Abstract
Research has consistently documented that depressed individuals process information in a negatively biased manner. There is little evidence, however, concerning whether these biases represent risk factors for depression, as is hypothesized by cognitive models. In the present study we investigated whether a particular cognitive bias observed in currently depressed individuals, the tendency to interpret ambiguous information negatively, characterizes daughters of depressed mothers, a population known to be at increased risk for depression. Following a negative mood induction, young daughters of depressed and never-disordered mothers completed two information-processing tasks in which their interpretations of emotionally ambiguous stimuli were evaluated. Daughters of depressed mothers interpreted ambiguous words more negatively and less positively, and ambiguous stories more negatively, than did daughters of never-disordered mothers. These results provide support for cognitive vulnerability models of depression.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alloy, L. B., Abramson, L. Y., Tashman, N. A., Berrebbi, D. S., Hogan, M. E., Whitehouse, W. G., et al. (2001). Developmental origins of cognitive vulnerability to depression: Parenting, cognitive, and inferential feedback styles of the parents of individuals at high and low cognitive risk for depression. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 25(4), 397–423. doi:10.1023/A:1005534503148.
Ambrosini, P. J. (2000). Historical development and present status of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children (K-SADS). Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 39(1), 49–58. doi:10.1097/00004583-200001000-00016.
Angold, A., Costello, E., & Worthman, C. (1998). Puberty and depression: The roles of age, pubertal status and pubertal timing. Psychological Medicine, 28(1), 51–61. doi:10.1017/S003329179700593X.
APA (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
Barrett, P. M., Rapee, R. M., Dadds, M. M., & Ryan, S. M. (1996). Family enhancement of cognitive style in anxious and aggressive children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 24(2), 187–203. doi:10.1007/BF01441484.
Beck, A. T. (1967). Depression: Clinical, experimental, and theoretical aspects. New York, NY, US: Harper and Row.
Beck, A. T., & Clark, D. A. (1991). Anxiety and depression: An information processing perspective. In R. Schwarzer, & R. A. Wicklund (Eds.), Anxiety and self-focused attention (pp. 41–54). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Harwood.
Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Brown, G. K. (1996). Manual for the Beck Depression Inventory - II. San Antonio, TX, USA: Psychological Corporation.
Belsher, G., & Costello, C. G. (1988). Relapse after recovery from unipolar depression: A critical review. Psychological Bulletin, 104(1), 84–96. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.104.1.84.
Boland, R. J., & Keller, M. B. (2002). Course and outcome of depression. In I. H. Gotlib, & C. L. Hammen (Eds.), Handbook of depression (pp. 43–60). New York, NY, USA: Guilford.
Bower, G. H. (1981). Mood and memory. The American Psychologist, 36(2), 129–148. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.36.2.129.
Bradley, B. P., & Mathews, A. (1983). Negative self-schemata in clinical depression. The British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 22, 173–181.
Butler, G., & Mathews, A. (1983). Cognitive Processes in Anxiety. Advances in Behaviour Research and Therapy, 5, 51–62. doi:10.1016/0146-6402(83)90015-2.
Byrne, D. (1976). Choice reaction times in depressive states. The British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 15(2), 149–156.
Cane, D. B., & Gotlib, I. H. (1985). Depression and the effects of positive and negative feedback on expectations, evaluations, and performance. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 9(2), 145–160. doi:10.1007/BF01204846.
Dineen, K. A., & Hadwin, J. A. (2004). Anxious and depressive symptoms and children’s judgements of their own and others’ interpretation of ambiguous social scenarios. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 18(4), 499–513. doi:10.1016/S0887-6185(03)00030-6.
Field, A. P. (2006). Watch out for the beast: Fear information and attentional bias in children. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 35(3), 431–439. doi:10.1207/s15374424jccp3503_8.
First, M. B., Spitzer, R. L., Gibbon, M., & Williams, J. B. W.(1996). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders - Patient Edition (SCID-I/P, Version 2.0). Biometrics Research Department, New York State Psychiatric Institute.
Forgas, J. P., Bower, G. H., & Krantz, S. E. (1984). The influence of mood on perceptions of social interactions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 20(6), 497–513. doi:10.1016/0022-1031(84)90040-4.
Gadow, K. D., Nolan, E. E., Sprafkin, J., & Schwartz, J. (2002). Tics and psychiatric comorbidity in children and adolescents. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 44(5), 330–338. doi:10.1017/S001216220100216X.
Goodman, S. H., & Gotlib, I. H. (1999). Risk for psychopathology in the children of depressed mothers: A developmental model for understanding mechanisms of transmission. Psychological Review, 106(3), 458–490. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.3.458.
