A Social-Cognitive Model of Interpersonal Processes in Depression

Considerable evidence has shown that the way others respond to depressed people may play an important role in the development and course of depression. A model is presented that conceptualizes depressogenic interpersonal processes in terms of social-cognitive processes that may underlie interactions involving depressed persons. This working model is intended to be integrative and heuristic. Relevant theory and research from the following areas are incorporated into the model: social cognition (e.g., attributions and trait representations), marital-relationship satisfaction, cognition and affect, and perceptions of others\u27 appraisals. The model is most applicable to the role that interpersonal processes may play in the maintenance or worsening of depression; however, it also suggests ways that similar interpersonal processes may be involved in the development of depression