Masters Theses

Date of Award

12-2013

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

Psychology

Major Professor

Derek R. Hopko

Committee Members

Jennifer Bolden, Lance T. Laurence

Abstract

Performance deficits on cognitive tasks have been demonstrated consistently in depressed and anxious individuals. Processing efficiency theory asserts that these deficits might be accounted for by task-irrelevant processes, including the negative impact of rumination. This study was designed to better understand the relationship between cognitive deficits and depression by creating a ruminative state in healthy control subjects to determine if they would exhibit performance deficits similar to those observed in patients with depression. Specifically, the effect of rumination induction on select subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) was examined. Participants were college students with no current depression, anxiety, ADHD, or substance abuse disorders, who also are not currently taking psychoactive medications or receiving psychotherapy. Participants were randomized to a rumination or distraction condition and administered subtests from the WAIS-IV hypothesized to be most affected by rumination and depression. Controlling for test, math, and trait anxiety, as well as pre-experimental rumination, individuals in the rumination condition performed more poorly on one subtest within the processing speed domain, as well as on the Processing Speed Index score. These results support the processing efficiency model of cognitive deficits in depression, suggesting that rumination induction interferes in the efficient completion of mental tasks. Future research can build on these findings by studying this model in a clinical population and by continuing to improve the effectiveness of mood induction tasks for research on the effects of this widespread and significantly impairing disorder.

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