Parental reports of depressives: An investigation of several explanations
TL;DR: Depression scores in subjects were strongly linked with lower maternal care and with maternal overprotection, whether the maternal characteristics were judged by the subjects or by the mothers themselves, and the validity of the PBI as a measure of actual parental characteristics was supported.
About: This article is published in Journal of Affective Disorders.The article was published on 1981-06-01. It has received 327 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Child rearing.
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TL;DR: In this paper, a computer-based search, supplemented by hand searches, was used to identify studies reported between 1980 and 2001 in which there was a quantified assessment of the validity of retrospective recall of major adverse experiences in childhood.
Abstract: Background: Influential studies have cast doubt on the validity of retrospective reports by adults of their own adverse experiences in childhood. Accordingly, many researchers view retrospective reports with scepticism.
Method: A computer-based search, supplemented by hand searches, was used to identify studies reported between 1980 and 2001 in which there was a quantified assessment of the validity of retrospective recall of sexual abuse, physical abuse, physical/emotional neglect or family discord, using samples of at least 40. Validity was assessed by means of comparisons with contemporaneous, prospectively obtained, court or clinic or research records; by agreement between retrospective reports of two siblings; and by the examination of possible bias with respect to differences between retrospective and prospective reports in their correlates and consequences. Medium- to long-term reliability of retrospective recall was determined from studies in which the test–retest period extended over at least 6 months.
Results: Retrospective reports in adulthood of major adverse experiences in childhood, even when these are of a kind that allow reasonable operationalisation, involve a substantial rate of false negatives, and substantial measurement error. On the other hand, although less easily quantified, false positive reports are probably rare. Several studies have shown some bias in retrospective reports. However, such bias is not sufficiently great to invalidate retrospective case-control studies of major adversities of an easily defined kind. Nevertheless, the findings suggest that little weight can be placed on the retrospective reports of details of early experiences or on reports of experiences that rely heavily on judgement or interpretation.
Conclusion: Retrospective studies have a worthwhile place in research, but further research is needed to examine possible biases in reporting.
2,379 citations
TL;DR: The evidence reviewed suggests that claims concerning the general unreliability of retrospective reports are exaggerated and that there is little reason to link psychiatric status with less reliable or less valid recall of early experiences.
Abstract: Three potential sources of error in retrospective reports of childhood experiences are documented: low reliability and validity of autobiographical memory in general, the presence of general memory impairment associated with psychopathology, and the presence of specific mood-congruent memory biases associated with psychopathology. The evidence reviewed suggests that claims concerning the general unreliability of retrospective reports are exaggerated and that there is little reason to link psychiatric status with less reliable or less valid recall of early experiences. Nevertheless, it is clear that steps must be taken to overcome the limitations of retrospective reports and enhance their reliability.
1,501 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reviewed recent research that indicates the importance of differentiating subtypes of depression based on two types of experiences that lead individuals to become depressed: disruptions of interpersonal relations and threats to self-integrity and self-esteem.
792 citations
TL;DR: The role of perfectionism in suicides is consistent with recent extensive investigations of aspects of perfectionISM as well as further analyses of the NIMH Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research Program (TDCRP) indicating that intense perfectionism interfered significantly with therapeutic response in the various brief treatments for depression.
Abstract: Reports in the public media indicate that intense perfectionism and severe self-criticism played a role in the suicide of three remarkably talented individuals. The role of perfectionism in these suicides is consistent with recent extensive investigations of aspects of perfectionism as well as further analyses of the NIMH Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research Program (TDCRP), indicating that intense perfectionism interfered significantly with therapeutic response in the various brief treatments for depression. Self-critical individuals, however, made substantial improvement in long-term intensive treatment. These findings suggest the value of considering psychopathology, especially depression, from a psychological rather than a symptomatic perspective; that different patients may be differentially responsive to various types of therapy; and that more extensive therapy may be necessary for many highly perfectionistic, self-critical patients.
756 citations
TL;DR: Evidence for the generational transmission of maternal care and the mechanisms underlying this transmission will be discussed as will the implications of this inheritance system for offspring development and for the transmission of environmental information from parents to offspring.
694 citations
Cites background from "Parental reports of depressives: An..."
...In humans, ratings obtained from the PBI which indicate low scores for maternal care and high scores for overprotection, a ‘style’ referred to as ‘affectionless control’, is a risk factor for depression [78;79;80] adult antisocial personality traits [81], anxiety disorders, drug use, obsessive-compulsive disorder and attention-deficit disorders [82;83;84;85]....
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References
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TL;DR: The difficulties inherent in obtaining consistent and adequate diagnoses for the purposes of research and therapy have been pointed out and a wide variety of psychiatric rating scales have been developed.
