Depression and prospection

Changes in emotion regulation strategies during the pandemic: prospective pathways to adolescent depressive symptoms

BACKGROUND

Emotion regulation (ER) is considered central in adolescent psychopathology, and ER strategies may change during challenging times, such as a global pandemic. Despite this, there remains a limited understanding of individual differences in ER mechanisms and their associations with psychopathology. This study examined whether and how cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, and self-compassion changed over COVID-19 and how these changes uniquely predicted adolescents' depressive symptoms.

METHODS

A total of 2,411 adolescents (58.6% females; Mage = 18.51, SD = 0.80) completed the Emotional Regulation Questionnaire, the Self-compassion Scale, and the Symptom Checklist-90 before COVID-19 (in 2019) and during COVID-19 (in 2020). The predictive associations between each ER strategy and depressive symptoms were tested with latent change score models.

RESULTS

Adolescents' use of expressive suppression and self-compassion strategies both increased during COVID-19. More increases in expressive suppression predicted more depressive symptoms, whereas more increases in self-compassion predicted fewer depressive symptoms. Although, on average, cognitive reappraisal did not change, it did show significant variations within the sample - increases (vs. decreases) in cognitive appraisal predicted fewer depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

The study indicates how adolescents' ER strategies changed during the unprecedented global pandemic. It underscores protective roles of increased cognitive reappraisal and self-compassion, as well as the adverse consequence of heightened expressive suppression on adolescents' depressive symptoms. Findings offer insights for targeted interventions aimed at addressing specific ER strategies.

Patient Knowledge and Trust in Health Care. A Theoretical Discussion on the Relationship Between Patients' Knowledge and Their Trust in Health Care Personnel in High Modernity

In this paper we aim to discuss a theoretical explanation for the positive relationship between patients' knowledge and their trust in healthcare personnel. Our approach is based on John Dewey's notion of continuity. This notion entails that the individual's experiences are interpreted as interrelated to each other, and that knowledge is related to future experience, not merely a record of the past. Furthermore, we apply Niklas Luhmann's theory on trust as a way of reducing complexity and enabling action. Anthony Giddens' description and analysis of the high modern society provides a frame for discussing the preconditions for patient-healthcare personnel interaction. High modernity is dominated by expert systems and demands trust in these. We conclude that patient knowledge and trust in healthcare personnel is related because both knowledge and trust are future- and action-oriented concepts. The traits of high modernity provides opportunities and challenges as the personnel can and must perform discretion. This discretion must be made in a context where knowledge is considered uncertain and preliminary.

Subjective Experiences of Pregnancy, Delivery, and Nursing in Transgender Men and Non-Binary Individuals: A Qualitative Analysis of Gender and Mental Health Concerns

Studies of how gender-diverse individuals experience pregnancy, childbirth, and nursing remain few, mainly focus on the US and contain scarce information about mental health concerns peri-partum. This hinders informed reproductive health decisions and counseling. We used in-depth interviews to examine how gestational gender-diverse individuals in Sweden experience the process of planning and undergoing pregnancy, delivery, and nursing. In total, 12 participants, identifying on the masculine side of the gender spectrum or as non-binary, who had attended Swedish antenatal care and delivered a live birth, were included in the study. Data were analyzed using qualitative thematic content analysis. The analysis resulted in one overarching theme: sustaining gender congruence during pregnancy and three main categories: (1) considering pregnancy; (2) undergoing pregnancy and childbirth; and (3) postnatal reflections. The association between childbearing and being regarded as female permeated narratives. Participants renegotiated the feminine connotations of pregnancy, accessed gender-affirming treatment, and concealed their pregnancy to safeguard their gender congruence. Mis-gendering and breast enlargement triggered gender dysphoria. Social judgment, loneliness, information shortages, hormonal influence and cessation of testosterone increased gender dysphoria and strained their mental health. Depression exacerbated gender dysphoria and made it harder to claim one's gender identity. Dissociation was used to handle a feminized body, vaginal delivery, and nursing. Pregnancy was easier to envision and handle after masculinizing gender-affirming treatments. The results deepen the understanding of gender dysphoria and may be used to inform reproductive counseling and healthcare development. Research outcomes on mental health concerns provide a basis for further research.

