Biomedical subjects

Willem Van der Does

Publications and source records attributed to Willem Van der Does.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Thought suppression and cognitive vulnerability to depression.

OBJECTIVES: Cognitive reactivity (CR) has been defined as the relative ease with which maladaptive cognitions or cognitive styles are triggered by mild (nonpathological) mood fluctuations. CR has been found to predict relapse of depression (Segal, Gemar and Williams, 1999). This study compared different measures of CR, and also investigated the role of thought suppression as a possible mechanism underlying CR. DESIGN AND METHODS: Participants included 24 previously depressed, and 24 never depressed individuals who underwent a mood induction. They also completed a questionnaire designed to measure CR (LEIDS; Van der Does, 2002a), and participated in the scrambled sentences task (SST). The SST was designed to uncover thought suppression tendencies, and has been shown to discriminate between never depressed and previously depressed samples. RESULTS: LEIDS scores were higher for previously depressed than for never depressed individuals. However, CR as measured with the mood induction did not distinguish between these groups. The LEIDS was correlated with the results of the SST and with self-report measures of thought suppression. CONCLUSION: Active suppression of unwanted thoughts may be involved in the apparent inactive state of depressive cognitions during remission.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Cognitive reactivity to sad mood: structure and validity of a new measure.

Cognitive reactivity to the experimental induction of sad mood has been found to predict relapse in recovered depressed patients. The present report describes the development and test of a questionnaire that aims to measure cognitive reactivity independently from a mood induction procedure. The Leiden Index of Depression Sensitivity (LEIDS) was filled out by 198 participants. After Principal Components Analysis, 26 items were retained, which comprised four factors with good psychometric properties: Negative Self-Evaluation; Acceptance/Coping; Indifference; and Harm Avoidance. In a sample of 48 college students, LEIDS scores--particularly Negative Self-Evaluation and Harm Avoidance--were rather strong predictors of cognitive reactivity in a mood induction procedure. In contrast, baseline depression and baseline cognitive dysfunction did not predict cognitive reactivity. It is concluded that the LEIDS is a promising measure of cognitive reactivity, and that clinical studies need to be carried out to test its ability to predict relapse of depression.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Predictors of mood response to acute tryptophan depletion. A reanalysis.

Acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) induces depressive symptoms in 50-60% of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) treated, recovered depressed patients. However, no reliable predictors of mood response to ATD have been established. In the present study, individual subject data of six ATD studies were pooled ('mega-analysis') in order to investigate the mediating role of clinical, demographic and biochemical characteristics in the mood response to ATD. A procedure was developed to make different versions of the Hamilton scale comparable. Recurrent depressive episodes, female gender, prior exposure to SSRI antidepressant treatment and previous serious suicidal thoughts/attempts all appear to be independent predictors of mood response to ATD. Chronicity of illness is the most powerful predictor. Residual symptoms of depression were not found to predict response to ATD. ATD may be useful to study the mechanism of action of SSRI antidepressants and individual biological vulnerability of the serotonin system. Whether the effects of ATD represent a reversal of the action of SSRI antidepressants or individual vulnerability probably depends upon the timing of the procedure in the course of remission of a depressive episode.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Anxiety sensitivity profile: dimensional structure and relationship with temperament and character.

BACKGROUND: Anxiety sensitivity (AS), the belief that bodily sensations have harmful consequences, is a reliable predictor of panic attacks in both clinical and nonclinical populations. Recently, a new measure of AS has been proposed. The AS profile (ASP) was designed to be a more comprehensive measure of AS, and to be more suitable for the measurement of different AS dimensions. Preliminary evidence (college student sample) suggests that the ASP has 4 dimensions. In the present study, the dimensional structure of the ASP was further investigated, as well as its relationship with temperament and character traits. METHODS: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of ASP scores in two large samples of psychiatric outpatients and nonclinical controls (combined n = 742). Correlations and partial correlations of ASP with temperament and character. RESULTS: Exploratory factor analysis yielded a single AS factor. However, confirmatory factor analysis showed that the 6-dimensional structure, as Taylor and Cox had originally intended it, might be a defendable solution. However, the number of items is much too high, with many subscales consisting of semantic clusters. ASP scores were found to be weakly related to the temperament dimension harm avoidance, corroborating earlier findings that were not statistically significant because of small sample sizes. CONCLUSIONS: The ASP may be shortened from 60 to 24 items without loss of reliability or content. Future studies using challenge paradigms and studies with general hospital patients may further investigate the usefulness of a shortened version of the ASP.

Adult↗