EVIDENCE OF LATENT DEPRESSIVE SCHEMAS IN FORMERLY DEPRESSED INDIVIDUALS

Detecting the effects of latent depressive schemas constitutes an important step toward validating A. T. Beck's ( 1967) tenet of the depressive cognitive style as a causal factor in the onset and relapse of major depression. The authors examined whether a sample of formerly clinically depressed individuals continued to exhibit a negatively biased information-processing style in the absence of concurrent depressed mood. As predicted, the scores of formerly depressed individuals on 2 questionnaires tapping dysfunctional thinking did not differ from those of never depressed individuals, but responses of formerly depressed individuals were negatively biased on 2 of 3 information-processing measures administered following a self-focus manipulation. These results provide evidence for the persistence of a depressive schema in individuals who have recovered from major depression.