Mental Time Travel as Self-Affirmation

ACADEMIC ABSTRACT

This article integrates and advances the scope of research on the role of mental time travel in bolstering the self. We propose that imagining the self in the future (prospection) or in the past (retrospection) highlights central and positive self-aspects. Thus, bringing to mind one's future or past broadens the perceived bases of self-integrity and offers a route to self-affirmation. In reviewing corresponding research programs on self-prospection and nostalgia, we illustrate that mental time travel serves to affirm the self in terms of self-esteem, coherence, and control. Mental time travel could be implemented as a source of self-affirmation for facilitating coping and behavior change in several domains such as relationships, health, education, and organizational contexts.

PUBLIC ABSTRACT

People can mentally travel to their future or to their past. When people imagine what they will be like in the future, or what they were like in the past, they tend to think about themselves in terms of the important and positive attributes that they possess. Thinking about themselves in such an affirming way expands and consolidates their self-views. This broader image of themselves can increase self-esteem (the extent to which one likes who they are), coherence (the extent to which one perceives life as meaningful), and control (the extent to which one feels capable of initiating and pursuing goals or effecting desirable outcomes). Mental time travel, then, has favorable or affirming consequences for one's self-views. These consequences can be harnessed to modify one's behavior in such life domains as relationships, health, education, and work.

The implicit power of positive thinking: The effect of positive episodic simulation on implicit future expectancies

Previous research demonstrating that positive episodic simulation enhances future expectancies has relied on explicit expectancy measures. The current study investigated the effects of episodic simulation on implicit expectancies. Using the Future Thinking Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (FT-IRAP), participants made true/false decisions to indicate whether or not they expected positive/negative outcomes after adopting orientations consistent or inconsistent with an optimistic disposition. The outcome measure, DIRAP, was based on response time differences between consistent and inconsistent blocks. Participants then engaged in either positive simulation training, in which they imagined positive future events, or a neutral visualisation task before repeating the FT-IRAP twice following 10-minute intervals. Positive simulation training increased DIRAP scores for don't-expect-negative trials-boosting participants' readiness to affirm that negative events were unlikely to happen to them. Although findings did not generalise across all trial types, they show potential for positive simulation training to enhance implicit future expectancies.

Affective forecasting and psychopathology: A scoping review

Affective forecasting - estimations of future emotional reactions - is an important aspect of future thinking that informs judgement and decision making. Biases in affective forecasting have been noted generally and with people with emotional disturbances specifically. Still, the role of affective forecasting within models of psychopathology has received little attention. Given the state of the literature, a scoping review method was adopted to summarize and synthesize the methodological approaches used in measuring affective forecasting within the context of psychopathology and the scope of the evidence on this association. Three databases were searched for research published on or before November 13th, 2023. Original quantitative research that examined affective forecasting and its association with psychopathology was reviewed. Data were charted using a form designed for this study. Overall, the review highlights the heterogeneity in operationalization of affective forecasting. The majority of the evidence supports an association between severity of psychopathology and intensity of affective forecasts, with notable exceptions, which are discussed within the scope of methodology and operationalization of affective forecasting. This remains an important process to investigate in information processing models of psychopathology to elucidate its role in the development and maintenance of psychopathology and potential as a target for intervention.

