The patient’s beliefs about the reasons for depression through the perspective of the two-configurations model for depression

Lirit Yaffe & Sigal Zilcha-Mano

Introduction: The individual and interpersonal orientations focus can be found in several theoretical approaches aimed at understanding adaptive and psychopathological personality, e.g. the two-configurations model to psychopathology (Blatt; 1974). The model makes a distinction between two kinds of depression- anaclitic (relatedness) and introjective (self-definition) through the "subjective" experiences of depression other than symptoms (Blatt et al., 1982). Recent research focused on the relation between the patients' beliefs about the reasons for his depression and different patients' characteristics. Addis, Truax, & Jacobson (1995) developed the Reasons For Depression questionnaire (RFD) to measure the patient's subjective understanding of the causes of their depression. The RFD assesses two RFD orientations: interpersonal and autonomous. The reasons depressed patient's report for their depression are thought to be related to patient’s characteristics and important predictors of therapy process and outcome.
Aim: The interpersonal and individual dimensions congruent between both reasons for depression and the two-configurations model. The current study aims to examine the association between Addis's RFD dimensions with specific interpersonal problems, attachment style and self-criticism- blatt's dimension for depression in a sample of depressive patients.
Method: The study is based on data from 100 participants diagnosed with MDD according to the DSM-IV who sought psychodynamic treatment for depression. Participants completed the Reasons For Depression questionnaire (RFD), Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP-32), Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (ECR), the self-criticism scale of Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ) and were administered the semi structured Hamilton rating scale for depression (HRSD).