Trusting behavior and depressive symptoms

Abstract

Economic games have been shown to be an effective way to assess interpersonal impairment, which is associated with depression. Because trust is a key element in all social interaction, we tested whether trust, assessed with an economic game, is negatively associated with depressive symptoms. Participants (n = 163) took part in a distrust game and completed the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS), and demographic questions. Multiple regression analysis estimated the relationship between the outcome of the distrust game and the cut-off scores of the PHQ-9, those of the DASS depression scale, and a depressive dichotomous score created using the cut-off scores from the PHQ-9 and the DASS depression subscale. The cut-off scores of the PHQ-9, the DASS depression scale, and the depressive dichotomous score separately predicted trust. The distrust game could be useful in further research into underlying mechanisms in interpersonal impairments and deficits in decision making in depression, which could lead to the development of interventions aimed at reducing the interpersonal impairments often associated with mental health.