Tawakkul Mediates Between Personality Traits, Depression, and Anxiety in Pakistani Muslim Adults

Tawakkul in Islam is defined as the belief in the sufficiency of Allah (God) that invokes patience and efforts to achieve goals while accepting the outcomes unconditionally. The present research intended to investigate the mediating role of tawakkul between personality traits and mental health (anxiety and depression) in a purposive sample of (N = 350) Muslim adults. Urdu versions of three instruments, namely the Tawakkul Scale (Gondal, et al., 2021), Depression, Anxiety Stress Scale of (DASS 21; Aslam, 2018), and Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI; Chishti & Kamal, 2002), were used to measure the variables. Path analysis revealed that extraversion had no association with tawakkul and anxiety, but it was inversely related to depression. Neuroticism was inversely related to tawakkul and positively related to both depression and anxiety, and these relationships were partially mediated by a low degree of tawakkul. Implications of the study and recommendations for future research are discussed.

'Who will I become?': possible selves and depression symptoms in adolescents

BACKGROUND

Adolescence is an important period for the development of the possible self. It is also a time when depression is prevalent. The cognitive theory of depression proposes that a negative view of the future is a key feature of depression. Targeting these negative thoughts about the future during cognitive behavioural therapy may be helpful in depression. However, little is known about how adolescents envisage their future (i.e. possible) self, or if the content is associated with affect. The aim of this quantitative study is to describe how adolescents describe their 'possible self' and examine the relationship between the valence of the possible self and depression in adolescents.

METHOD

Adolescents (n = 584) aged 13-18 years were recruited via opportunity sampling via their schools and completed measures of depression symptoms (the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire) and the 'possible self' (a variant of the 'I Will Be' task). Possible selves were coded for content and valence.

RESULTS

Despite depression severity, the most common possible selves generated by adolescents were positive and described interpersonal roles. The valence of the possible self was associated with depression severity but only accounted for 3.4% of the variance in severity.

CONCLUSION

The results support the cognitive model of depression. However, adolescents with elevated symptoms of depression were able to generate positive, possible selves and therefore may remain somewhat 'hopeful' about their future despite clinically significant depression symptoms. Future-oriented treatment approaches such as cognitive behavioural therapy that focus on changing unhelpful negative future thinking may not be appropriate for this population.

The Relationship Between Physical Exercise and Aggressive Behavior Among College Students: The Mediating Roles of Life Satisfaction, Meaning in Life, and Depression

Purpose

The deleterious impact of aggressive behavior on college students necessitates urgent mitigation. To explore the influencing factors and underlying mechanisms of aggressive behaviors among college students, this study aims to validate the mediating roles of life satisfaction, meaning in life, and depression by examining the relationship between physical exercise and aggressive behaviors among college students.

Methods

The Physical Activity Rating Scale-3 (PARS-3), Satisfaction with Life Scale, Meaning in Life Questionnaire, Chinese Version DASS-21 and 12-item Perception of Aggression Scale (POAS) were tested on 1596 college students from three universities in western China, and SPSS 26.0 and Mplus 8.3 were used for analysis.

Results

Physical exercise exhibited a significant negative correlation with both aggressive behaviors and depression among college students (r = -0.57, P < 0.001; r = -0.36, P < 0.001), as well as a significant positive correlation with life satisfaction and meaning in life (r = 0.45, P < 0.001; r = 0.27, P < 0.001). Regarding the impact of physical exercise on aggressive behaviors among college students, the mediating effects of life satisfaction, meaning in life, and depression were significant. The respective effect sizes were -0.11, -0.08, and -0.03. The chain mediation effect of life satisfaction through depression was also found to be significant, with an effect size of -0.02.

Conclusion

This study elucidates the mechanistic pathways through which physical exercise influences aggressive behavior among college students. The relationship between physical exercise and aggressive behavior is influenced by the individual mediating effects of life satisfaction, meaning in life, and depression, as well as the chain mediation effect of life satisfaction through depression. These findings provide a novel perspective on the prevention and intervention of aggressive behaviors among college students in China and potentially worldwide. This suggests that more attention should be paid to the organic combination of students' physical activity and mental health education.

Use of cognitive-behavioral career coaching to reduce work anxiety and depression in public employees

BACKGROUND

Public employees worldwide are increasingly concerned about work anxiety and depression. Cognitive-behavioral career coaching has emerged as a promising strategy for addressing these mental health disorders, which can negatively impact on a person's overall well-being and performance.

AIM

To examine whether cognitive-behavioral career coaching reduces work anxiety and depression among Nigerian public employees.

METHODS

A total of 120 public employees (n = 60) suffering from severe anxiety and depression were randomly assigned to the treatment or control groups in this study. Cognitive behavioral coaching was provided twice a week to those in the treatment group, whereas no treatment was given to those in the control group. As part of the study, the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scales and Beck Depression Inventory were used to collect data.

RESULTS

Analysis of covariance of the data from participants indicates a significant effect of cognitive-behavioral career coaching on work anxiety and depression.

CONCLUSION

Insights into the underlying mechanisms by which cognitive behavior career coaching exerts its effects have been gained from this study. Also, the study has gathered valuable data that can inform future practice and guide the development of strategies for supporting mental health at work.

Deviations from the balanced time perspective, cognitive fusion, and self-compassion in individuals with or without a depression diagnosis: different mean profiles but common links to depressive symptoms

Introduction

Prior research indicates that depressive symptoms in unselected or sub-clinical samples are associated with time perspective biases, including a more negative view of the past and a more fatalistic attitude toward the present. In the current study, we compared time perspective profiles for a clinical sample, with a depression diagnosis with that of a control group. Additionally, we considered a measure known as deviations from the balanced time perspective (DBTP) that capture deviations across time frames, not considered in previous studies. A second obejctive was to test a model involving DPTP as a mediator of the links between cognitive fusion and self-compassion with depressive symptoms.

Method

In total, 300 individuals participated in the study, 150 participants with a depression diagnosis and 150 without a depression diagnoses. All participants filled in questions regarding background variables together with Polish adaptations of ZTPI, CFQ, SCS-S, and DASS-21 using a web-survey.

Results

The results showed significantly higher scores on Past Negative and Present Fatalistic in the clinical sample. In line with the hypothesis the clinical group also displayed elevated DBTP scores (d = 0.75), a difference that remained significant when current symptoms were adjusted for. The results of structural equation modeling moreover indicate a major role of cognitive fusion (which, as expected, was strongly associated with DBTP) in predicting symptom burden, regardless of the clinical/non-clinical distinction, but. Still, DBTP accounted for significant (unique) variance in depressive symptoms. By contrast, the inclusion of cognitive fusion and DBTP eliminated the association of self-compassion and depressive symptoms.

Conclusion

Taken together, the results indicate that levels of DBTP/fusion for persons with depression diagnosis is present regardless of current symptom burden. Thus, DBTP could be regarded as a risk factor of developing depression. Prospective research designs are needed to further evaluate the associations of the main constructs in this study and the extent to which they are predictive of future diagnosis and changes in symptom level.

Future focused strategies in treating depression

Depression commonly features the experience of hopelessness and a loss of the ability to imagine and believe in one's positive future. This article considers this important feature of depression and how effective recovery from depression includes the restoration of hope and a belief in actualizing a positive future. It provides in detail a treatment strategy that is focused on cocreating with the patient a positive therapeutic outcome in the patient's future and encourages patients to internalize a representation of the future experience of recovery and restoration of hope. This approach is described in detail and begins by guiding the client suffering from depression to experience a positive therapeutic outcome during hypnosis. This is followed by having the client internalize this positive resolution and recovery and integrate this experience on conscious and subconscious levels. As the client "returns from the future" to the present, bringing back with them this experience of having achieved a resolution and recovery from depression, this corrective emotional experience can affect their daily behavior in the present arising from a significant change in thoughts, feelings, and actions. Case examples that illustrate the use of the future focused strategy in clinical practice are included.

