Depressotypic Cognitive Patterns in Major Depression and Conjugal Bereavement

Abstract

The reaction to the death of a spouse is thought to be very similar to a major depressive episode. What little systematic research has been done in this area, however, has indicated that the bereaved may be differentiated from the depressed in terms of cognitive style. Based on Beck's cognitive theory of depression, the primary purpose of the present study was to investigate the differences among both uncomplicated (i.e., nondepressed) and depressed reactions to conjugal bereavement, and major depression unrelated to the death of a spouse. Psychometrically-derived assessment procedures were utilized in an attempt to contrast these populations in terms of intensity of depressive mood and pattern of depressotypic cognition. Both the uncomplicated and the depressed bereaved evidenced a less intense depressive mood, and a less dysfunctional pattern of depressotypic cognition, than did the nonbereaved psychiatric depressed. It was concluded, therefore, that a “bereavement depression” was not tantamount to a “nonbereavement depression,” at least in terms of cognitive functioning. Future research will serve to clarify the role of certain “personality” characteristics, such as cognitive style, in grief and depression.