Response style, interpersonal difficulties and social functioning in major depressive disorder.
BACKGROUND
It is postulated that depressed patients who engaged in self-focused rumination on their depressive symptoms may experience more hopelessness, more interpersonal distress and poorer social functioning while patients who distract themselves may experience less severe hopelessness and better social functioning.


METHODS
One-hundred and nine outpatients suffering from DSM-IV (APA, 1994) major depressive disorders filled in questionnaires that mapped into their response style to depression, hopelessness and interpersonal style. They were also interviewed for their levels of social functioning.


RESULTS
Rumination was associated with higher levels of depression and distraction was associated with lower levels of depression. Furthermore when levels of depression and gender were controlled for, rumination contributed to higher levels of hopelessness and distraction contributed to lower levels of hopelessness. Both rumination and levels of depression contributed significantly to higher levels of interpersonal distress when gender was controlled for. Ruminators were rated to have significantly more severe problems in intimate relationships while distractors were rated to have significantly higher social functioning.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study suggests the importance of teaching patients techniques to distract themselves. This could prevent patients from getting into a vicious cycle of self-absorption and increased levels of hopelessness, finding it hard to interact with people in their social network and neglecting their intimate relationships.
Lam
Dominic
D
Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK. spjtdhl@iop.kcl.ac.uk
Schuck
Nikki
N
Smith
Neil
N
Farmer
Anne
A
Checkley
Stuart
S
D000328:Adult; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D012649:Self Concept; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D012919:Social Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires