Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by multiple symptoms such as
psychomotor retardation, sleep disturbances, and cognitive deficits in decision making. The
current study explores the relationships between cognitive variables and depressive
symptomology and seeks to determine what predictive relationships exist between these
constructs and if items from these constructs can accurately classify depressed persons. A normal
sample of N = 116 participants were administered the Center for Epidemiologic Studies
Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977) as well as the Adult Hope Scale (ADH; Snyder et al.,
1991), the Index of Autonomous Functioning(IAF; Weinstein, Przybylski, & Ryan, 2012), the
Life Orientation Test-Revised(LOT-R; Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994), the Zimbardo Time
Perspective Inventory(ZTPI; Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999), the Rumination Reflection
Questionnaire(RRQ; Trapnell & Campbell, 1999), and the Automated Working Memory
Assessment-II (AWMA; Alloway, 2012b). A stepwise linear regression analysis determined that
the Pessimism and Optimism subscales of the LOT-R, the Present Fatalism subscale of the ZTPI,
and the Hope Agency subscale of the AHS significantly predicted depression in participants. One
item each from the Optimism and Pessimism subscales, two items from the Present Fatalism
subscale, and one item from the Hope Agency subscale accurately classified between 67-82% of
the depressed (n = 42) and non-depressed (n = 64) persons in the sample. The implications of
these findings for therapy and cognitive approaches to understanding depression as well as the
relationships between the predictor variables themselves are discussed.