Implicit Depression and Hopelessness in Remitted Depressed Individuals

Cognitive theories of depression posit that automatically activated cognitive schemas, including negative thoughts about the self and the future, predispose individuals to develop depressive disorders. However, prior research has largely examined these constructs using explicit tests in currently depressed individuals. Using the Implicit Association Test (IAT), the present study examined automatic associations between the self and mood state ("depression IAT") and between the future and mood state ("hopelessness IAT") before and after a negative mood induction in 19 remitted depressed individuals and 23 healthy controls. In the depression IAT, remitted depressed participants exhibited an overall lower tendency to associate themselves with happiness relative to the healthy controls before the mood induction. Control, but not remitted depressed, participants' automatic associations between the self and happiness diminished following the mood induction. Contrary to our hypotheses, no significant findings emerged when considering the hopelessness IAT. Consistent with prior studies, no significant correlations emerged between implicit and explicit biases, suggesting that these measures probe different processes. Results extend prior IAT research by documenting the presence of a reduced tendency to associate the self with happiness in a sample at increased risk for depression.Psycholog

Enhanced Negative Feedback Responses in Remitted Depression

Major depressive disorder (MDD)is characterized by hypersensitivity to negative feedback that might involve frontocingulate dysfunction. MDD patients exhibit enhanced electrophysiological responses to negative internal (errors) and external (feedback) cues. Whether this dysfunction extends to remitted depressed (RD) individuals with a history of MDD is currently unknown. To address this issue, we examined the feedback-related negativity in RD and control participants using a probabilistic punishment learning task. Despite equivalent behavioral performance, RD participants showed larger feedback-related negativities to negative feedback relative to controls; group differences remained after accounting for residual anxiety and depressive symptoms. The present findings suggest that abnormal responses to negative feedback extend to samples at increased risk for depressive episodes in the absence of current symptoms.Psycholog

Implicit depression and hopelessness in remitted depressed individuals.

Cognitive theories of depression posit that automatically activated cognitive schemas, including negative thoughts about the self and the future, predispose individuals to develop depressive disorders. However, prior research has largely examined these constructs using explicit tests in currently depressed individuals. Using the Implicit Association Test (IAT), the present study examined automatic associations between the self and mood state ( depression IAT ) and between the future and mood state ( hopelessness IAT ) before and after a negative mood induction in 19 remitted depressed individuals and 23 healthy controls. In the depression IAT, remitted depressed participants exhibited an overall lower tendency to associate themselves with happiness relative to the healthy controls before the mood induction. Control, but not remitted depressed, participants\u27 automatic associations between the self and happiness diminished following the mood induction. Contrary to our hypotheses, no significant findings emerged when considering the hopelessness IAT. Consistent with prior studies, no significant correlations emerged between implicit and explicit biases, suggesting that these measures probe different processes. Results extend prior IAT research by documenting the presence of a reduced tendency to associate the self with happiness in a sample at increased risk for depression

Enhanced negative feedback responses in remitted depression.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by hypersensitivity to negative feedback that might involve frontocingulate dysfunction. MDD patients exhibit enhanced electrophysiological responses to negative internal (errors) and external (feedback) cues. Whether this dysfunction extends to remitted depressed (RD) individuals with a history of MDD is currently unknown. To address this issue, we examined the feedback-related negativity in RD and control participants using a probabilistic punishment learning task. Despite equivalent behavioral performance, RD participants showed larger feedback-related negativities to negative feedback relative to controls; group differences remained after accounting for residual anxiety and depressive symptoms. The present findings suggest that abnormal responses to negative feedback extend to samples at increased risk for depressive episodes in the absence of current symptoms

Suicidal ideation among individuals with dysvascular lower extremity amputation.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the estimated prevalence and correlates of suicidal ideation (SI) among individuals 1 year after a first lower extremity amputation (LEA). DESIGN: Cohort survey. SETTING: Four medical centers. PARTICIPANTS: A referred sample of patients (N=239), primarily men, undergoing their first LEA because of complications of diabetes mellitus or peripheral arterial disease, were screened for participation between 2005 and 2008. Of these patients, 136 (57%) met study criteria and 87 (64%) enrolled; 70 (80.5%) of the enrolled patients had complete data regarding SI at 12-month follow-up. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: SI, demographic/health information, depressive symptoms, mobility, independence in activities of daily living (ADL), satisfaction with mobility and ADL, medical comorbidities, social support, self-efficacy. RESULTS: At 12 months postamputation, 11 subjects (15.71%) reported SI; of these, 3 (27.3%) screened negative for depression. Lower mobility, lower satisfaction with mobility, greater impairment in ADL, lower satisfaction with ADL, lower self-efficacy, and depressive symptoms were all correlated with the presence of SI at a univariate level; of these, only depressive symptoms remained significantly associated with SI in a multivariable model. CONCLUSIONS: SI was common among those with recent LEA. Several aspects of an amputee\u27s clinical presentation, such as physical functioning, satisfaction with functioning, and self-efficacy, were associated with SI, although depression severity was the best risk marker. A subset of the sample endorsed SI in the absence of a positive depression screen. Brief screening for depression that includes assessment of SI is recommended