Publication Date

1984

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Katkovsky, Walter

Degree Name

M.A. (Master of Arts)

Legacy Department

Department of Psychology

LCSH

Rehm; Lynn pages; Depression; Mental; Mentally ill--Care; College students--Psychology

Abstract

The present study examined the validity of hypotheses derived from Rehm's self-control model of depression. Specifically, the components of Rehm's hypothesized feedback loop (self-monitoring, self-evaluation, and self-reinforcement) were examined in relation to level of depression, sex of the subject, and the effects of induced expectancies of success and subsequent task difficulty. Subjects were male and female college students selected as depressed (n=32) or nondepressed (n=37) by means of the Zung and Beck depression scales. Subjects were called in individually and asked to perform a task consisting of the recognition of trigrams. The results lend some support to Rehm's theory. The self-monitoring data proved to be significantly different for the depressed and nondepressed groups. However, while the self-evaluation and self-reinforcement data tended to be in the predicted direction (that is, depressed persons showing deficits in these components) it did not prove to be significantly different for the two groups. This is consistent with previous studies utilizing a mildly depressed college sample and is discussed in terms of the use of a mildly depressed sample to study the phenomenon of depression and the artificial nature of the experimental task.

Comments

Bibliography: pages 91-96.

Extent

ix, 138 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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