Julia Reichenberger1, Nicole Wiggert2, Dmitrij Agroskin3, Frank H Wilhelm4, Jens Blechert2. 1. Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria; Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria. Electronic address: julia.reichenberger@sbg.ac.at. 2. Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria; Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria. 3. Division of Social Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria. 4. Department of Psychology, Division of Clinical Psychology, Health Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Depression is characterized by depressed mood and loss of interest or pleasure. Resulting alterations in emotional reactivity have been explained by three different accounts: 'positive attenuation', 'negative potentiation', and 'emotion context insensitivity'. Despite the importance of depression-related emotional alteration in social interactions, research with naturalistic interpersonal stimuli is scarce and underlying mechanisms largely unknown. METHODS: Hence, the present study examined subjective emotional reactivity to brief negative, positive, and neutral social-evaluative videos as a function of depressive symptoms in an adult sample (N = 84). Fear of positive evaluation (FPE) and fear of negative evaluation (FNE), often conceptualized as cognitive components of social anxiety, were examined as possible mediators. RESULTS: Results revealed that more depression symptoms were related to diminished pleasantness responses to both positive and neutral videos. When considering all three video conditions simultaneously, only responses to positive videos remained significantly related to depression scores, supporting the 'positive attenuation' account. Moreover, FPE was found to uniquely mediate the relationship between depressive symptoms and pleasantness responses to positive videos. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that emotional reactivity to positive interpersonal stimuli is relevant for theoretical and clinical considerations of depression. This research underlines the importance of FPE not only for understanding social anxiety but also depression.
BACKGROUND: Depression is characterized by depressed mood and loss of interest or pleasure. Resulting alterations in emotional reactivity have been explained by three different accounts: 'positive attenuation', 'negative potentiation', and 'emotion context insensitivity'. Despite the importance of depression-related emotional alteration in social interactions, research with naturalistic interpersonal stimuli is scarce and underlying mechanisms largely unknown. METHODS: Hence, the present study examined subjective emotional reactivity to brief negative, positive, and neutral social-evaluative videos as a function of depressive symptoms in an adult sample (N = 84). Fear of positive evaluation (FPE) and fear of negative evaluation (FNE), often conceptualized as cognitive components of social anxiety, were examined as possible mediators. RESULTS: Results revealed that more depression symptoms were related to diminished pleasantness responses to both positive and neutral videos. When considering all three video conditions simultaneously, only responses to positive videos remained significantly related to depression scores, supporting the 'positive attenuation' account. Moreover, FPE was found to uniquely mediate the relationship between depressive symptoms and pleasantness responses to positive videos. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that emotional reactivity to positive interpersonal stimuli is relevant for theoretical and clinical considerations of depression. This research underlines the importance of FPE not only for understanding social anxiety but also depression.
Keywords:
Depression; Emotional reactivity; Fear of positive evaluation; Film; Major depressive disorder; Social anxiety disorder; Social interaction; Social-evaluative stimuli
Authors: Samantha L Birk; Arielle Horenstein; Justin Weeks; Thomas Olino; Richard Heimberg; Philippe R Goldin; James J Gross Journal: J Anxiety Disord Date: 2019-08-12
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Authors: Johanna König; Andrea Block; Mathias Becker; Kristin Fenske; Johannes Hertel; Sandra Van der Auwera; Kathleen Zymara; Henry Völzke; Harald Jürgen Freyberger; Hans Jörgen Grabe Journal: BMC Psychiatry Date: 2018-04-18 Impact factor: 3.630