Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-pnlb5 Total loading time: 0.001 Render date: 2025-10-26T22:00:20.631Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Highly neurotic never-depressed students have negative biases in information processing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2007

STELLA W. Y. CHAN ,
GUY M. GOODWIN  and
CATHERINE J. HARMER
STELLA W. Y. CHAN
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK
GUY M. GOODWIN
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, UK
CATHERINE J. HARMER*
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr Catherine Harmer, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3UD, UK. (Email: catherine.harmer@psy.ox.ac.uk)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Cognitive theories associate depression with negative biases in information processing. Although negatively biased cognitions are well documented in depressed patients and to some extent in recovered patients, it remains unclear whether these abnormalities are present before the first depressive episode.

Method

High neuroticism (N) is a well-recognized risk factor for depression. The current study therefore compared different aspects of emotional processing in 33 high-N never-depressed and 32 low-N matched volunteers. Awakening salivary cortisol, which is often elevated in severely depressed patients, was measured to explore the neurobiological substrate of neuroticism.

Results

High-N volunteers showed increased processing of negative and/or decreased processing of positive information in emotional categorization and memory, facial expression recognition and emotion-potentiated startle (EPS), in the absence of global memory or executive deficits. By contrast, there was no evidence for effects of neuroticism on attentional bias (as measured with the dot-probe task), over-general autobiographical memory, or awakening cortisol levels.

Conclusions

These results suggest that certain negative processing biases precede depression rather than arising as a result of depressive experience per se and as such could in part mediate the vulnerability of high-N subjects to depression. Longitudinal studies are required to confirm that such cognitive vulnerabilities predict subsequent depression in individual subjects.

Information

Type
Original Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 37 , Issue 9 , September 2007 , pp. 1281 - 1291
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

