuals with a history of unipolar depression.
Conclusions:
- Dysfunctional attitudes, as measured by the DAS, appear to be state-dependent rather than trait-dependent in depressive disorders.
- Lithium prophylaxis may influence or normalize cognitive biases associated with depression.