Mediating effects of automatic thoughts in facilitating and reducing depression

In the context of self-complexity theory, the present study examined how 2 cognitive processes, one that facilitates depression and another that reduces it, are mediated by self-appraisals. University and vocational school students (N = 95) performed a self-description task so that their self-complexity (i.e., elaborations of self-schema) could be assessed ; they also completed a questionnaire about positive and negative automatic thoughts and depression. Structural equation modeling revealed that (1) negative self-complexity facilitated depression indirectly through negative automatic thoughts, and (2) positive self-complexity reduced depression indirectly through positive automatic thoughts. These findings suggest that selfappraisals play a mediating role in facilitating and reducing depression. Implications of the model for intervention are discussed.