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Disorder-specific automatic self-associations in depression and anxiety: results of The Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety.

Abstract：

BACKGROUND:Cognitive theory points to the importance of negative self-schemas in the onset and maintenance of depression and anxiety disorders. Hereby, it is important to distinguish between automatic and explicit self-schemas, reflecting different cognitive-motivational systems. This study tested whether patients with a current major depression and/or anxiety disorder are characterized by automatic self-anxious and self-depressive associations and whether these associations are disorder specific. METHOD:Patients (n=2329) and non-clinical controls (n=652) were tested as part of The Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety, a multi-center, longitudinal, cohort study with patients from different health care settings. Patient groups and non-clinical controls (18-65 years of age) were compared with regard to automatic self-anxious and self-depressive associations measured with the Implicit Association Test. RESULTS:Individuals with an anxiety disorder showed enhanced self-anxious associations, whereas individuals with a depression showed enhanced self-depressive associations. Individuals with co-morbid disorders scored high on both automatic self-associations. Although remitted individuals showed weaker automatic self-associations than people with a current disorder, their automatic self-anxious/depressed associations were still significantly stronger than those of the control group. Importantly, automatic self-associations showed predictive validity for the severity of anxious and depressive symptoms over and above explicit self-beliefs. CONCLUSIONS:This study represents the first evidence that automatic self-anxious and self-depressive associations are differentially involved in anxiety disorders and depression. This may help to explain the refractoriness of these disorders and points to the potential importance of automatic self-associations in the development of psychopathological symptoms.

journal_name

Psychol Med

journal_title

Psychological medicine

authors

Glashouwer KA,de Jong PJ

doi

10.1017/S0033291709991371

subject

Has Abstract

pub_date

2010-07-01 00:00:00

pages

1101-11

issue

eissn

0033-2917

issn

1469-8978

pii

S0033291709991371

journal_volume

pub_type

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Disorder-specific automatic self-associations in depression and anxiety: results of The Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety.