Cognitive Organization in Sociotropic and Autonomous Inpatient Depressives

Abstract

Blatt, Beck, and others theorize the existence of two depressive states (labeled anaclitic/sociotropic and introjective/autonomous) as well as corresponding personality types vulnerable to these forms of depressive affect. This study tested two hypotheses. First, we hypothesized that there would be a significant degree of convergence between the two most popular measures of these depressive states in the categorization of inpatient subjects. Second, we predicted distinctive cognitive vulnerabilities underlying these two clinical subtypes. Sixty-three diagnosed inpatient depressives were administered the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ) and the Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale (SAS). The Implication grid (Impgrid) technique was then used to assess presumed cognitive vulnerabilities. Results provided little support for the proposed convergent validity between subscales of the DEQ and SAS, perhaps resulting from the unreliability of the former measure. As predicted, however, hypothetical shifts on achievement constructs oh the Impgrid precipitated more cognitive change for autonomous individuals as identified by the SAS than did shifts on dependency constructs. In contrast, for sociotropic subjects shifts in both the dependency and achievement domains carried similarly substantial implications for their self-construing.