Construct accessibility, depression and the emotional stroop task: Transient mood or stable structure?

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Abstract

Forty-two women who had volunteered for a project on ‘worrying’ were allocated to a ‘high’ or ‘low’ depressed group on the basis of their scores on the Beck Depression Inventory (short-form). High depression was associated with interferences in colour naming of negative compared to neutral words in an emotional Stroop Task, but this effect was more clearly marked when Ss were allocated to groups on the basis of depression levels ascertained 12 months previously. The results strengthen claims made by Gotlib and McCann (1984) that interference in colour naming of negative material reflects stable biases in construct accessibility in depression-prone individuals rather than transient mood disturbance.

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