When Depression Breeds Rejection Rather Than Compassion: Disagreeableness, Stigma, and Lack of Empathic Concern Among Support Providers.

Past research has shown that the close relationships of depressed individuals are often characterised by rejection rather than compassion. The goal of this research was to broaden interpersonal models of depression by investigating the reports of support providers themselves. Individual differences, including disagreeableness, stigmatic beliefs about depression, and empathic concern were measured. These were examined in relation to reported interpersonal behaviours toward a significant other who was currently depressed. A cross-sectional design was used in an undergraduate (N = 312) and community sample (N = 296). Disagreeable individuals reported less compassionate and more rejecting behaviours toward depressed significant others based on an interpersonal circumplex model of social support. Serial mediation models further indicated that the associations between disagreeableness and rejecting behaviours reported by providers were mediated by stigma and lower empathic concern. The current studies shed light on how the personality, attitudes and emotions of support providers influence the level of compassion expressed toward depressed individuals.

An online optimism intervention reduces depression in pessimistic individuals.

OBJECTIVE: Interest in online positive psychology interventions (OPPIs) continues to grow. The empirical literature has identified design factors (e.g., variety and duration of activities) and moderators (e.g., personality traits) that can influence their effectiveness. A randomized controlled trial tested an empirically informed OPPI designed to promote self-efficacy and an optimistic outlook. Pessimism was included as a trait moderator. METHOD: Participants (N = 466) were English-speaking adults interested in becoming happier. They were randomly assigned to complete either an OPPI cultivating optimism or a control condition writing about daily activities for 3 weeks. Follow-up assessments occurred 1 and 2 months following the exercise period. RESULTS: A hierarchical linear model analysis indicated that the optimism intervention increased the pursuit of engagement-related happiness in the short term and reduced dysfunctional attitudes across follow-ups. Pessimistic individuals had more to gain and reported fewer depressive symptoms at post-test. CONCLUSIONS: These findings support the conclusion that empirically informed online interventions can improve psychological well-being, at least in the short run, and may be particularly helpful when tailored to the needs of the individual.

Do positive psychology exercises work? A replication of Seligman et al. (2005).

OBJECTIVES: The current work replicated a landmark study conducted by Seligman and colleagues (2005) that demonstrated the long-term benefits of positive psychology exercises (PPEs). In the original study, two exercises administered over 1 week ("Three Good Things" and "Using your Signature Strengths in a New Way") were found to have long-lasting effects on depression and happiness (Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005). DESIGN: These exercises were tested here using the same methodology except for improvements to the control condition, and the addition of a second "positive placebo" to isolate the common factor of accessing positive, self-relevant constructs. This component control design was meant to assess the effect of expectancies for success (expectancy control), as well the cognitive access of positive information about the self (positive placebo). RESULTS: Repeated measures analyses showed that the PPEs led to lasting increases in happiness, as did the positive placebo. The PPEs did not exceed the control condition in producing changes in depression over time. CONCLUSIONS: Brief, positive psychology interventions may boost happiness through a common factor involving the activation of positive, self-relevant information rather than through other specific mechanisms. Finally, the effects of PPEs on depression may be more modest than previously assumed.

Healthy and unhealthy dependence: implications for major depression.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the contribution of varying levels of dependency to Axis I and Axis II disorders, and to the recurrence of major depression in a graduate student sample diagnosed with a history of the disorder. METHODS: At Time 1, participants were interviewed to confirm a current or past episode of major depression along with the presence of Axis II and other current or past Axis I disorders. Various measures of dependency were administered including the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ; Blatt, D'Afflitti, & Quinlan, 1976), the 3-Vector Dependency Inventory (3VDI; Pincus & Gurtman, 1995), and the Personal Style Inventory (PSI; Robins et al., 1994). Participants were interviewed 20 months later to determine the recurrence of a depressive episode. RESULTS: A factor analysis conducted on scale scores for each dependency measure resulted in three factors labelled 'unhealthy', 'intermediate', and 'healthy' dependence. Controlling for history of major depression, structural equation modelling found 'unhealthy' dependence to be the only predictor of recurrences of major depression and Axis II disorders, while 'healthy' dependence was related to fewer depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: These results have important implications for the conceptualization of the dependency construct.

From emotional intelligence to intelligent choice of partner.

