J. C. Coyne and V. E. Whiffen (1995) reviewed research on personality vulnerability to depression, focusing on S. J. Blatt's (1974, 1990) concepts of dependency and self-criticism and A. T. Beck's (1983) concepts of sociotropy and autonomy. The authors discuss 6 issues raised in that review: (a) the typological or dimensional nature of vulnerability, (b) the theoretical implications of "mixed" vulnerability, (c) the relations of vulnerability to Neuroticism. (d) the potential confounding of vulnerability with concurrent depression, (e) the potential confounding of vulnerability with social context, and (f) the differentiation of dependency from relatedness. The authors conclude that Blatt's and Beck's concepts are continuous, nearly orthogonal dimensions that can be identified and measured independently from Neuroticism, depression, and social context.

The effectiveness of two online exercises intended to help individuals experience (1) self-compassion (n ¼ 63) and (2) optimism (n ¼ 55) were compared to a control intervention where participants wrote about an early memory (n ¼ 70). A battery of tests was completed at 1 week following the exercise period, and at 1-, 3-, and 6-month follow-ups. Both active interventions resulted in significant increases in happiness observable at 6 months and significant decreases in depression sustained up to 3 months. The interventions were examined in relationship to dependency and self-criticism, both related to vulnerability to depression. Individuals high in self-criticism became happier at 1 week and at 1 month in the optimism condition in the repeated measures analysis. A sensitivity test using multi-level modeling failed to replicate this effect. More mature levels of dependence (connectedness) were related to improvements in mood up to 6 months in the self-compassion condition. This study suggests that different personality orientations may show greater gains from particular types of positive psychology interventions.

Brief, positive psychology interventions may boost happiness through a common factor involving the activation of positive, self-relevant information rather than through other specific mechanisms. Finally, the effects of PPEs on depression may be more modest than previously assumed.

A variety of theories have explained inappropriate negative affective states in terms of the activation of cognitive-affective structures by stressful events. To have predictive value, such theories need to specify the conditions under which activation will occur. The principle of specificity states that the degree of congruence between an event and a structure determines the probability of the structure's being activated. Counterposed to this principle is the principle of nonspecificity, based on the notion of the assimilation of diverse events by highly accessible structures. To test the relative importance of specificity and nonspecificity, dependent (« = 16), self-critical (n --14), and control (n = 15) female college students were selected using the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire. They listened to audiotaped portrayals of rejection by a boyfriend and of failure to be accepted into graduate school. The dependent variables were measures of anaclitic (dependent) and introjective (self-critical) state depression. Dependent subjects' anaclitic depressions were specific to rejection (specificity), but self-critical subjects reported introjective depression in response to both failure and rejection (nonspecificity). Surprisingly, dependent subjects also reported high levels of introjective depression. Application of the theoretical framework to clinical depression and to other negative affective states is suggested. Probably all human beings* experiences include maladaptive, inappropriately intense, negative affective states, although psychologically disturbed individuals may experience such states more frequently and more intensely. Of course, not all negative affect is maladaptive or inappropriate, but many affective states are inappropriate in the sense of being either (a) unusually intense examples of normative responses (prolonged grief) or (b) idiosyncratic, nonnormative responses to situations (feeling guilty after being praised). Many theorists have tried to explainthe occurrences of such states. There is sufficient similarity among the various explanations that they can be considered to form a family of theories, the distinguishing characteristic of which is that its members rely on some form of "activation" of some form of "cognitive-affective structure" to explain inappropriate emotional reactions.The most prominent member of this family is Beck's (1967) cognitive theory of depression. Beck maintained that depression results when stressors activate latent, negative cognitive schemata. The schemata, which typically have their origin in childhood experiences, generate "automatic thoughts" concerned with the person's inadequacies and the frustrating, depriving nature of the world.Building on earlier analyses of "ego states" by Fedem (1952) and Berne (1961), Horowitz (1979a, 1979b developed a theory This article is based on portions of the second author's honors thesis, which was supervised by the first author.We thank Debbie Moskowitz, Irv Binik, and two anonymous reviewers for their very helpful comm...

Recent theoretical formulations differentiate two types of depressive experiences: one focused on interpersonal issues, such as loss, abandonment, and loneliness; the other focused on issues of self-esteem, such as failure, guilt, and lack of self-worth and autonomy. The Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ; Blatt, D'Afflitti, & Quinlan, 1976, 1979) assesses these two types of depression. Symptom-based measures of depression (i.e., the Beck Depression Inventory, Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979) have highly significant correlations with the DEQ Self-Criticism factor but only marginally significant correlations with the DEQ Dependency (or interpersonal) factor. Through the use of facet theory and Smallest Space Analysis (Guttman, 1982a), two facets were identified within the DEQ Dependency factor that appear to assess two different levels of interpersonal relatedness. One facet, labelled dependence, includes items expressing feelings of helplessness; fears and apprehensions about separation and rejection; and intense, broad-ranging concerns about possible loss unrelated to a particular relationship. The second facet, labelled relatedness, includes items that consider feelings of loss and loneliness in reaction to disruption of a relationship with a particular person. The dependence facet had significantly higher correlations with measures of depression, whereas the relatedness facet had significantly higher correlations with measures of psychological well-being, especially in women. Thus, the DEQ Dependency factor appears to contain two facets that assess interpersonal relatedness at different developmental levels and correlate differentially with measures of depression and of psychological well-being.

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Cognitive and interpersonal models of depression were integrated by examining the links between parental representations and the interpersonal behaviors of individuals at risk for depression. Study 1 assessed the quantity and type of social support associated with Dependency and Self-Criticism. Study 2 examined the parental representations related to these personality styles, in an effort to document cognitive variables that might contribute to interpersonal behaviors. Self-critics were found to be more dysphoric over a 21-day, self-monitoring period, made fewer requests for social support, and showed lower perceptions of support. Peers did not report providing less support to self-critics, but found them less expressive and did not know them as well. Study 2 found pervasive, negative parental representations associated with Self-Criticism providing a cognitive underpinning to social distancing. Dependent participants reported higher levels of support, which was corroborated by the peer reports. Study 2 found Dependency to be related to favorable representation of parents for friendly and submissive, but not hostile, situations. The impact of cognitive representations for interpersonal functioning is highlighted, and reciprocal processes between the two are discussed.

Aspects of interpersonal, personality, and cognitive models of depression were tested in a college sample. The perceptions and actual interpersonal behaviors of dependent and self-critical women and their romantic partners were assessed during a conflict-resolution task. Dependent women were characterized by positive biases in the perception of lovingness expressed within the relationship. The partners of dependent women, however, experienced a decrease in positive affect and a trend toward increasing hostility during the conflict-resolution task. Self-critical women were objectively rated as less loving and more hostile, and their partners were also rated as less loving. Self-critics also exhibited negative biases in self-perceptions of submissiveness. The results are interpreted within a comprehensive framework integrating various elements of interpersonal, personality, and cognitive models of depression.