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Autobiographical memory and post‐psychotic depression in first episode psychosis
Author(s) -
Iqbal Zaffer,
Birchwood Max,
Hemsley David,
Jackson Chris,
Morris Emma
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
british journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.479
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8260
pISSN - 0144-6657
DOI - 10.1348/014466504772812995
Subject(s) - psychology , psychosis , autobiographical memory , depression (economics) , psychotic depression , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , psychiatry , clinical psychology , psychotherapist , cognition , economics , macroeconomics
Objectives: In unipolar depression, the action of early life events has been shown to be linked to a deficit in accessing details of such autobiographical events (‘overgeneral memory’). In this study, we test whether a similar deficit can be observed in post‐psychotic depression (PPD) in first‐episode psychosis. Method: A group of 29 patients were followed up during the 12 months after their first onset, and monitored for PPD. Results: Of the sample group, 45% developed PPD, which was associated with overgeneral memory ( p < .05; effect size = 1.05) and a heightened awareness of the diagnosis. Conclusions: Our findings raise the possibility that anomalies of psychosocial development may confer vulnerability to depression in psychosis.