Self-Other Representations Mediate the Relationship Between Five-Factor Model Depression and Depressive States

Abstract

While it is well established that trait depression is a risk factor for experiencing increased rates of episodes of depression, it is also the case that the ways in which the self and others are perceived, and nature of the relationship between self and other, predispose individuals to frequent depressive episodes. In this study, 182 psychiatric outpatients at three treatment facilities were evaluated for Five-Factor Model depressive traits, depressive states, and self-other representations (object relations). It was hypothesized that object relations would mediate the relationship between trait and state depression. Results partially confirmed this hypothesis. While trait depression significantly predicted variance in the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II; Beck et al., 1988), two dimensions of the Bell Object Relations and Reality Testing Inventory (BORRTI; Bell, 1995)--Alienation and Insecure Attachment--partially mediated the relationship between trait and state depression. Similarly, trait depression predicted tendencies to experience frequent shifts toward depressive episodes, although the Insecure Attachment and Egocentricity scales of the BORRTI fully mediated the relationship between trait depression and depressive lability. Knowledge of self-other representations, which is being considered for inclusion in the DSM-5, allows for a more refined understanding of those factors that contribute shifts in depressive mood.

The sexually dimorphic impact of maltreatment on cortical thickness, surface area and gyrification

“…This region has been consistently shown to be functionally activated during the selective attribution of mental states and theory of mind (Saxe and Kanwisher 2003; Saxe and Wexler 2005), and sex differences within these domains are found in normative samples (Baron-Cohen 2000; Brown et al 1996). Atypical theory of mind and concurrent structural deficits within the tempo-parietal region are reported in a range of psychiatric disorders associated with maltreatment (Hezel and McNally 2014; Huprich et al 2012; Jaworska et al 2014; Nesvåg et al 2014; Palaniyappan and Liddle 2012; Shestyuk and Deldin 2014). …”

In Search of Neural Endophenotypes of Postpartum Psychopathology and Disrupted Maternal Caregiving

“…In this vein, what we define as maternal depression or poor caregiving might similarly derive from the neural imprint of adverse early experience. Adverse early-life experiences that impact upon an individual's attachment to a primary caregiver are of particular interest because convergent research has demonstrated that an individual's attachment style is a central dimension contributing to the onset of and recovery from affective symptoms (148)(149)(150), as well as maternal caregiving (151,152). In addition, current healthy social attachments, which are more likely if the attachment capacity is established at a young age, modulate emotional response to threat and loss, as originally articulated by Bowlby (117), who described that the prototypical response to separation from an attachment figure involves 'protest' or anxiety followed by 'despair' or depression.…”

Relationships of the Big Five facets and dysfunctional attitudes with depression

“…In this sense, it is important to point out that there are very few previous studies that have specifically examined these mechanisms. Two exceptions are, for example, the studies by Gordon (2008) and Huprich et al (2012). Both examined the factors that mediated the relationship between the NEO PI-R facet of depression and depressive symptomatology measured by the BDI-II.…”