Evaluating the relative predictive validity of measures of self-referential processing for depressive symptom severity.

Introduction: The self-referential encoding task (SRET) has a number of implicit measures which are associated with various facets of depression, including depressive symptoms. While some measures have proven robust in predicting depressive symptoms, their effectiveness can vary depending on the methodology used. Hence, understanding the relative contributions of population differences, word lists and calculation methods to these associations with depression, is crucial for translating the SRET into a clinical screening tool.