Repeated measurement of implicit self-associations in clinical depression: Psychometric, neural, and computational properties.

We examined reliability, clinical correlates, and neural and computational substrates of IAT performance. IAT scores showed adequate (.67–.81) split-half reliability and convergent validity with one another and with relevant explicit symptom measures. Test-retest correlations (in vs. outside the functional MRI scanner) were present but modest (.15–.55). In depressed patients, on average, negative implicit self-representations appeared to be weaker or less efficiently processed relative to positive self-representations; elicited greater recruitment of frontoparietal task network regions; and, according to computational modeling of trial-by-trial data, were driven primarily by differential efficiency of information accumulation for negative and positive attributes. Greater degree of discrepancy between implicit and explicit self-worth predicted depression severity. Overall, these IATs show potential utility in understanding heterogeneous substrates of depression but leave substantial room for improvement. The observed clinical, neural, and computational correlates of implicit self-associations offer novel insights into a simple computer-administered task in a clinical population and point toward heterogeneous depression mechanisms and treatment targets. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)
Source: Journal of Abnormal Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research