THE ASSESSMENT OF DYSFUNCTIONAL ATTITUDES AND THEIR ROLE IN THE ONSET, PERSISTENCE AND RECURRENCE OF CLINICAL DEPRESSION

Dysfunctional attitudes have been proposed as an important vulnerabili ty factor in the cognitive model of depression. Yet it has often prove d difficult to demonstrate their existence in non-symptomatic populati ons. We examine the ways in which dysfunctional attitudes have been co nceptualized and assessed,from self-report methods to information-proc essing tasks. As dysfunctional attitudes are typically viewed as laten t in non-symptomatic groups, the importance of priming or activating s uch variables is emphasized, together with recommendations as to how t his may best be achieved. Comparative studies of depressed, control, a nd at-risk groups are then considered, together with longitudinal stud ies that have directly tested predictions of the cognitive model. Pros pective studies of non-depressed, non-clinical samples have so far had mixed results in demonstrating that dysfunctional attitudes precede d epression or that specific attitudes interact with congruent events in the way the model predicts, although more consistent results emerge f rom clinical samples with a past history of depression. Possible reaso ns for the variability in findings are presented, together with sugges tions for further research and a revised cognitive model of depression .