Disorder-specific automatic self-associations in depression and anxiety: results of The Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety

K. A. Glashouwer*, P. J. de Jong

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

    53 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Background. Cognitive theory points to the importance of negative self-schemas in the onset and maintenance of depression and anxiety disorders. Hereby, it is important to distinguish between automatic and explicit self-schemas, reflecting different cognitive-motivational systems. This study tested whether patients with a current major depression and/or anxiety disorder are characterized by automatic self-anxious and self-depressive associations and whether these associations are disorder specific.

    Method. Patients (n=2329) and non-clinical controls (n=652) were tested as part of The Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety, a multi-center, longitudinal, cohort study with patients from different health care settings. Patient groups and non-clinical controls (18-65 years of age) were compared with regard to automatic self-anxious and self-depressive associations measured with the Implicit Association Test.

    Results. Individuals with an anxiety disorder showed enhanced self-anxious associations, whereas individuals with a depression showed enhanced self-depressive associations. Individuals with co-morbid disorders scored high on both automatic self-associations. Although remitted individuals showed weaker automatic self-associations than people with a current disorder, their automatic self-anxious/depressed associations were still significantly stronger than those of the control group. Importantly, automatic self-associations showed predictive validity for the severity of anxious and depressive symptoms over and above explicit self-beliefs.

    Conclusions. This study represents the first evidence that automatic self-anxious and self-depressive associations are differentially involved in anxiety disorders and depression. This may help to explain the refractoriness of these disorders and points to the potential importance of automatic self-associations in the development of psychopathological symptoms.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1101-1111
    Number of pages11
    JournalPsychological Medicine
    Volume40
    Issue number7
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Jul-2010

    Keywords

    • Anxiety
    • automatic associations
    • depression
    • IAT
    • INTERNATIONAL DIAGNOSTIC INTERVIEW
    • COGNITIVE VULNERABILITY
    • PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES
    • INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES
    • PERSONALITY-DISORDER
    • IMPLICIT COGNITION
    • EXPLICIT ATTITUDES
    • SOCIAL PHOBIA
    • COMORBIDITY
    • RELIABILITY

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