An experimental investigation of causal explanations for depression and willingness to accept treatment

The present study was aimed at experimentally investigating effects of causal explanations for depression on treatment-seeking behavior and beliefs. Participants at a large Southern university (N = 139; 78% female; average age 19.77) received bogus screening results indicating high depression risk,...

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Main Author: Salem, Taban
Other Authors: Eric Samuel Winer
Format: Others
Language:en
Published: MSSTATE 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://sun.library.msstate.edu/ETD-db/theses/available/etd-06292018-104132/
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spelling ndltd-MSSTATE-oai-library.msstate.edu-etd-06292018-1041322019-05-15T18:44:01Z An experimental investigation of causal explanations for depression and willingness to accept treatment Salem, Taban Psychology The present study was aimed at experimentally investigating effects of causal explanations for depression on treatment-seeking behavior and beliefs. Participants at a large Southern university (N = 139; 78% female; average age 19.77) received bogus screening results indicating high depression risk, then viewed an explanation of depression etiology (fixed biological vs. malleable) before receiving a treatment referral (antidepressant vs. psychotherapy). Participants accepted the cover story at face value, but some expressed doubts about the screening tasks ability to properly assess their individual depression. Within the skeptics, those given a fixed biological explanation for depression were relatively unwilling to accept either treatment, but those given a malleable explanation were much more willing to accept psychotherapy. Importantly, differences in skepticism were not due to levels of actual depressive symptoms. The present findings indicate that information about the malleability of depression may have a protective effect for persons who otherwise would not accept treatment. Eric Samuel Winer Cliff McKinney Michael R. Nadorff Jennifer C. Veilleux MSSTATE 2018-08-14 text application/pdf http://sun.library.msstate.edu/ETD-db/theses/available/etd-06292018-104132/ http://sun.library.msstate.edu/ETD-db/theses/available/etd-06292018-104132/ en unrestricted I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, Dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Mississippi State University Libraries or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, Dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, Dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, Dissertation, or project report.
collection NDLTD
language en
format Others
sources NDLTD
topic Psychology
spellingShingle Psychology
Salem, Taban
An experimental investigation of causal explanations for depression and willingness to accept treatment
description The present study was aimed at experimentally investigating effects of causal explanations for depression on treatment-seeking behavior and beliefs. Participants at a large Southern university (N = 139; 78% female; average age 19.77) received bogus screening results indicating high depression risk, then viewed an explanation of depression etiology (fixed biological vs. malleable) before receiving a treatment referral (antidepressant vs. psychotherapy). Participants accepted the cover story at face value, but some expressed doubts about the screening tasks ability to properly assess their individual depression. Within the skeptics, those given a fixed biological explanation for depression were relatively unwilling to accept either treatment, but those given a malleable explanation were much more willing to accept psychotherapy. Importantly, differences in skepticism were not due to levels of actual depressive symptoms. The present findings indicate that information about the malleability of depression may have a protective effect for persons who otherwise would not accept treatment.
author2 Eric Samuel Winer
author_facet Eric Samuel Winer
Salem, Taban
author Salem, Taban
author_sort Salem, Taban
title An experimental investigation of causal explanations for depression and willingness to accept treatment
title_short An experimental investigation of causal explanations for depression and willingness to accept treatment
title_full An experimental investigation of causal explanations for depression and willingness to accept treatment
title_fullStr An experimental investigation of causal explanations for depression and willingness to accept treatment
title_full_unstemmed An experimental investigation of causal explanations for depression and willingness to accept treatment
title_sort experimental investigation of causal explanations for depression and willingness to accept treatment
publisher MSSTATE
publishDate 2018
url http://sun.library.msstate.edu/ETD-db/theses/available/etd-06292018-104132/
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