Background: Not surprisingly, women in violent relationships often experience symptoms of depression. Although most people desire praise and positive feedback, individuals who are depressed often seek either negative or "even-handed" self-relevant information. The relative lack of positive feedback-seeking exhibited by depressed individuals may have implications for understanding the difficulty that survivors of domestic violence have leaving and remaining apart from abusive partners.
Methods: This study was designed to assess the relative preference for self-relevant information in two groups of women: women who experienced domestic violence (DV group) and women who did not have these experiences (no-DV group).
Results and conclusions: The DV group (n=30), relative to the no-DV group (n=28), desired less positive (or relatively more negative) feedback. Further, depression mediated the relationship between DV and seeking less positive feedback. Motivational and cognitive explanations for this pattern of results are discussed.