Altered EEG Microstates Dynamics in Individuals with Subthreshold Depression When Generating Negative Future Events

Negative bias in prospection may play a crucial role in driving and maintaining depression. Recent research suggests abnormal activation and functional connectivity in regions of the default mode network (DMN) during future event generation in depressed individuals. However, the neural dynamics during prospection in these individuals remain unknown. To capture network dynamics at high temporal resolution, we employed electroencephalogram (EEG) microstate analysis. We examined microstate properties during both positive and negative prospection in 35 individuals with subthreshold depression (SD) and 35 controls. We identified similar sets of four canonical microstates (A-D) across groups and conditions. Source analysis indicated that each microstate map partially overlapped with a subsystem of the DMN (A: verbal; B: visual-spatial; C: self-referential; and D: modulation). Notably, alterations in EEG microstates were primarily observed in negative prospection of individuals with SD. Specifically, when generating negative future events, the coverage, occurrence, and duration of microstate A increased, while the coverage and duration of microstates B and D decreased in the SD group compared to controls. Furthermore, we observed altered transitions, particularly involving microstate C, during negative prospection in the SD group. These altered dynamics suggest dysconnectivity between subsystems of the DMN during negative prospection in individuals with SD. In conclusion, we provide novel insights into the neural mechanisms of negative bias in depression. These alterations could serve as specific markers for depression and potential targets for future interventions.

Leveraging Decision Science to Characterize Depression

This brief review examines the potential to use decision science to objectively characterize depression. We provide a brief overview of the existing literature examining different domains of decision-making in depression. Because this overview highlights the specific role of reinforcement learning as an important decision process affected in the disorder, we then introduce reinforcement learning modeling and explain how this approach has identified specific reinforcement learning deficits in depression. We conclude with ideas for future research at the intersection of decision science and depression, emphasizing the potential for decision science to help uncover underlying mechanisms and targets for the treatment of depression.

Future-oriented cognition: links to mental health problems and mental wellbeing in preschool-aged and primary-school-aged children

Future-oriented cognition plays a manifold role for adults' mental health. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between future-oriented cognition and mental health in N = 191 children aged between 3 and 7 years. Parents completed an online-questionnaire including children's future-oriented cognition (e.g., episodic foresight; Children Future Thinking Questionnaire; CFTQ), children's mental health problems (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire; SDQ), and wellbeing (Parent-rated Life Orientation Test of children; PLOT and Positive-Mental-Health Scale; PMH). More externalizing problems (especially hyperactivity) related to lower future-oriented cognition. For mental wellbeing, higher levels of optimism were associated with higher episodic foresight. Future-oriented cognition increased with age cross-sectionally. This increase was flatter at higher levels of wellbeing (indicated by lower pessimism). Results are discussed considering findings on the role of future-oriented cognition for mental health in adults and adolescents. Suggestions for future work are presented regarding the direction of the observed links and underlying mechanisms.

Shifting Episodic Prediction With Online Cognitive Bias Modification: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Negative future thinking pervades emotional disorders. This hybrid efficacy-effectiveness trial tested a four-session, scalable online cognitive bias modification program for training more positive episodic prediction. 958 adults (73.3% female, 86.5% White, 83.4% from United States) were randomized to positive conditions with ambiguous future scenarios that ended positively, 50/50 conditions that ended positively or negatively, or a control condition with neutral scenarios. As hypothesized (preregistration: https://osf.io/jrst6), positive training participants improved more than control participants in negative expectancy bias (d = -0.58), positive expectancy bias (d = 0.80), and self-efficacy (d = 0.29). Positive training was also superior to 50/50 training for expectancy bias and optimism (d = 0.31). Training gains attenuated yet remained by 1-month follow-up. Unexpectedly, participants across conditions improved comparably in anxiety and depression symptoms and growth mindset. Targeting a transdiagnostic process with a scalable program may improve bias and outlook; however, further validation of outcome measures is required.

