Internal cognitive control in clinical depression: general but no emotion-specific impairments.

Prior research has suggested that depression is characterized by impaired cognitive control. The present study sought to investigate internal cognitive control impairments related to emotional information and task settings in clinical depression (MDD, major depressive disorder). Internal cognitive control was operationalized as switching between internally held mental representations that required continuous updating in working memory and measured with the Internal Shift Task (IST). The results showed that MDD individuals were characterized by a general switching impairment. This switching impairment was neither influenced by the task-relevance of emotional information, nor influenced by the valence of the faces within the emotion condition. The impairment in cognitive control reflected in general switching impairments was related to rumination, a specific cognitive symptom and important risk factor of depression. The results of this study offer new insights into the relationship between depression and impaired cognitive control with potential clinical implications, informing treatment and prevention programmes.

Attentional bias training in depression: therapeutic effects depend on depression severity.

Depressed individuals show maintained attention to negative information and reduced attention for positive information. Selective biases in information processing are considered to have an important role in the origin, maintenance and recurrence of depressive episodes. In two experiments we investigated the effects of attentional bias manipulation on mood and depressive symptoms. In experiment 1 we investigated the effects of attentional bias manipulation compared to a control procedure in a sample of dysphoric students (N = 48) showing mild to severe levels of depressive symptoms. In experiment 2 we investigated the same attentional training procedure in a sample of depressed in- and outpatients (N = 35). Mild improvements on symptom severity were observed in students showing mild depressive symptoms. However, in students showing moderate to severe depressive symptoms, depressive symptoms increased after the training. No beneficial effects of training on top of therapy and/or medication were found in depressed patients. These results indicate that therapeutic effects of attentional bias modification might be dependent on depression severity.

Use of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) for assessment of personality in chronic fatigue syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is characterized by severe and prolonged fatigue, along with a set of nonspecific symptoms and signs, such as sore throat, muscle pain, headaches, and difficulties with concentration or memory. OBJECTIVE: The study examined whether CFS is associated with specific dimensions of Cloninger's psychobiological model of personality. METHOD: Personality profiles were compared between 38 CFS patients and 42 control subjects by means of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). RESULTS: The CFS group showed significantly higher scores on Harm-Avoidance and Persistence. CONCLUSION: The current study shows a significant association between specific personality characteristics and CFS. These personality traits may be implicated in the onset and/or perpetuation of CFS and may be a productive focus for psychotherapy.

Attentional biases for angry faces in unipolar depression.

BACKGROUND: Past research has demonstrated that depression is associated with dysfunctional processing of emotional information. Recent studies demonstrate that a bias in the attentional processing of negative information may be an important cognitive vulnerability factor underlying the onset and maintenance of depression. However, to date, the nature of this attentional bias is still poorly understood and further exploration of this topic to advance current knowledge of attentional biases in depression seems imperative. METHOD: This study examined attentional biases for angry facial expressions presented for 1000 ms in 20 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 20 non-depressed control participants (NC) matched for age and gender using an emotional modification of the Exogenous Cueing task. RESULTS: Patients with MDD showed maintained attention for angry faces compared with neutral faces. In comparison with non-depressed participants they showed a stronger attentional engagement for angry faces. In contrast, the NC group directed attention away from angry faces, more rapidly disengaging their attention compared with neutral faces. CONCLUSIONS: This pattern of results supports the assumption that MDD is characterized by deficits in the attentional processing of negative, interpersonal information and suggests a 'protective' bias in non-depressed individuals. Implications in relation to previous research exploring cognitive and interpersonal functioning in depression are discussed.

Self-esteem and depression revisited: implicit positive self-esteem in depressed patients?

The cognitive behavioural model of depression holds that negative cognitions related to the self have etiological importance for the maintenance and relapse of depression. This has been confirmed by research using questionnaires. Recent research using the Implicit Association Test, however, showed positive implicit self-esteem in formerly depressed participants, even after negative mood induction [Gemar, Segal, Sagrati, & Kennedy (2001). Mood-induced changes on the implicit association test in recovered depressed patients. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 110, 282-289]. These results are not in line with cognitive theory of depression. Since this could be an artifact of the specific procedure that was used, we investigated implicit self-esteem of currently depressed participants and healthy controls using three different paradigms: The Implicit Association Test, the Name Letter Preference Task, and the Extrinsic Affective Simon Task. The results of the three experiments are unequivocally indicative of positive implicit self-esteem in currently depressed patients. However, it remains an intriguing question what exactly these indirect measures assess.