The nature of negative thoughts in depression.

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Abstract
Investigated the nature and content of the negative thoughts that accompany depression by examining thoughts about oneself and others during 3 cognitive tasks: imaging, recall, and inference. 45 female undergraduates were classified as mildly depressed or nondepressed on the basis of scores on the Beck Depression Inventory. Ss then were asked to image, recall, and make inferences about a variety of events while thinking about themselves or another person. The events were sad or happy and either social or nonsocial in nature. Results suggest that the negativity in thought that accompanies depression was restricted to thoughts about the self and did not extend to thoughts about others. The relation between negative thoughts and the depressive's view of self is discussed. It is proposed that depressives have a negative self-schema that makes the affective nature of their behavior particularly salient. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

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