Investigating the role of action-contingent expectancy biases in dysphoria-linked activity engagement behavioural choice

Reduced tendency to engage in potentially rewarding activities is a hallmark of depression. The present study investigated the role of future expectancy biases in depression-linked behavioural choice, in participants varying in self-reported depression symptoms (dysphoria). A novel laboratory paradigm was developed to test the hypotheses that the degree to which higher dysphoria is associated with reduced tendency to engage in a potentially rewarding activity is dependent on the presence of negative biases in the expected outcomes of activity engagement. Specifically, two types of expectancy biases were distinguished: a) the expected likelihood of a negative rather than positive outcome, and b) the expected emotional impact of either outcome. N = 176 undergraduate students with varied levels of dysphoria were given the opportunity to choose to engage in a coin-tossing game that could result in a win or loss monetary outcome in terms of charity donations, and then rated both types of expectancies. Results indicated that higher dysphoria was associated with more negative expectations concerning the likelihood of objective outcomes and the emotional impact of such outcomes, and as hypothesised, such negative expectancy biases mediated indirect associations between dysphoria and behavioural choice.

The Hebrew version of the adolescent and adult time inventory-time attitudes scales (AATI-TA): a validation study

In the present study, we examined the construct validity of scores on the Hebrew version of the Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory-Time Attitudes Scale (AATI-TA). The AATI-TA was translated into Hebrew by bilingual speakers, using the back-translation method. Participants included 452 young adults (M_age = 22.47, SD_age = 1.98, 51.5% female). Several measures of psychological well-being were used to establish convergent validity, including scales assessing self-esteem, life satisfaction, and optimism, and depressive, anxiety, and somatic symptoms. Internal consistency estimates for AATI-TA scores were high and confirmatory factor analyses supported the six-factor structure. Correlational analyses indicated the expected relationships between time attitudes and measures of psychological well-being, providing convergent validity support for the AATI-TA scores. The findings of this study support the use of the Hebrew version of the AATI-TA in further studies about time attitudes.

Biased belief updating in depression

Cognitive approaches to depression have benefitted from recent research on belief updating, examining how new information is used to alter beliefs. This review presents recent advances in understanding various sources of bias in belief updating in depression. Specifically, research has demonstrated that people with depression have difficulty revising negative beliefs in response to novel positive information, whereas belief updating in depression is not related to an enhanced integration of negative information. In terms of mechanisms underlying the deficient processing of positive information, research has shown that people with depression use defensive cognitive strategies to devalue novel positive information. Furthermore, the disregard of novel positive information can be amplified by the presence of state negative affect, and the resulting persistence of negative beliefs in turn perpetuates chronically low mood, contributing to a self-reinforcing negative feedback loop of beliefs and affect. Synthesising previous research, this review proposes a coherent framework of when belief change is likely to occur, and argues that future research also needs to elucidate why people with depression hesitate to abandon negative beliefs. Recent insights from belief updating have not only improved the understanding of the psychopathology of depression, but also have the potential to improve its cognitive-behavioural treatment.

Aging, uncertainty, and decision making-A review

There is a great deal of uncertainty in the world. One common source of uncertainty results from incomplete or missing information about probabilistic outcomes (i.e., outcomes that may occur), which influences how people make decisions. The impact of this type of uncertainty may particularly pronounced for older adults, who, as the primary leaders around the world, make highly impactful decisions with lasting outcomes. This review examines the ways in which uncertainty about probabilistic outcomes is perceived, handled, and represented in the aging brain, with an emphasis on how uncertainty may specifically affect decision making in later life. We describe the role of uncertainty in decision making and aging from four perspectives, including 1) theoretical, 2) self-report, 3) behavioral, and 4) neuroscientific. We report evidence of any age-related differences in uncertainty among these contexts and describe how these changes may affect decision making. We then integrate the findings across the distinct perspectives, followed by a discussion of important future directions for research on aging and uncertainty, including prospection, domain-specificity in risk-taking behaviors, and choice overload.

