TY  - JOUR
A1  - Frick, Artjom
A1  - Thinnes, Isabel
A1  - Hofmann, Stefan G.
A1  - Windmann, Sabine
A1  - Stangier, Ulrich
T1  - Reduced social connectedness and compassion toward close others in patients with chronic depression compared to a non-clinical sample
T2  - Frontiers in psychiatry
N2  - Reduced social functioning in depression has been explained by different factors. Reduced social connectedness and prosocial motivation may contribute to interpersonal difficulties, particularly in chronic depression. In the present study, we tested whether social connectedness and prosocial motivation are reduced in chronic depression. Forty-seven patients with persistent depression and 49 healthy controls matched for age and gender completed the Inclusion of the Other in the Self Scale (IOS), the Compassionate Love Scale (CLS), the Beck Depression Inventory-II, and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. A Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) with IOS and CLS as dependent variables revealed a highly significant difference between both groups. The IOS and the CLS-subscale Close Others were lower in persistent depression, whereas there was no difference in the CLS-subscale Strangers/Humanity. IOS and CLS-Close Others showed significant negative correlations with depressive symptoms. Connectedness to family members as measured by the IOS was negatively correlated with childhood trauma in patients with chronic depression. The results indicate that compassion and perceived social connection are reduced in depressed patients toward close others, but not to others in general. Implications for the treatment of depression are discussed.
KW  - social connectedness
KW  - interpersonal closeness
KW  - prosocial motivation
KW  - compassion
KW  - compassionate love
KW  - chronic depression
KW  - persistent depressive disorder
Y1  - 2021
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/61098
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-610989
SN  - 1664-0640
VL  - 12
IS  - art. 608607
SP  - 1
EP  - 9
PB  - Frontiers Research Foundation
CY  - Lausanne
ER  -