The role of negative interpretations of intrusive memories in depression.
BACKGROUND
Recent investigations have shown that intrusive memories of negative past events, the hallmark symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are also commonly experienced in depression. This study explored whether Ehlers and Steil's [Ehlers, A., Steil, R., 1995. Maintenance of intrusive memories in posttraumatic stress disorder: a cognitive approach. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 23, 217-249] model of PTSD maintenance, which focuses on the role played by negative interpretations of intrusive symptoms in the persistence of PTSD, also describes processes that operate in depression.


METHODS
Eighty-four undergraduate students were interviewed to identify the presence of intrusive memories in the previous week. Participants who reported an intrusive memory were administered self-report questionnaires that indexed cognitive and affective responses to the memory.


RESULTS
Negative interpretations of intrusive memories were significantly correlated with cognitive avoidance (particularly rumination) and depression severity, after controlling for intrusion frequency and severity of memory content. Negative meaning was the strongest predictor of depression, explaining variance over and above intrusion frequency. Ruminative responses to intrusions were highly correlated with depression.


CONCLUSIONS
The use of an unselected student sample.


CONCLUSIONS
The demonstrated utility of Ehlers and Steil's [Ehlers, A., Steil, R., 1995. Maintenance of intrusive memories in posttraumatic stress disorder: A cognitive approach. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 23, 217-249] model of PTSD to account for one aspect of depression maintenance supports recent commentaries [Harvey, A.G., Watkins, E., Mansell, W., Shafran, R., 2004. Cognitive behavioural processes across psychological disorders: A transdiagnostic approach to research and treatment. New York: Oxford University Press] that call for a transdiagnostic approach to understanding the cognitive and behavioural processes that underpin psychological disorders.
Starr
Susannah
S
The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Moulds
Michelle L
ML
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D001288:Attention; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D003071:Cognition; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009341:Negativism; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires