An interpersonal model of depression (Coyne, 1976b) was investigated using college student subjects and their friends. Coyne described an interpersonal process in which the depressed person elicits a negative response from significant others that serves to maintain the depression. Depressed, test anxious, and normal female college students interacted with a close same-sex friend; the dependent variables included measures of mood, perceptions, and behavior. Subject pairs were given several self-report measures before and after a 15-minute interaction with their friend. This interaction was videotaped and coded for several verbal and nonverbal behaviors. Depressed subjects reported lower levels of perceived social support, less satisfaction with the friendship, and more negative perceptions of their friend than did nondepressed subjects. No differences were found between the three groups of friends on any of the self-report measures. As well, none of the verbal or nonverbal behaviors were found to differentiate subjects or friends. The results are viewed as generally inconsistent with Coyne's model.

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