Important, but not unequivocal, support has been found for Sociotropy and Autonomy as vulnerability factors for depression. Using a novel approach we gave subliminal sociotropy-related and autonomy-related visuoverbal stimulation to nondepressed students (Study 1, N=36), and patients treated for clinical depression (Study 2, N=34) in completely balanced within-groups designs. Autonomy, as measured with the Personal Style Inventory, was unrelated to response. Sociotropy predicted negative outcome after a sociotropy-related abandonment stimulus in both Study 1 (r=−.34 to a decrease in positively valenced autobiographical memories) and Study 2 (r=.38 to an increase in selection of depression-related words on a word-selection task). This finding may interest developers of depression therapies, and support further attempts to study Sociotropy as a putative vulnerability factor for depression.
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Notes
The words “… ON OTHERS” were added to make stimulus meaning unequivocal. For logical consistency as well as perceived graphical stimulus equivalence this also meant replacing I AM ABANDONED by I AM ABANDONED BY OTHERS and replacing I CAN READ by I CAN READ LIKE OTHERS.
Though the plan called for 36 patients, only 34 were included in the study. Thus, there is a slight imbalance with respect to the stimulus presentation order.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank Anna Maria Carlsson for allowing us to use her translation of the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire. Joakim Axelsson translated the Personal Style Inventory. Thanks also to the Clinical Department of Psychiatry, Gävle-Sandviken County Hospital, and to Andreas Birgegård and Katja Claesson for interesting discussions on how to belong and be free at the same time.
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Sohlberg, S., Axelsson, J., Czartoryski, W. et al. Sociotropy, Autonomy, and Depressive Response to an Unconscious Challenge. Cogn Ther Res 30, 85–103 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-006-9011-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-006-9011-3