Premium
Perceptions of depression among recovered‐depressed and never‐depressed individuals
Author(s) -
Wernicke Rachel A.,
Pearlman Michelle Y.,
Thorndike Frances P.,
Haaga David A. F.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.20261
Subject(s) - depression (economics) , psychology , empathy , clinical psychology , psychiatry , perception , history of depression , cognition , neuroscience , economics , macroeconomics
Research on lay beliefs about depression has shown that recovered‐depressed people evaluate their own depressive experiences as more distressing than do those who have never experienced major depression. This study tested whether history of depression would influence beliefs about others ' experiences of depression. Recovered‐depressed ( n = 63) and never‐depressed adults ( n = 64) completed the Self‐Appraisal Questionnaire (R‐SAQ; J.C. Coyne & M.M. Calarco, 1995) revised to address perceptions of others' experiences of depression. History of depression was not associated with R‐SAQ scores. In supplementary analyses, self‐reported depression proneness was also uncorrelated with perceptions of others' depression. People without a history of major depression were just as likely to recognize the highly debilitating nature of depression for others. Although nondepressed people frequently fail to convey empathy to friends or relatives who are depressed, this failure probably does not reflect lack of knowledge that depression is incapacitating. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 62: 771–776, 2006.