Language use of depressed and depression-vulnerable college students

Authors: Stephanie Rude; Eva-Maria Gortner; James Pennebaker

Source: Cognition and Emotion, Volume 18, Number 8, December 2004 , pp. 1121-1133(13)

Publisher: Psychology Press, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

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Abstract:

Essays written by currently-depressed, formerly-depressed, and never-depressed college students were examined for differences in language that might shed light on the cognitive operations associated with depression and depression-vulnerability. A text analysis program computed the incidence of words in predesignated categories. Consistent with Beck's cognitive model and with Pyczsinski and Greenberg's self-focus model of depression, depressed participants used more negatively valenced words and used the word, "I" more than did never-depressed participants. Formerly-depressed (presumably depression-vulnerable) participants did not differ from never-depressed participants on these indices of depressive processing. However, consistent with prediction, formerly-depressed participants' use of the word "I" increased across the essays and was significantly greater than that of never-depressed writers in the final portion of the essays.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02699930441000030

Affiliations: 1: University of Texas at Austin, USA

Publication date: 2004-12-01

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