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The preoccupation scale: its development and relationship with depression scales
1National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Ichikawa, Chiba, Japan.
Journal of Clinical Psychology
|August 8, 1998
Summary
New scales measure self-preoccupation, including its duration, and external-preoccupation. Self-preoccupation scales showed stronger links to depression than the Private Self-Consciousness Scale.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Mental Health
Background:
- Self-focus is linked to depression development and maintenance.
- Existing measures like the Private Self-Consciousness Scale (PSCS) do not capture the duration of self-focus.
Purpose of the Study:
- Develop a Self-Preoccupation Scale (SPS) assessing both degree and duration of self-focus.
- Introduce and measure external-preoccupation as a potential depression risk factor using an External-Preoccupation Scale (EPS).
- Examine the relationship between self-preoccupation, external-preoccupation, and depression.
Main Methods:
- Study 1: Developed and validated the SPS and EPS for internal consistency and reliability.
- Study 2: Assessed correlations between SPS, EPS, PSCS, and depression scales.
Main Results:
- Both SPS and EPS demonstrated excellent reliability.
- EPS showed no significant correlation with depression.
- SPS correlations with depression were moderate and significantly higher than PSCS correlations.
Conclusions:
- The Self-Preoccupation Scale effectively captures the degree and duration of self-focus relevant to depression.
- External-preoccupation does not appear to be a significant risk factor for depression.
- Self-preoccupation, particularly its duration, is a more robust correlate of depression than previously measured by the PSCS.