Abstract
Chronically depressed outpatients participated in a study of the role-play assessment of social skill. Patients role-played a series of standard situations typical of those employed in social-skills research and additional scenes drawn from critical situations in their personal lives. These “personalized” role-play situations were perceived as more relevant by patients and resulted in more discomfort and less skillful interpersonal behavior than standard scenes. Behavioral measures derived from personalized role plays were also found to be more strongly related to measures of depression than the same measures derived from the standard role-play scenes. Implications of these findings for the role-play assessment of social skill are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beck, A. T., Ward, C. H., Mendelson, M., Mock, J., & Erbaugh, J. (1961). An inventory for measuring depression.Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 561–571.
Becker, R. E., & Heimberg, R. G. (in press). Social skills training approaches. In A. S. Bellack & M. Hersen (Eds.),Handbook of clinical behavior therapy with adults. New York: Plenum Press.
Bellack, A. S. (1983). Recurrent problems in the behavioral assessment of social skill.Behaviour Research and Therapy, 21, 29–41.
Bellack, A. S., Hersen, M., & Turner, S. M. (1978). Roleplay tests for assessing social skill: Are they valid?Behavior Therapy, 9, 448–461.
Bellack, A. S., Hersen, M., & Lamparski, D. (1979). Roleplay tests for assessing social skill: Are they valid? Are they useful?Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 47, 335–342.
Bellack, A. S., Hersen, M., & Turner, S. M. (1979). Relationship of roleplaying and knowledge of appropriate behavior to assertion in the natural environment.Journal of Consulting and Clincal Psychology, 47, 670–678.
Bellack, A. S., Hersen, M., & Himmelhoch, J. M. (1983). A comparison of social skills training, pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy for depression.Behaviour Research and Therapy, 21, 101–107.
Coyne, J. C. (1976a). Depression and the response of others.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 85, 186–193.
Coyne, J. C. (1976b). Toward an interactional description of depression.Psychiatry, 39, 28–40.
Endicott, J., & Spitzer, R. L. (1978). A diagnostic interview for affective disorders and schizophrenia.Archives of General Psychiatry, 35, 837–844.
Gibbon, M., McDonald-Scott, P., & Endicott, J. (1981). Mastering the art of research interviewing.Archives of General Psychiatry, 38, 1259–1262.
Green, S. B., Burkhart, B. R., & Harrison, W. H. (1979). Personality correlates of self-report, roleplaying, and in vivo measures of assertiveness.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 47, 16–24.
Hamilton, D. A. (1960). Development of a rating scale for depression.Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 23, 56–62.
Higgins, R. L., Alonso, R. R., & Pendleton, M. G. (1979). The validity of roleplay assessments of assertiveness.Behavior Therapy, 10, 655–662.
Kern, J. M. (1982). The comparative external and concurrent validity of three roleplays for assessing heterosocial performance.Behavior Therapy, 13, 666–680.
Kern, J. M., Miller, C., & Eggers, J. (1983). Enhancing the validity of roleplay tests: A comparison of three roleplay methodologies.Behavior Therapy, 14, 482–492.
McNamara, J. R., & Blumer, C. (1982). Roleplaying to assess social competence: Ecological validity considerations.Behavior Modification, 6, 519–549.
Raskin, A., Schulterbrandt, J., Reatig, N., & Rice, C. (1967). Factors of psychopathology in interview, ward behavior, and self-report ratings of hospitalized depressives.Journal of Consulting Psychology, 31, 270–278.
Schwartz, R. M., & Gottman, J. M. (1976). Toward a task analysis of assertive behavior.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 44, 910–920.
Spitzer, R. L., Endicott, J., & Robins, E. (1978). Research Diagnostic Criteria: Rationale and reliability.Archives of General Psychiatry, 35, 773–782.
Stotsky, S. M., & Glass, D. R. (1982). Guidlines to the Hamilton depression rating scale. Unpublished manuscript. George Washington University Medical Center, Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research Program.
Vincent, J. P., Friedman, L. C., Nugent, J., & Messerly, L. (1979). Demand characteristics in observations of marital interactions.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 47, 557–566.
Weissman, M. M., & Akiskal, H. S. (1984). The role of psychotherapy in chronic depressions: A proposal.Comprehensive Psychiatry, 25, 23–30.
Wessberg, H. W., Mariotto, M. J., Conger, A. J., Farrell, A. D., & Conger, J. C. (1979). Ecological validity of roleplays for assessing heterosocial anxiety and skill of male college students.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 47, 525–535.
Wolpe, J., & Lazarus, A. A. (1966).Behavior therapy techniques. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Preparation of this manuscript was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant MH35999-02 to Robert E. Becker and Richard G. Heimberg.
We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Joyce Blaise, Robert Ewart, and Ann Mundt in data collection and scoring.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chiauzzi, E.J., Heimberg, R.G., Becker, R.E. et al. Personalized versus standard role plays in the assessment of depressed patients' social skill. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 7, 121–133 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00961078
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00961078