Goodman, S. H., & Gotlib, I. H. (2002). Transmission of risk to children of depressed parents: Integration and conclusions. In S. H. Goodman, & I. H. Gotlib (Eds.), Children of depressed parents: Mechanisms of risk and implications for treatment (pp. 307–326). Washington, DC, USA: American Psychological Association.
Gotlib, I. H., & Goodman, S. H. (1999). Children of parents with depression. In W. K. Silverman, & T. H. Ollendick (Eds.), Developmental issues in the clinical treatment of children (pp. 415–432). Needham Heights, MA, USA: Allyn & Bacon.
Gotlib, I. H., & Krasnoperova, E. (1998). Biased information processing as a vulnerability factor for depression. Behavior Therapy. Special Issue: Behavior Therapy Development and Psychological Science, 29(4), 603–617.
Hadwin, J. A., Garner, M., & Perez-Olivas, G. (2006). The development of information processing biases in childhood anxiety: A review and exploration of its origins in parenting. Clinical Psychology Review. Special Issue: Anxiety of childhood and adolescence: Challenges and opportunities, 26(7), 876–894.
Hammen, C., & Rudolph, K. D. (1996). Childhood depression. In E. J. Mash, & R. A. Barkley (Eds.), Child psychopathology (pp. 153–195). New York, NY, USA: Guilford.
Hand, D. D. (Writer) (1942). Bambi.
Hata, M. (Writer) (1999). Milo and Otis.
Hirsch, C., & Mathews, A. (1997). Interpretive inferences when reading about emotional events. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 35(12), 1123–1132. doi:10.1016/S0005-7967(97)00069-7.
Jaenicke, C., Hammen, C., Zupan, B., Hiroto, D., Gordon, D., Adrian, C., et al. (1987). Cognitive vulnerability in children at risk for depression. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 15(4), 559–572. doi:10.1007/BF00917241.
Joormann, J., Talbot, L., & Gotlib, I. H. (2007). Biased processing of emotional information in girls at risk for depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 116(1), 135–143. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.116.1.135.
Kaufman, J., Birmaher, B., Brent, D., Rao, U., Flynn, C., Moreci, P., et al. (1997). Schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia for school-age children—present and lifetime version (K-SADS-PL): Initial reliability and validity data. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36(7), 980–988. doi:10.1097/00004583-199707000-00021.
Kavanagh, D. J., & Bower, G. H. (1985). Mood and self-efficacy: Impact of joy and sadness on perceived capabilities. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 9(5), 507–525. doi:10.1007/BF01173005.
Kazdin, A. E., French, N. H., & Unis, A. S. (1983). Child, mother, and father evaluations of depression in psychiatric inpatient children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 11(2), 167–180. doi:10.1007/BF00912083.
Keppel, G., Saufley, W. H., & Tokunaga, H. (1992). Introduction to design and analysis: A student’s handbook (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Freeman.
Kessler, R. C. (2002). Epidemiology of depression. In Handbook of depression (pp. 23–42). New York, NY: Guilford.
Kessler, R. C., Berglund, P., Demler, O., Jin, R., Koretz, D., Merikangas, K. R., et al. (2003). The epidemiology of major depressive disorder: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). JAMA. Journal of the American Medical Association, 289(23), 3095–3105. doi:10.1001/jama.289.23.3095.
Kovacs, M. (1981). Rating scales to assess depression in school-aged children. Acta Paedopsychiatrica: International Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 46(5-sup-6), 305–315.
Kovacs, M. (1985). The Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI). Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 21, 995–1124.
Kovacs, M. (1992). The Children’s Depression Inventory manual. New York, NY: Multi-Health Systems.
Lawson, C., & MacLeod, C. (1999). Depression and the interpretation of ambiguity. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 37(5), 463–474. doi:10.1016/S0005-7967(98)00131-4.
Lawson, C., MacLeod, C., & Hammond, G. (2002). Interpretation revealed in the blink of an eye: Depressive bias in the resolution of ambiguity. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 111(2), 321–328. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.111.2.321.
Lewinsohn, P. M., Clarke, G. N., Seeley, J. R., & Rohde, P. (1994). Major depression in community adolescents: Age at onset, episode duration, and time to recurrence. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 33(6), 809–818. doi:10.1097/00004583-199407000-00006.
Lewinsohn, P. M., Rohde, P., Seeley, J. R., Klein, D. N., & Gotlib, I. H. (2000). Natural course of adolescent major depressive disorder in a community sample: Predictors of recurrence in young adults. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 157(10), 1584–1591. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.157.10.1584.
MacLeod, C., & Cohen, I. L. (1993). Anxiety and the interpretation of ambiguity: A text comprehension study. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 102(2), 238–247. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.102.2.238.
