Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory: Twenty-five years of evaluation

The learned helplessness hypothesis is criticized and reformulated. The old hypothesis, when applied to learned helplessness in humans, has two major problems: (a) It does not distinguish between cases in which outcomes are uncontrollable for all people and cases in which they are uncontrollable only for some people (univervsal vs. personal helplessness), and (b) it does not explain when helplessness is general and when specific, or when chronic and when acute. A reformulation based on a revision of attribution theory is proposed to resolve these inadequacies. According to the reformulation, once people perceive noncontingency, they attribute their helplessness to a cause. This cause can be stable or unstable, global or specific, and internal or external. The attribution chosen influences whether expectation of future helplessness will be chronic or acute, broad or narrow, and whether helplessness will lower self-esteem or not. The implications of this reformulation of human helplessness for the learned helplessness model of depression are outlined.

Learned Helplessness in Humans: Critique and Reformulation

The emerging field of emotion regulation studies how individuals influence which emotions they have, when they have them, and how they experience and express them. This review takes an evolutionary perspective and characterizes emotion in terms of response tendencies. Emotion regulation is denned and distinguished from coping, mood regulation, defense, and affect regulation. In the increasingly specialized discipline of psychology, the field of emotion regulation cuts across traditional boundaries and provides common ground. According to a process model of emotion regulation, emotion may be regulated at five points in the emotion generative process: (a) selection of the situation, (b) modification of the situation, (c) deployment of attention, (d) change of cognitions, and (e) modulation of responses. The field of emotion regulation promises new insights into age-old questions about how people manage their emotions.

http://www.elaborer.org/cours/A13/lectures/Gross1998.pdf

The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review.

There has been substantial interest in mindfulness as an approach to reduce cognitive vulnerability to stress and emotional distress in recent years. However, thus far mindfulness has not been defined operationally. This paper describes the results of recent meetings held to establish a consensus on mindfulness and to develop conjointly a testable operational definition. We propose a two-component model of mindfulness and specify each component in terms of specific behaviors, experiential manifestations, and implicated psychological processes. We then address issues regarding temporal stability and situational specificity and speculate on the conceptual and operational distinctiveness of mindfulness. We conclude this paper by discussing implications for instrument development and briefly describing our own approach to measurement.

/pdf/mindfulness-a-proposed-operational-definition-39h3glfkax.pdf

Mindfulness : A proposed operational definition

This article presents a theory of how different types of discrepancies between self-state representations are related to different kinds of emotional vulnerabilities. One domain of the self (actual; ideal; ought) and one standpoint on the self (own; significant other) constitute each type of self-state representation. It is proposed that different types of self-discrepancies represent different types of negative psychological situations that are associated with different kinds of discomfort. Discrepancies between the actual/own self-state (i.e., the self-concept) and ideal self-states (i.e., representations of an individual's beliefs about his or her own or a sitmifieant other's hopes, wishes, or aspirations for the individual) signify the absence of positive outcomes, which is associated with dejection-related emotions (e.g., disappointment, dissatisfaction, sadness). In contrast, discrepancies between the actual/own self-state and ought self-states (i.e., representations of an individual's beliefs about his or her own or a significant other's beliefs about the individual's duties, responsibilities, or obligations) signify the presence of negative outcomes, which is associated with agitation-related emotions (e.g., fear, threat, restlessness). Differences in both the relative magnitude and the accessibility of individuals' available types of self-discrepancies are predicted to be related to differences in the kinds of discomfort people are likely to experience. Correlational and experimental evidence supports the predictions of the model. Differences between self-discrepancy theory and (a) other theories of incompatible self-beliefs and (b) actual self negativity (e.g., low self-esteem) are discussed.

http://persweb.wabash.edu/facstaff/hortonr/articles%20for%20class/Higgins.pdf

Self-discrepancy: a theory relating self and affect.

Experiences of depression in normal young adults.

The Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS) is based on a new cognitive-developmental model of emotional experience. The scale poses evocative interpersonal situations and elicits descriptions of the emotional responses of self and others which are scored using specific structural criteria. Forty undergraduates (20 of each sex) were tested. Interrater reliability and intratest homogeneity of the LEAS were strong. The LEAS was significantly correlated with two measures of maturity: the Washington University Sentence Completion Test (SCT) of Ego Development, and the Parental Descriptions Scale-a cognitive-developmental measure of object representation. In addition, the LEAS correlated positively with openness to experience and emotional range but not with measures of specific emotions, repression or the number of words used in the LEAS responses. These findings suggest that it is the level of emotion, not the specific quality of emotion, that is tapped by the LEAS.

The Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale: A cognitive-developmental measure of emotion.

Dependency and self-criticism: psychological dimensions of depression.

Previous studies have utilized single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) to demonstrate decreased [123I]beta-CIT striatal uptake in idiopathic Parkinson disease (PD) patients. The present study extends this work by examining SPECT outcome measures in a larger group of PD patients with varying disease severity. Twenty-eight L-dopa-responsive PD patients (Hoehn-Yahr stages 1-4) and 27 healthy controls had SPECT scans at 18 to 24 hours after injection of [123I]beta-CIT. Specific to nondisplaceable striatal uptake ratios (designated V3") were correlated with Hoehn-Yahr stage and Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) subscores. Linear discriminant function analyses utilizing striatal uptakes, putamen-to-caudate ratios, and ipsilateral-contralateral asymmetry indices were performed. Decreased striatal tracer uptake (V3") was correlated with total UPDRS score for both contralateral and ipsilateral striatum. Putamen uptake was relatively more reduced than caudate with mean putamen:caudate ratios of 0.50 +/- 0.17 and 0.82 +/- 0.09 for PD patients and controls, respectively. Ipsilateral:contralateral asymmetry was significantly greater in PD patients than controls. Discriminant function analysis utilizing V3" for ipsilateral and contralateral caudate and putamen correctly classified all 55 cases. These data demonstrate marked differences in [123I]beta-CIT SPECT measures in healthy controls and PD patients. The significant correlation of SPECT measures with motor severity suggests [123I]beta-CIT may be a useful marker of disease severity in PD.

Donald M. Quinlan

Papers

Experiences of depression in normal young adults.

The Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale: A cognitive-developmental measure of emotion.

Dependency and self-criticism: psychological dimensions of depression.

Decreased single-photon emission computed tomographic [123I]beta-CIT striatal uptake correlates with symptom severity in Parkinson's disease.

Parental representations and depression in normal young adults.