Abstract
Several recent studies have suggested that negative patterns of thinking are not predictive of future depression. Such conclusions are inconsistent with some current theories of depression (e.g., Abramson, Seligman, & Teasdale, 1978; Beck, 1976; Ellis & Harper, 1975) that assign a major causal role to cognitions. In the present article some possible reasons for the null findings are discussed. First, it is suggested that individuals who are vulnerable to depression may differ from other persons by having highly negativistic thinking patterns, but that these patterns may be latent and less cognitively accessible than neutral or even positively valenced thinking patterns, except when it happens that the negativistic cognitions have been primed by situations (e.g., failure) analogous to the original situations in which they were learned. One important implication of these views concerns the type of testing situation in which responses to measures of an “insidious” cognitive style or negativistic thinking patterns will be most predictive of naturally occurring depression. Second, it is suggested that further attention needs to be given to certain measurement considerations that have proven important in the broader field of personality (e.g., Epstein, 1979).
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Order of authorship was determined by a random process. The authors assume equal responsibility for this paper. The authors wish to thank Emily Davidson, Jeff Kern, Charlene Muehlenhard, Jack Nation, Steve Smith, Dave Wilson, and anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier drift of this article.
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Riskind, J.H., Rholes, W.S. Cognitive accessibility and the capacity of cognitions to predict future depression: A theoretical note. Cogn Ther Res 8, 1–12 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01315092
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01315092