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Preliminary Evidence for Sociotropy and Autonomy in Relation to Antidepressant Treatment Outcome

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Abstract

Sociotropy and autonomy are cognitive-personality styles that have been hypothesized to confer vulnerability to different presentations of major depressive disorder (MDD), which may respond differentially to treatment. Specifically, the profile of low sociotropy and high autonomy is hypothesized to indicate a positive response to antidepressant medication. The current study examines sociotropy and autonomy in relation to sertraline treatment response in individuals with MDD. As part of an ancillary study to the larger Establishing Moderators and Biosignatures of Antidepressant Response for Clinical Care (EMBARC) project, individuals with MDD participated in an 8-week trial of sertraline and completed a self-report questionnaire of sociotropy and autonomy. Discriminant function analyses were used to examine whether sociotropy and autonomy scores could distinguish antidepressant treatment responders (determined by a 50% or greater reduction in depressive symptoms) from non-responders. The sociotropy scale successfully discriminated sertraline treatment responders from non-responders. Further, lower sociotropy was associated with greater improvements in depressive symptomology following sertraline treatment. The current findings suggest individuals with MDD characterized by low sociotropy are more likely to benefit from sertraline. Given the promising results of the Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale in discriminating treatment responders from non-responders, the low resources necessary for administration, and the ease of translation into routine clinical care, the scale warrants further research attention.

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Funding

The Establishing Moderators and Biosignatures of Antidepressant Response in Clinical Care (EMBARC) study was supported by NIMH grants U01MH092221 (PI: MHT) and U01MH092250 (PIs: McGrath, Parsey, and Weissman). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. This work was supported by the EMBARC National Coordinating Center at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Madhukar H. Trivedi, M.D., Coordinating PI, and the Data Center at Columbia and Stony Brook Universities, and a Rackham Graduate Student Research Grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Ryan Cardinale, Margo W. Menkes & Patricia J. Deldin

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan/Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Margo W. Menkes, Carolyn M. Andrews, Melvin G. McInnis & Patricia J. Deldin

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Christian A. Webb

  4. Department of Psychiatry, Center for Depression Research and Clinical Care, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA

    Manish K. Jha, Joseph M. Trombello & Madhukar H. Trivedi

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  1. Ryan Cardinale
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  2. Margo W. Menkes
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  3. Carolyn M. Andrews
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  4. Christian A. Webb
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  5. Manish K. Jha
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  7. Madhukar H. Trivedi
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  8. Melvin G. McInnis
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  9. Patricia J. Deldin
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Correspondence to Margo W. Menkes.

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Cardinale, R., Menkes, M.W., Andrews, C.M. et al. Preliminary Evidence for Sociotropy and Autonomy in Relation to Antidepressant Treatment Outcome. Psychiatr Q 92, 1069–1077 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-021-09891-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-021-09891-1

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