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DEPRESSION, SELF-CONCEPT, AND PERSONAL CONSTRUCTS
Abstract
A new grid measure of self-construction, the self-rep test, was used with 41 women; 21 were involved in outpatient therapy during the study and 20 were not. Each subject listed a total of 15 personal constructs concerning positive, negative, and ideal personal qualities. The elements on the grids were 15 roles. Subjects rated themselves for 14 days on these same constructs, constituting a second grid: the daily-rep test. For each rating day, subjects also completed the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (MAACL), which measures depression, anxiety, and hostility, and rated themselves on various supplied dimensions relevant to mood and perceptions of the day's experiences. The level of depression was assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory and the mean MAACL depression score. Eight of the subjects (all of who were outpatients) were categorized as moderate-severely depressed. Three aspects of the construct system held to be relevant to depression were highlighted: constriction, negativeness, and the content of elicited constructs. The results failed to support the relationship of a measure of constriction (i.e., overuse of certain rating scale points) to the criterion measure. Contrary to expectation, subjects who elicited the constructs "happy/sad," "sensitive/insensitive," or "hopeful/hopeless" did not appear more depressed. The use of the construct "happy" was associated with relatively low depression. Greater negativeness of ratings was strongly associated with more severe depression. "Slot rattling," or daily shifts in the sidedness of ratings, was generally associated with greater depression. However, the results suggested a curvilinar relationship. Among the moderately-severely depressed subjects, the greater the amount of slot rattling, the lower the depression scores, presumably because of the extreme negativity of the most depressed subjects. In general, measures which tapped a broad dimension of self-distress and negativity tended to relate to depression and to each other. Thus, meaningful aspects of the experience of depression were revealed through an exploration of self-construction, judgment of the self in varied social roles, and ratings of the self across days.
Subject Area
Psychotherapy
Recommended Citation
ROSS, MARTIN VINCENT, "DEPRESSION, SELF-CONCEPT, AND PERSONAL CONSTRUCTS" (1983). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8318679.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8318679