MacLeod, C., & Mathews, A. M. (1991). Cognitive-experimental approaches to the emotional disorders. In Handbook of behavior therapy and psychological science: An integrative approach (pp. 116–150). Elmsford, NY: Pergamon.
March, J. S. (1997). Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children: Technical manual. Toronto, ON: Multi-Health Systems.
March, J. S., Parker, J. D. A., Sullivan, K., Stallings, P., & Connors, C. K. (1997). The Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC): Factor structure, reliability, and validity. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36(4), 554–565. doi:10.1097/00004583-199704000-00019.
Mathews, A., & Mackintosh, B. (2000). Induced emotional interpretation bias and anxiety. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 109(4), 602–615. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.109.4.602.
Mogg, K., Bradbury, K. E., & Bradley, B. P. (2006). Interpretation of ambiguous information in clinical depression. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44(10), 1411–1419. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2005.10.008.
Moradi, A. R., Neshat-Doost, H. T., Taghavi, R., Yule, W., & Dalgleish, T. (1999). Performance of children of adults with PTSD on the Stroop color-naming task: A preliminary study. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 12(4), 663–671. doi:10.1023/A:1024721218869.
Nolen-Hoeksema, S., Girgus, J. S., & Seligman, M. E. (1986). Learned helplessness in children: A longitudinal study of depression, achievement, and explanatory style. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(2), 435–442. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.51.2.435.
Nolen-Hoeksema, S., Girgus, J. S., & Seligman, M. E. (1992). Predictors and consequences of childhood depressive symptoms: A 5-year longitudinal study. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 101(3), 405–422. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.101.3.405.
Nunn, J. D., Matthews, A., & Trower, P. (1997). Selective processing of concern-related information in depression. The British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 36(4), 489–503.
Pine, D. S., Klein, R. G., Mannuzza, S., Moulton III, J. L., Lissek, S., Guardino, M., et al. (2005). Face-Emotion Processing in Offspring at Risk for Panic Disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 44(7), 664–672. doi:10.1097/01.chi.0000162580.92029.f4.
Rao, U., Hammen, C., & Daley, S. E. (1999). Continuity of depression during the transition to adulthood: A 5-year longitudinal study of young women. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 38(7), 908–915. doi:10.1097/00004583-199907000-00022.
Scher, C. D., Ingram, R. E., & Segal, Z. V. (2005). Cognitive reactivity and vulnerability: Empirical evaluation of construct activation and cognitive diatheses in unipolar depression. Clinical Psychology Review, 25(4), 487–510. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2005.01.005.
Skre, I., Onstad, S., Torgersen, S., & Kringlen, E. (1991). High interrater reliability for the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III–R Axis I (SCID-I). Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 84(2), 167–173. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1991.tb03123.x.
Stewart, W. F., Ricci, J. A., Chee, E., Hahn, S. R., & Morganstein, D. (2003). Cost of lost productive work time among US workers with depression. JAMA. Journal of the American Medical Association, 289(23), 3135–3144. doi:10.1001/jama.289.23.3135.
Taylor, L., & Ingram, R. E. (1999). Cognitive reactivity and depressotypic information processing in children of depressed mothers. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 108(2), 202–210. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.108.2.202.
Turner, J. E., & Cole, D. A. (1994). Development differences in cognitive diatheses for child depression. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 22(1), 15–32. doi:10.1007/BF02169254.
Wechsler, D. (1991). Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
Weissman, M. M., Wickramaratne, P., Nomura, Y., Warner, V., Pilowsky, D., & Verdeli, H. (2006). Offspring of Depressed Parents: 20 Years Later. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 163(6), 1001–1008. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.163.6.1001.
Westermann, R., Spies, K., Stahl, G., & Hesse, F. W. (1996). Relative effectiveness and validity of mood induction procedures: A meta-analysis. European Journal of Social Psychology, 26(4), 557–580. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-0992(199607)26:4<557::AID-EJSP769>3.0.CO;2-4.
Williams, J. B., Gibbon, M., First, M. B., Spitzer, R. L., Davies, M., Borus, J., et al. (1992). The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III–R (SCID): II. Multisite testetest reliability. Archives of General Psychiatry, 49(8), 630–636.
Williams, J. M. G., Watts, F. N., MacLeod, C., & Mathews, A. (1997). Cognitive psychology and emotional disorders (2nd ed.). Oxford, England: Wiley.
Zefirelli, F. (Writer) (1979). The Champ.
Acknowledgement
This research was supported by a Distinguished Scientist Award from the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Affective Disorders (NARSAD) and grant MH074849 from the National Institute of Mental Health to Ian H. Gotlib.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dearing, K.F., Gotlib, I.H. Interpretation of Ambiguous Information in Girls at Risk for Depression. J Abnorm Child Psychol 37, 79–91 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-008-9259-z
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-008-9259-z