The change of Personal constructs in people with depression along the therapeutic process

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to carry an analysis of the content of the personal constructs, evaluated with the Repertory Grid technique (TR), in people with depression (PD). Using the classification system for personal constructs (SCCP), the results of a first study show that the emotional issues are especially evident for PD. With the aim of knowing the role that affective dimension plays on the maintenance of the depressive difficulties, a longitudinal survey is performed in order to explore in which way these constructs are modified as a result of a therapeutical process; and a comparison is made with a non-clinical sample (NC).The main results of this study show that there haven‘t been significant changes between the evaluation made before and after the therapeutical process; however, yet there are significant differences between the evaluation following the therapeutical process and the NC group. We conclude, that the focus PD put on the affective dimension, does not seem to play a very relevant role in the maintenance of the depressive symptomatology, although it could be a cognitive style that predisposes oneself to express this kind of symptomatology.