Anderson, N. H. (1968). Likeableness rating of 555 personality trait words. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 9, 272–279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Austin, M. P., Mitchell, P. & Goodwin, G. M. (2001). Cognitive deficits in depression: possible implications for functional neuropathology. British Journal of Psychiatry 178, 200–206.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beck, A. T., Rush, A. J., Shaw, B. F. & Emery, G. (1979). Cognitive Therapy of Depression. Guilford: New York.Google Scholar
Beck, A. T., Ward, C. H., Mendelson, M., Mock, J. & Erbaugh, J. (1961). An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry 4, 561–571.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bhagwagar, Z., Cowen, P. J., Goodwin, G. M. & Harmer, C. J. (2004). Normalization of enhanced fear recognition by acute SSRI treatment in subjects with a previous history of depression. American Journal of Psychiatry 161, 166–168.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bhagwagar, Z., Hafizi, S. & Cowen, P. J. (2003). Increase in concentration of waking salivary cortisol in recovered patients with depression. American Journal of Psychiatry 160, 1890–1891.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bosc, M., Dubini, A. & Polin, V. (1997). Development and validation of a social functioning scale, the Social Adaptation Self-evaluation Scale. European Neuropsychopharmacology 7 (Suppl. 1), S57–S70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bouhuys, A. L., Bloem, G. M. & Groothuis, T. G. G. (1995). Induction of depressed and elevated mood by music influences the perception of facial emotional expressions in healthy subjects. Journal of Affective Disorders 33, 215–226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bouhuys, A. L., Geerts, E. & Gordijn, M. C. (1999). Depressed patients' perceptions of facial emotions in depressed and remitted states are associated with relapse: a longitudinal study. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 187, 595–602.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bradley, B. P., Mogg, K. & Lee, S. C. (1997). Attentional biases for negative information in induced and naturally occurring dysphoria. Behaviour Research and Therapy 35, 911–927.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bradley, M. M., Cuthbert, B. N. & Lang, P. J. (1990). Startle reflex modification: attention or emotion? Psychophysiology 27, 513–523.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Buss, A. H. & Durkee, A. (1957). An inventory for assessing different kinds of hostility. Journal of Consulting Psychology 21, 343–349.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cane, D. B., Olinger, L. J., Gotlib, I. H. & Kuiper, N. A. (1986). Factor structure of the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale in a student population. Journal of Clinical Psychology 42, 307–309.3.0.CO;2-J>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, L. A. & Watson, D. (1991). Tripartite model of anxiety and depression: psychometric evidence and taxonomic implications. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 100, 316–336.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cook, E. W., Hawk, L. W. Jr., Davis, T. L. & Stevenson, V. E. (1991). Affective individual differences and startle reflex modulation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 11, 5–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Depue, R. A. & Iacono, W. G. (1989). Neurobehavioral aspects of affective disorders. Annual Review of Psychology 40, 457–492.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ekman, P. & Friesen, W. V. (1976). Pictures of Facial Affect. Consulting Psychologists Press: Palo Alto, CA.Google Scholar
Elliott, R., Sahakian, B. J., McKay, A. P., Herrod, J. J., Robins, T. W. & Paykel, E. S. (1996). Neuropsychological impairments in unipolar depression: the influence of perceived failure on subsequent performance. Psychological Medicine 26, 975–989.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eysenck, H. J. & Eysenck, S. B. J. (1975). Manual of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Hodder and Stoughton: London.Google Scholar
Eysenck, S. B. G., Eysenck, H. J. & Barrett, P. (1985). A revised version of the psychoticism scale. Personality and Individual Differences 6, 21–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fowles, D. C. (1988). Psychophysiology and psychopathology: a motivational approach. Psychophysiology 25, 373–391.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gibbs, B. R. & Rude, S. S. (2004). Over-general autobiographical memory as depression vulnerability. Cognitive Therapy and Research 28, 511–526.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodyer, I. M., Herbert, J., Tamplin, A. & Altham, P. M. (2000). Recent life events, cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone and the onset of major depression in high-risk adolescents. British Journal of Psychiatry 177, 499–504.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goodyer, I. M., Herbert, J., Tamplin, A., Secher, S. M. & Pearson, J. (1997). Short-term outcome of major depression: II. Life events, family dysfunction, and friendship difficulties as predictors of persistent disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 36, 474–480.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Green, D. M. & Swets, J. A. (1966). Signal Detection Theory and Psychophysics. Wiley: London.Google Scholar
Grier, J. B. (1971). Nonparametric indexes for sensitivity and bias: computing formulas. Psychological Bulletin 75, 424–429.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gur, R. C., Erwin, R. J., Gur, R. E., Zwil, A. S., Heimberg, C. & Kraemer, H. C. (1992). Facial emotion discrimination: II. Behavioural findings in depression. Psychiatry Research 42, 241–251.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hamilton, M. (1967). Development of a rating scale for primary depressive illness. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 6, 278–296.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harmer, C. J., Hill, S. A., Taylor, M. J., Cowen, P. J. & Goodwin, G. M. (2003). Toward a neuropsychological theory of antidepressant drug action: increase in positive emotional bias after potentiation of norepinephrine activity. American Journal of Psychiatry 160, 990–902.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harmer, C. J., Shelley, N. C., Cowen, P. J. & Goodwin, G. M. (2004). Increased positive versus negative affective perception and memory in healthy volunteers following selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibition. American Journal of Psychiatry 161, 1256–1263.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harris, T. O., Borsanyi, S., Messari, S., Stanford, K., Cleary, S. E., Shiers, H. M., Brown, G. W. & Herbert, J. (2000). Morning cortisol as a risk factor for subsequent major depressive disorder in adult women. British Journal of Psychiatry 177, 505–550.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hayward, G., Goodwin, G. M., Cowen, P. J. & Harmer, C. J. (2005). Low-dose tryptophan depletion in recovered depressed patients induces changes in cognitive processing without depressive symptoms. Biological Psychiatry 57, 517–554.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendler, K. S., Gardner, C. O. & Prescott, C. A. (2002). Toward a comprehensive developmental model for major depression in women. American Journal of Psychiatry 159, 1133–1145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kendler, K. S., Gardner, C. O., Prescott, C. A. (2006). Toward a comprehensive developmental model for major depression in men. American Journal of Psychiatry 163, 115–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kendler, K. S., Kessler, R. C., Neale, N. C., Heath, A. C. & Eaves, L. J. (1993). The prediction of major depression in women: toward an integrated etiologic model. American Journal of Psychiatry 150, 1139–1141.Google ScholarPubMed
