Depression-related cognitions: antecedent or consequence?

The goal of this longitudinal study was to determine whether cognitions known to be correlated with depression precede, accompany, or follow an episode of depression. Depression-related cognitions and self-esteem were measured in a large community sample (N = 998) that was subsequently followed for 1 year. Sixty-three subjects were depressed at the time of assessment, 85 became depressed during the follow-up period, and 115 had a history of depression but were not depressed at the initial assessment. The results were generally consistent with the hypothesis that depression-related cognitions arise concomittantly with an episode of depression. The currently depressed subjects differed from nondepressed subjects as expected; however, participants who were to become depressed during the course of the study did not differ from controls on the cognitive measures. In addition, depressive cognitions did not seem to be permanent residuals of an episode. Although the depression-related cognitions did not predict future depression, they did predict improvement; depressed subjects with more negative cognitions were significantly less likely to improve during the follow-up period.