A personal construct study of depression.

Abstract

Twelve out-patients with a 'definite' or 'probable' diagnosis of major depressive disorder were treated by the author using personal construct psychotherapy (Kelly, 1955). Changes in their construct systems were monitored at intervals during the course of therapy using traditional role construct repertory grids and 'multiple perception of the self' grids. The level of depression was measured on each occasion of testing using psychiatric and self-rating depression scales. The most important findings were that high levels of depression were associated with low levels of 'conflict' and a cluster of variables to do with the construing of self, namely negative self-construing, low self-esteem and perceived self-isolation. As the depression lifted during the course of psychotherapy, there was a significant increase in the amount of 'conflict' and in the level of self-esteem, and a significant decrease in the level of self-isolation. The fact that over time the 'multiple perception of self' grids changed significantly more than the grids concerned with the construing of the self and others is interpreted as further evidence of the crucial role that the self-concept plays in depression.