title: Self-complexity and the persistence of depression.
abstract: Self-complexity, a measure of the structure of cognition involving the self, was used to predict the persistence of depression in patients diagnosed with major depression. Self-descriptions offered by depressed patients were analyzed using a clustering algorithm to model cognitive structure. Indices of positive and negative self-complexity, derived from the resulting models, were used to predict depressive symptomatology 9 months after the onset of a major depression. Negative self-complexity uniquely predicted subsequent levels of depression even after the effects of initial levels of depression, self-evaluation, and dysfunctional attitudes were statistically removed. Highly complex negative self-representation appears to be associated with poor recovery from a major depressive episode. Future studies examining the relationship between cognition and psychopathology should investigate, in addition to its content, the formal and structural properties of cognition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-8040, USA.
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Woolfolk
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Gara
authors.forename: T K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Ambrose
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Irvin
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Beaver
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D001364:Awareness; D003071:Cognition; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007257:Information Theory; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011336:Probability; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012649:Self Concept; D012938:Social Perception