title: Problem solving deteriorates following mood challenge in formerly depressed patients with a history of suicidal ideation.
abstract: The authors divided 34 participants who had a history of depression into 2 groups, those having previous suicidal ideation or behavior (n=19) and those having no such symptoms (n=15), then compared the 2 groups with a group of participants who had no history of depression (n=22). Assessment of interpersonal problem-solving performance using the Means-Ends Problem-Solving (MEPS) task before and after a mood-induction procedure showed that only those formerly depressed people with a history of suicidal ideation shifted in MEPS performance, producing significantly less effective problem solutions following mood challenge, consistent with a differential activation account of vulnerability for recurrence of suicidal ideation and behavior. The deterioration in effectiveness following mood challenge was moderated by lack of specificity in autobiographical memory.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom. mark.williams@psych.ox.ac.uk
authors.forename: J Mark G
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Barnhofer
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Crane
authors.forename: A T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Beck
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D001288:Attention; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D005793:Generalization, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011340:Problem Solving; D012008:Recurrence; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology*