SOCIOTROPY, AUTONOMY, STRESS, AND DEPRESSION IN CUSHING SYNDROME

Cognitive theory ascribes nonendogenous depression to latent dysfuncti onal beliefs activated by stressors impinging upon core values (e.g., rejection for a sociotropic person). To address ambiguities in past te sts of the theory, this study measured personality (Sociotropy-Autonom y Scale) and recent stressors (Life Experience Survey and Hassles Scal e) among 14 Gushing syndrome patients and 12 controls. Patients scored nonsignificantly higher in sociotropy, and sociotropy correlated posi tively with depression among patients. Because depression in Gushing s yndrome presumably results from biological dysfunction rather than fro m the interaction of personality and relevant stressors, these results imply that sociotropy may be a consequence of depression as opposed t o a contributory cause. There was no congruence between personality an d types of stressors reported, which suggests that mood-dependent reca ll does not account for past evidence of congruence.