The validity of the Rorschach Depression Index as a measure of cognitive depression

Most studies that have examined the Rorschach Depression Index (DEPI) have not attempted to relate findings to the cognitive biases seen in depressed individuals, even though inkblots are relatively ambiguous and can be processed in a manner congruent with the respondent's schemas. This study examined the validity of the Rorschach to measure cognitively pessimistic depression. It was hypothesized that participants who scored highly on the DEPI would respond in a negatively biased manner to seven criterion measures of cognitive processing. The results suggested that cognitive processing biases are difficult to assess and likely to be multifaceted in nature. Because the present research was limited by a variety of confounds, the relationship among the criterion measures and between the criterion and predictor variables were generally poor. However, as hypothesized, a significant positive relationship was found between a high score on the Rorschach Depression Index and the depressive interpretation of ambiguous sentences.