Effect of actor depression on observer attributions: existence and impact of negative attributions toward the depressed.

This experiment examined whether others explain the successes and failures of depressed versus nondepressed people differently and how these attributions are related to affective and behavioral reactions to a request for psychological help. Ss reported attributions about the success and failure experiences of hypothetical depressed and nondepressed people. Ss also responded to a hypothetical request for psychological help by indicating their attributions, affective reactions, willingness to help, and desire for future social contact. As hypothesized, Ss displayed more negative attributions toward depressed people. Replicating prior research, Ss responded to the depressive's request for help with mixed emotional and behavioral reactions. Path analyses revealed that attributions influenced affective reactions, which influenced willingness to help; but a more complex pattern emerged from the analysis of desire for future social contact. Results are discussed in terms of the interpersonal impact and possible causes of negative attributions about the experiences of depressed people.

Rorschach structure of a hospitalized sample of Vietnam veterans with PTSD.

Rorschach structural summary data are presented for a group of 41 posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients who were being treated in a specialized inpatient PTSD treatment program. Results suggest that patients suffering from PTSD exhibit impaired reality-testing abilities and tend to utilize ineffective coping strategies. The group's structural summary factors are presented as incipient normative data for the Exner Comprehensive System on patients with PTSD. Implications that these protocols suggest a more severe and pervasive level of psychopathology than would be expected from theoretical descriptions of the disorder are discussed.

Psychometric evaluation of the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale using an elderly community sample.

In this study the psychometric properties of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) were evaluated and compared, using a relatively large elderly community sample. The GDS generally performed well, replicating earlier findings from a different population. Also, as hypothesized, the SDS, which has a multiple-choice format, had a higher non-completion rate than the GDS, which has a true-false format. Finally, no significant differences between the responses of young-old and old-old subjects were observed.

Effect of instructional set on responses to the Geriatric Depression Scale.

A community sample of elderly subjects (M age = 74 years) was randomly assigned to four variations in reference group instructions on the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). In one condition, subjects received no instructions as to reference group, which is the standard instructional format of the test. In the other three conditions, subjects were asked to compare themselves with one of three reference groups: age group peers, adults in general, or themselves at a younger age. Results indicated that the GDS is robust with respect to variation in reference group instruction.

Effect of depression level and length of acquaintance on reactions of others to a request for help.

This experiment examined an interpersonal-process view of depression by assessing subjects' reactions to a request for help from a hypothetical depressed or nondepressed person with whom they had been acquainted for a relatively short (2 weeks) or long (1 year) period of time. Subjects responded to each of the four hypothetical persons by indicating their probable affective reactions to the request, the number of minutes they would be willing to help, their desire for future social contact with the hypothetical person, and their expectations of future requests for help. Requests from depressed persons elicited significantly more anger and social rejection but equal amounts of concern and willingness to help. This mixed response pattern was interpreted as providing partial support for an interpersonal-process view of depression. In addition a path analysis provided limited support for Coyne's (1976b) hypothesis that rejection of depressed persons results from the negative mood they induce in others.