Depressive self-schemas in clinic and nonclinic children

Abstract

Depressed, clinic-referred children were compared to nondepressed, clinic-referred children and to nondepressed, nonclinic children (ages 8–12) on three cognitive measures of positive and negative self-schemas. On word recognition measures, depressed subjects evinced a less positive self-schema, compared to the two nondepressed groups; however, all three groups recognized significantly more positive than negative self-referential words. On incidental word recall measures, depressed children again evinced less of a positive self-schema than did the nondepressed groups. Furthermore, only the nondepressed groups recalled significantly more positive than negative words. On reaction time measures, no differences emerged between the three groups. Results supported the relation of problematic cognitive self-schemas to depression in children, and suggested that such schemas affect both storage and accessibility of new information. Implications for future research are discussed.