Distractibility and processing resource deficit in major depression. Evidence for two deficient attentional processing models

Performance on the Stroop Color-Word Test is impaired in depression but it is not clear whether this impairment reflects a distracter inhibition disturbance or a reduction of processing resources. In this study, untreated major depressives were evaluated using a modified computerized Stroop Test composed of three tasks: to name the color of XXXXXs, of nonconflicting words, and of conflicting color words. It was hypothesized that, unlike color words, nonconflicting word distractors would disturb the color naming task only in the presence of a primary distracter inhibition disturbance. The slow reaction time (RT) depressives and normal RT depressives, according to their color naming speed without distracters, were contrasted to distinguish depressives with and without clear signs of resource deficit. It was found that interference produced by nonconflicting words was greater in normal RT depressives than in either slow RT depressives or control subjects, while interference caused by color words was dramatically stronger in slow RT depressives than in other groups. Results suggest the existence of two different attentional deficit patterns in clinical depression: some depressives have a distracter inhibition disturbance while others are deficient in processing resources.