Cognitive Therapy and Research

, Volume 13, Issue 2, pp 161–170 | Cite as

The role of automatic negative thoughts in the development of dysphoric mood: An analogue experiment

  • Tore C. Stiles
  • K. Gunnar Götestam
Article

Abstract

Beck's cognitive theory of depression asserts that active, depressogenic schemas produce a thinking pattern characterized by negative thoughts concerning the self, the world, and the future. Factor II of the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ-30) is assumed to be consistent with two (views of self and future) of the three components of this negative cognitive triad. It was hypothesized that nondepressed subjects exhibiting a high frequency of automatic negative thoughts according to their scores on Factor II would be more sensitive to Velten's Mood Induction Procedure (VMIP) than subjects exhibiting a low frequency of such thoughts. The results indicated that high ATQ-30 Factor II scores predicted significantly more depression on the Depression Adjective Checklist (DACL) and lower psychomotor speed as measured on the Digit Symbol Test. High ATQ-30 Factor II scores had no effect on the Minnesota Clerical Test and the Arithmetic Problems. The results support the view that a high frequency of automatic negative thoughts toward the self and the future in nondepressed subjects may indicate a vulnerability to depression at the moment of testing.

Key words

Automatic thoughts depressogenic schemas mood induction 
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Copyright information

© Plenum Publishing Corporation 1989

Authors and Affiliations

  • Tore C. Stiles
    • 1
  • K. Gunnar Götestam
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral MedicineUniversity of Trondheim, Östmarka HospitalTrondheimNorway

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