@article{ref1,
title="Comparison of dysfunctional attitudes, cognitive vulnerability to depression, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in healthy participants",
journal="BMC psychology",
year="2024",
author="Muraosa, Haruka and Shirata, Toshinori and Saito, Yusuke and Noto, Keisuke and Suzuki, Akihito",
volume="12",
number="1",
pages="e185-e185",
abstract="BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, depression and suicide rates increased worldwide, and in Japan. Presumably, an increase of neuroticism-related personality traits mediates the relation linking the COVID-19 pandemic with depression and suicide. This study examined COVID-19 pandemic effects on dysfunctional attitudes, cognitive vulnerability to depression, in healthy participants. <br><br>METHODS: The study used Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) -24 data of three subscales (i.e., achievement, dependency, and self-control) obtained from 270 Japanese medical students during October 2017 - June 2022. Participants were divided into two groups: those for whom DAS-24 was assessed before the pandemic (phase 1 group, October 2017 - March 2020, n = 178) and those for whom DAS-24 was assessed during the pandemic (phase 2 group, April 2020 - June 2022, n = 92). <br><br>RESULTS: Total DAS-24 scores of the phase 2 group were significantly (p = 0.047) lower than those of the phase 1 group. Scores of the dependency subscale for the phase 2 group were significantly (p = 0.002) lower than those for the phase 1 group, but no significant difference was found in the scores of the achievement and self-control subscales. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that a decrease in DAS-24 scores, particularly of the dependency subscale, occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Possible mechanisms underlying these results are 1) individuals became less preoccupied with receiving evaluation, 2) individuals realized that self-cognition depending on the approval of others is unimportant, and 3) high levels of dysfunctional attitude were maladaptive for obtaining affective benefits via social interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="2050-7283",
doi="10.1186/s40359-024-01674-0",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-01674-0"
}