The authors examined interpersonal correlates of emotional intelligence (EI) in a sample of individuals with a history of depression. The authors focused on potentially adaptive relationship dynamics associated with EI that may help protect these vulnerable individuals from further distress. Participants with high EI, as measured with the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test, saw their partners as less hostile, critical, and rejecting in their support styles than did participants with low EI. Partners' own reports mostly corroborated these findings. Unexpectedly, although partners of high EI participants reported offering less active and directive support than did partners of low EI participants, high EI participants perceived their partners as more supportive than did low EI participants. Partners of emotionally intelligent participants also reported being more conscientious and open to experiences, offering some evidence of the stress-buffering hypothesis associated with higher EI.

Immature dependence and self-criticism predict the recurrence of major depression.

This research examined the associations of unipolar depression with immature dependence and self-criticism (S.J. Blatt et al., 1995) in a sample of graduate students with a diagnosed history of depression. A battery of tests was completed by 158 students, and a subset (n =102) was reached approximately 20 months later for the assessment of new depressive onsets. Self-criticism and neuroticism were uniquely associated with a past history of depression, and self-criticism and immature dependence interacted in predicting past occurrences of depression. Self-criticism was increasingly associated with past depressive episodes as level of immature dependence increased. The interaction of immature dependence and self-criticism was also evident in predicting future occurrence of depression after controlling statistically for the effects of current symptoms, neuroticism, certain Axis II diagnoses, and number of previous depressive episodes. This interactive effect suggests that individuals with high levels of both self-criticism and immature dependence are particularly prone to depressive episodes.

Self-criticism and major depression: an evolutionary perspective.

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to incorporate the personality style of self-criticism within an evolutionary framework to help explain its relationship to major depression. It was expected that self-critics would engage in poor social comparisons and have greater feelings of internal entrapment, which are both processes related to depression by evolutionary thinkers. DESIGN: A cross-sectional design was employed such that participants were first interviewed and then completed several questionnaires. METHODS: The sample consisted of 146 graduate students who had experienced at least one prior episode of major depression, which was confirmed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID). Participants were subsequently administered the Center for epidemiological studies depression scale (CESD), Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ), Social comparison rating scale (SCRS), and Entrapment scale (ES). RESULTS: Regression analyses revealed that self-criticism significantly predicted internal entrapment and social comparison when controlling for mood and for levels of dependency. Subsequent Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) revealed that a factor of self-reported entrapment and social comparison mediated the effect of self-criticism on the number of previous episodes of depression. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that part of the reason self-critics are vulnerable to clinical episodes of depression lies in their subjective experience of entrapment and in their negative social comparisons.

Conceptualizing and measuring personality vulnerability to depression: comment on Coyne and Whiffen (1995).

J. C. Coyne and V. E. Whiffen (1995) reviewed research on personality vulnerability to depression, focusing on S. J. Blatt's (1974, 1990) concepts of dependency and self-criticism and A. T. Beck's (1983) concepts of sociotropy and autonomy. The authors discuss 6 issues raised in that review: (a) the typological or dimensional nature of vulnerability, (b) the theoretical implications of "mixed" vulnerability, (c) the relations of vulnerability to Neuroticism. (d) the potential confounding of vulnerability with concurrent depression, (e) the potential confounding of vulnerability with social context, and (f) the differentiation of dependency from relatedness. The authors conclude that Blatt's and Beck's concepts are continuous, nearly orthogonal dimensions that can be identified and measured independently from Neuroticism, depression, and social context.

The power of love: mediation of rejection in roommate relationships of dependents and self-critics.

This research examined roommate responses to dependent and self-critical personality styles in the hope of finding individuals for whom rejection may be more likely. Interpersonal traits associated with dependency and self-criticism along the love and dominance axes of the Circumplex also were investigated to clarify patterns contributing to roommate rejection. Both dependents and self-critics were more depressed throughout the year. Dependents, however, were perceived as more submissive and loving and were better accepted by roommates. Self-critics were seen as submissive and hostile and were more likely to be rejected. Structural equation modeling indicated that the personality-rejection effects were mediated by perceived interpersonal traits along the love axis and their associated affective consequences for roommates.

Conflict over emotional expression: implications for interpersonal communication.

The current study examined the role of conflict over emotional expression for subjective and interpersonal functioning. The Ambivalence Over the Expression of Emotion Questionnaire (AEQ) was administered to female students who were videotaped while engaging in a conflict-resolution and feedback task with their boyfriends. External ratings showed ambivalent women to be less positive in their verbal statements and to be more constricted in their nonverbal expressions. When mood and other personality constructs were controlled for, ambivalence entailed greater overt submissiveness. Ambivalent women also displayed lower congruence between their verbal and nonverbal communication, irrespective of depression and other personality variables. These data suggest that conflict over emotional expression entails less congruent communication, less positivity in close relationships, and a subordinate stance for the ambivalent individual.