Date of Submission

2007

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Psychology

Department Chair

Robert A. DiTomasso, Ph.D., ABPP

First Advisor

Christopher Royer, Psy.D., Chairperson

Second Advisor

Stephanie H. Felgoise, Ph.D., ABPP

Third Advisor

Tina Woodruff, Ed.D.

Abstract

The Goodwin Sentence Completion Test (GSCT) was developed as a screening instrument for clinical depression. This instrument, composed of 25 sentence stems, was designed to indicate the level depression and to assess the strength of negative perceptions associated with dimensions of the cognitive triad (self, world, and future). Although the GSCT follows the typical format of most projective sentence completion tests, an objective scoring method was also constructed in order to evaluate more reliably individual results. The tool was administered to 80 adult volunteers ranging in age from 18 to 72 years of age. Volunteers were randomly selected from a variety of public and private settings and represented diverse cultural, socio-economic, and educational backgrounds. Participant scores from the GSCT were compared with scores gleaned from the second edition of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) and the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HDI). Results supported the primary hypothesis, which predicted statistical significance and a positive correlation between GSCT scores and scores from the BDI-II and HDI tests. As anticipated, the investigation also highlighted the strength of any negative or depressive attributes related to self-based, world-based, and future-based perceptions evaluated through GSCT subtest items. Further analyses also found a positive correlation between the aforementioned GSCT subtest items, the BDI-II, HDI, and the HDI Melancholia Subscale.

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