Key words: cognitive reactivity, depression relapse/recurrence, cognitive factors.

Although our understanding of the processes implicated in acute episodes of major depressive disorder has expanded in recent years, relatively little work has gone into exploring mechanisms associated with the chronic and recurrent nature of this disorde

A strength of Joiner's article is his description of the various depression-linked interpersonal transactions. His distinction between erosive and self-propagatory processes, for example, is a useful characterization of the ways in which depression impacts on patients' interpersonal capacities. However, this taxonomy, as presented, is still primarily a set of observations. Joiner offers little in the way of a theory that, at least conceptually, would explain how these specific processes arise. Our reading of the literature suggests considerable support for a view of interpersonal transactions as interacting with cognitive processes that involve the activation of depressive knowledge structures. Joiner admits to this possibility when he nominates "rumination is the `cognitive motor' that drives such behaviors as excessive reassurance-seeking and negative feedback-seeking." In fact, recent cognitively based approaches have been able to model depressive recurrence with some degree of success.

r. With multiple determinants likely implicated in this aspect of depression (Judd, 1997), clarifying the role of psychological factors could advance our understanding of this troubling feature of the illness. Joiner's article (this issue) is a provocative and timely example of such work, linking the problem of depression's chronic nature to the continued reliance on maladaptive interpersonal response styles.

Moreover, cognitive reactivity has, in recent years, garnered empirical support as a possible causal risk factor according to precisely those criteria outlined by Kraemer et al. (1997). First, there is a strong association between a history of depression and processing differences under conditions of mildly depressed mood (Miranda & Persons, 1988). Second, recent da

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