Abstract: The difficulties inherent in obtaining consistent and adequate diagnoses for the purposes of research and therapy have been pointed out by a number of authors. Pasamanick12in a recent article viewed the low interclinician agreement on diagnosis as an indictment of the present state of psychiatry and called for "the development of objective, measurable and verifiable criteria of classification based not on personal or parochial considerations, but on behavioral and other objectively measurable manifestations." Attempts by other investigators to subject clinical observations and judgments to objective measurement have resulted in a wide variety of psychiatric rating scales.4,15These have been well summarized in a review article by Lorr11on "Rating Scales and Check Lists for the Evaluation of Psychopathology." In the area of psychological testing, a variety of paper-and-pencil tests have been devised for the purpose of measuring specific
35,176 citations
TL;DR: This transmutability of the validation matrix argues for the comparisons within the heteromethod block as the most generally relevant validation data, and illustrates the potential interchangeability of trait and method components.
Abstract: Content Memory (Learning Ability) As Comprehension 82 Vocabulary Cs .30 ( ) .23 .31 ( ) .31 .31 .35 ( ) .29 .48 .35 .38 ( ) .30 .40 .47 .58 .48 ( ) As judged against these latter values, comprehension (.48) and vocabulary (.47), but not memory (.31), show some specific validity. This transmutability of the validation matrix argues for the comparisons within the heteromethod block as the most generally relevant validation data, and illustrates the potential interchangeability of trait and method components. Some of the correlations in Chi's (1937) prodigious study of halo effect in ratings are appropriate to a multitrait-multimethod matrix in which each rater might be regarded as representing a different method. While the published report does not make these available in detail because it employs averaged values, it is apparent from a comparison of his Tables IV and VIII that the ratings generally failed to meet the requirement that ratings of the same trait by different raters should correlate higher than ratings of different traits by the same rater. Validity is shown to the extent that of the correlations in the heteromethod block, those in the validity diagonal are higher than the average heteromethod-heterotrait values. A conspicuously unsuccessful multitrait-multimethod matrix is provided by Campbell (1953, 1956) for rating of the leadership behavior of officers by themselves and by their subordinates. Only one of 11 variables (Recognition Behavior) met the requirement of providing a validity diagonal value higher than any of the heterotrait-heteromethod values, that validity being .29. For none of the variables were the validities higher than heterotrait-monomethod values. A study of attitudes toward authority and nonauthority figures by Burwen and Campbell (1957) contains a complex multitrait-multimethod matrix, one symmetrical excerpt from which is shown in Table 6. Method variance was strong for most of the procedures in this study. Where validity was found, it was primarily at the level of validity diagonal values higher than heterotrait-heteromethod values. As illustrated in Table 6, attitude toward father showed this kind of validity, as did attitude toward peers to a lesser degree. Attitude toward boss showed no validity. There was no evidence of a generalized attitude toward authority which would include father and boss, although such values as the VALIDATION BY THE MULTITRAIT-MULTIMETHOD MATRIX
15,795 citations
TL;DR: The Maudsley Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory (OCI) and Leyton Obsessionality Inventory (LOI) were used by as discussed by the authors to assess perceived levels of parental care and overprotection.
Abstract: The view that those with obsessive compulsive disorder or obsessional personality have been exposed to overcontrolling and overcritical parenting is examined. Two measures of obsessionality (the Maudsley Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory and the Leyton Obsessionality Inventory) were completed by 344 nonclinical subjects. They also scored their parents on the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), a measure assessing perceived levels of parental care and overprotection, before and after controlling for levels of state depression, trait anxiety and neuroticism in the analyses. Those scoring as more obsessional returned higher PBI protection scale scores. Links with PBI care scale scores were less clear, essentially restricted to the Maudsley Inventory, and variably influenced by controlling other variables.
3,197 citations
TL;DR: An extensive literature exists regarding the relationship of life events and depression and it has been generally assumed that most depressions are reactions to events, but some dissent has been expressed.
Abstract: AN extensive literature exists regarding the relationship of life events and depression. The largest group of studies has concerned the descriptive characterization of those events occurring at the onset of depression. There has been particular emphasis on actual or symbolic losses, 1-4 including loss of self-esteem. 5 Others have been concerned with the general presence or absence of stress at onset and have attempted to define a group of endogenous depressions, occurring in the absence of stress, and showing characteristic clinical features. 6-8 Although it has been generally assumed that most depressions are reactions to events, some dissent has been expressed. Hudgens 9 and his colleagues found events uncommon in the six months prior to onset of illness in 40 patients hospitalized with affective disorders. Winokur and Pitts 10 reported reactive depressions to be infrequent and threw doubt on the validity of
960 citations
TL;DR: Using a reliable and valid measure of reported parental care and overprotection (the Parental Bonding Instrument), patients with two types of depressive disorder were compared with a control group and the relationships to depressive experience examined in a non-clinical group.
Abstract: Using a reliable and valid measure of reported parental care and overprotection (the Parental Bonding Instrument) patients with two types of depressive disorder were compared with a control group, and the relationships to depressive experience examined in a non-clinical group as well. Bipolar manic-depressive patients scored like controls whereas neurotic depressives reported less parental care and greater maternal overprotection. Depressive experience in the non-clinical group was negatively associated with low parental care and weakly associated with parental overprotection.
524 citations