Kendler, K. S., Kuhn, J. & Prescott, C. A. (2004). The interrelationship of neuroticism, sex, and stressful life events in the prediction of episodes of major depression. American Journal of Psychiatry 161, 631–636.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Larson, C. L., Ruffalo, D., Nietert, J. Y. & Davidson, R. J. (2000). Temporal stability of the emotion-modulated startle response. Psychophysiology 37, 92–101.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lishman, W. A. (1974). The speed of recall of pleasant and unpleasant experiences. Psychological Medicine 4, 212–218.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lloyd, G. G. & Lishman, W. A. (1975). Effect of depression on the speed of recall of pleasant and unpleasant experiences. Psychological Medicine 5, 173–180.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mackinger, H. F., Loschin, G. G. & Leibetseder, M. M. (2000 a). Prediction of postnatal affective changes by autobiographical memories. European Psychologist 5, 52–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mackinger, H. F., Pachinger, M. M., Leibetseder, M. M. & Fartacek, R. R. (2000 b). Autobiographical memories in women remitted from major depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 109, 331–334.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martin, M., Ward, J. C. & Clark, D. M. (1983). Neuroticism and the recall of positive and negative personality information. Behaviour Research and Therapy 21, 495–503.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mathews, A. & Bradley, B. (1983). Mood and the self-reference bias in recall. Behaviour Research and Therapy 21, 233–239.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murphy, F. C., Sahakian, B. J., Rubinsztein, J. S., Michael, A., Rogers, R. D., Robbins, T. W. & Paykel, E. S. (1999). Emotional bias and inhibitory control processes in mania and depression. Psychological Medicine 29, 1307–1321.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nelson, H. E. (1982). National Adult Reading Test (NART): Test Manual. NFER-Nelson: Windsor.Google Scholar
Parker, G., Tupling, H. & Brown, L. B. (1979). A parental bonding instrument. British Journal of Medical Psychology 52, 1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peselow, E. D., Corwin, J., Fieve, R. R., Rotrosen, J. & Cooper, T. B. (1991). Disappearance of memory deficits in outpatient depressives responding to imipramine. Journal of Affective Disorders 21, 173–183.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Portella, M. J., Harmer, C. J., Flint, J., Cowen, P. & Goodwin, G. M. (2005). Enhanced early morning salivary cortisol in neuroticism. American Journal of Psychiatry 162, 807–809.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pruessner, J. C., Kirschbaum, C., Meinlschmid, G. & Hellhammer, D. H. (2003). Two formulas for computation of the area under the curve represent measures of total hormone concentration versus time-dependent change. Psychoneuroendocrinology 28, 916–931.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pruessner, J. C., Wolf, O. T., Hellhammer, D. H., Buske-Kirschbaum, A., von Auer, K., Jobst, S., Kaspers, F. & Kirschbaum, C. (1997). Free cortisol levels after awakening: a reliable biological marker for the assessment of adrenocortical activity. Life Science 61, 2539–2549.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rey, A. (1964). The Clinical Examination in Psychology. Presses Universitaires de France: Paris.Google Scholar
Spielberger, C. D., Gorsuch, R. L. & Lushene, R. D. (1970). STAI Manual. Consulting Psychologists Press: Palo Alto, CA.Google Scholar
Surguladze, S. A., Young, A. W., Senior, C., Brebion, G., Travis, M. J. & Philips, M. L. (2004). Recognition accuracy and response bias to happy and sad facial expressions in patients with major depression. Neuropsychology 18, 212–218.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Suslow, T., Junghanns, K. & Arolt, V. (2001). Detection of facial expressions of emotions in depression. Perceptual and Motor Skills 92, 857–868.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sutton, L. J., Teasdale, J. D. & Broadbent, D. E. (1988). Negative self-schema: the effects of induced depressed mood. British Journal of Clinical Psychology 27, 188–190.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Teasdale, J. D. & Russell, M. L. (1983). Differential effects of induced mood on the recall of positive, negative and neutral words. British Journal of Clinical Psychology 22, 163–171.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Treynor, W., Gonzalez, R. & Nolen-Hosksema, S. (2003). Rumination reconsidered: a psychometric analysis. Cognitive Therapy and Research 27, 247–259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
von Minnen, A., Wessel, I., Verhaak, C. & Smeenk, J. (2005). The relationship between autobiographical memory specificity and depressed mood following a stressful life event: a prospective study. British Journal of Clinical Psychology 44, 405–415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
von Zerssen, D., Strian, F. & Schwarz, D. (1974). Evaluation of depressive states, especially in longitudinal studies. In Psychological Measurements in Psychopharmacology (ed. Pichot, P.), pp. 189–202. Karger: Basel, Switzerland.Google Scholar
Watson, D. & Friend, R. (1969). Measurement of social-evaluative anxiety. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 33, 448–457.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wechsler, D. (1981). Manual for the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – Revised (WAIS-R). Psychological Corporation: New York.Google Scholar
Weissmann, A. (1979). The Dysfunctional Attitude Scale: A Validation Study. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Williams, J. M. G. (2004). Experimental cognitive psychology and clinical practice: autobiographical memory as a paradigm case. In Cognition, Emotion and Psychopathology (ed. Yiend, J.), pp. 251–269. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.Google Scholar
Williams, J. M. G. & Broadbent, K. (1986). Autobiographical memory in suicide attempters. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 95, 144–149.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wust, S., Federenko, I., Hellhammer, D. H. & Kirschbaum, C. (2000). Genetic factors, perceived chronic stress, and the free cortisol response to awakening. Psychoneuroendocrinology 25, 707–720.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Young, A. H., Sahakian, B. J. & Robbins, T. W. (1999). The effects of chronic administration of hydrocortisone on cognitive function in normal male volunteers. Psychopharmacology 145, 260–266.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Young, A. W., Rowland, D., Calder, A. J., Etcoff, N. L., Seth, A. & Perrett, D. I. (1997). Facial expression megamix: tests of dimensional and category accounts of emotion recognition. Cognition 63, 271–313.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zobel, A., Barkpw, K., Schulze-Rauschenbach, S., von Widdern, O., Metten, M., Pfeiffer, U., Schnell, S., Wagner, M. & Maier, W. (2004). High neuroticism and depressive temperament are associated with dysfunctional regulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenocortical system in health volunteers. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 109, 393–399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Chan Supplementary Material

Tables.pdf

Download Chan Supplementary Material(PDF)
PDF 44.2 KB