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The Depression Schema: How Labels, Features, and Causal Explanations Affect Lay Conceptions of Depression

Depression is a common clinical disorder characterized by a complex web of psychological, behavioral, and neurological causes and symptoms. Here we investigate everyday beliefs and attitudes about depression, as well as the factors that shape the depression schemas people hold. In each of three stud...

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Autores principales: Thibodeau, Paul H., Fein, Mira J., Goodbody, Elizabeth S., Flusberg, Stephen J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4648076/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26635653
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01728
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author Thibodeau, Paul H.
Fein, Mira J.
Goodbody, Elizabeth S.
Flusberg, Stephen J.
author_facet Thibodeau, Paul H.
Fein, Mira J.
Goodbody, Elizabeth S.
Flusberg, Stephen J.
author_sort Thibodeau, Paul H.
collection PubMed
description Depression is a common clinical disorder characterized by a complex web of psychological, behavioral, and neurological causes and symptoms. Here we investigate everyday beliefs and attitudes about depression, as well as the factors that shape the depression schemas people hold. In each of three studies, participants read about a person experiencing several symptoms of depression and answered questions about their conception of the disorder. In some cases the symptoms were presented in isolation while in other cases the symptoms were presented with a diagnostic label and/or descriptions of its possible causes (e.g., genes versus personal experience). Results indicated that beliefs and attitudes toward depression were largely shaped by individual difference factors (e.g., personal experience, political ideology) and that the experimental manipulations primarily impacted attributions of responsibility and suggestions for a course of treatment. These findings represent an important advance in our understanding of the factors that influence the folk psychiatry of depression and help inform theories of schema formation for abstract and complex domains.
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spelling pubmed-46480762015-12-03 The Depression Schema: How Labels, Features, and Causal Explanations Affect Lay Conceptions of Depression Thibodeau, Paul H. Fein, Mira J. Goodbody, Elizabeth S. Flusberg, Stephen J. Front Psychol Psychology Depression is a common clinical disorder characterized by a complex web of psychological, behavioral, and neurological causes and symptoms. Here we investigate everyday beliefs and attitudes about depression, as well as the factors that shape the depression schemas people hold. In each of three studies, participants read about a person experiencing several symptoms of depression and answered questions about their conception of the disorder. In some cases the symptoms were presented in isolation while in other cases the symptoms were presented with a diagnostic label and/or descriptions of its possible causes (e.g., genes versus personal experience). Results indicated that beliefs and attitudes toward depression were largely shaped by individual difference factors (e.g., personal experience, political ideology) and that the experimental manipulations primarily impacted attributions of responsibility and suggestions for a course of treatment. These findings represent an important advance in our understanding of the factors that influence the folk psychiatry of depression and help inform theories of schema formation for abstract and complex domains. Frontiers Media S.A. 2015-11-17 /pmc/articles/PMC4648076/ /pubmed/26635653 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01728 Text en Copyright © 2015 Thibodeau, Fein, Goodbody and Flusberg. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
Thibodeau, Paul H.
Fein, Mira J.
Goodbody, Elizabeth S.
Flusberg, Stephen J.
The Depression Schema: How Labels, Features, and Causal Explanations Affect Lay Conceptions of Depression
title The Depression Schema: How Labels, Features, and Causal Explanations Affect Lay Conceptions of Depression
title_full The Depression Schema: How Labels, Features, and Causal Explanations Affect Lay Conceptions of Depression
title_fullStr The Depression Schema: How Labels, Features, and Causal Explanations Affect Lay Conceptions of Depression
title_full_unstemmed The Depression Schema: How Labels, Features, and Causal Explanations Affect Lay Conceptions of Depression
title_short The Depression Schema: How Labels, Features, and Causal Explanations Affect Lay Conceptions of Depression
title_sort depression schema: how labels, features, and causal explanations affect lay conceptions of depression
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4648076/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26635653
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01728
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