Future-oriented repetitive thought, depressive symptoms, and suicide ideation severity: Role of future-event fluency and depressive predictive certainty

BACKGROUND

Knowing how future-oriented repetitive thought - i.e., repeated consideration of whether positive or negative outcomes will happen in one's future - leads to hopelessness-related cognitions may elucidate the role of anticipating the future in depressive symptoms and suicide ideation. This study examined future-event fluency and depressive predictive certainty - i.e., the tendency to make pessimistic future-event predictions with certainty - as mechanisms explaining the relation between future-oriented repetitive thought, depressive symptoms, and suicide ideation.

METHODS

Young adults (N = 354), oversampled for suicide ideation or attempt history, completed baseline measures of pessimistic future-oriented repetitive thought (i.e., the degree to which people consider whether negative outcomes will happen or positive outcomes will not happen in their futures), future-event fluency, depressive predictive certainty, depressive symptoms, and suicide ideation severity and were followed up 6 months later (N = 324).

RESULTS

Pessimistic future-oriented repetitive thought predicted depressive predictive certainty at 6-months, partially mediated by lower positive but not increased negative future-event fluency. There was an indirect relationship between pessimistic future-oriented repetitive thought and 6-month suicide ideation severity via 6-month depressive predictive certainty through 6-month depressive symptoms, and also via 6-month depressive symptoms (but not depressive predictive certainty) alone.

LIMITATIONS

Lack of an experimental design limits inferences about causality, and a predominantly female sample may limit generalizability by sex.

CONCLUSION

Clinical interventions should address pessimistic future-oriented repetitive thought - and its impact on how easily people can think about positive future outcomes - as one potential way to reduce depressive symptoms and, indirectly, suicide ideation.

Moderating Impact of Dispositional Mindfulness in the Relationship Between Future Expectancies and Psychological Well-Being

OBJECTIVES

Mindfulness has been studied under cultivated or dispositional divisions where the latter has strong implications for psychological well-being in meditators and non-meditators alike. In addition, future expectations, or prospections, regarding the occurrence of important events in a person's future have recently been hypothesized to be the main cause behind symptoms of major depression. There is, however, a lack of empirical research looking at possible links between dispositional mindfulness, as understood in its facet structure, and future expectations as understood via perceived risk of occurrence and vividness of mental imagery when prompted to imagine a given list of positive and negative prospective event item lists. Therefore, this research aimed at examining how dispositional mindfulness may be related to probabilistic risk assessments of positive and negative future events (Stage I); and how mental imagery vividness may be moderated by mindfulness facets (Stage II).

METHODS

Both stages included healthy participants and incorporated the PROCESS macro for moderated regression analysis done with the SPSS software. Stage I included 204 voluntary college students, and Stage II was conducted online with a public sample of 110 adults.

RESULTS

Although no interaction effect was found in Stage I, nonreactivity to inner experience facet of dispositional mindfulness moderated the relationship between negative imagery vividness and psychological distress in Stage II (F_(1,103) = 4.00, R² change=.018, p <.05).

CONCLUSIONS

This is a novel finding that could inform a future line of research looking into the relationship between prospection and mindfulness, holding a potential for informing research on mindfulness-based interventions.

Differential Associations of Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies with Depression, Anxiety, and Insomnia in Adolescence and Early Adulthood

While difficulties with emotion regulation (ER) are consistently linked to poor mental health in adulthood, findings in adolescence have been more mixed. Cognitive ER strategies, which involve the ability to manage emotions through mental processes, may be particularly important during different stages of development due to age-specific adjustments. We conducted two exploratory and cross-sectional studies to examine the relationships between cognitive ER strategies and mental health (i.e., depressive, anxiety, and insomnia symptoms) in two samples: 431 young adults (M_age = 20.66 ± 2.21; 70% women and 30% men) and 271 adolescents (M_age = 14.80 ± 0.0.59; 44.6% girls and 55.4% boys). The participants completed a group of questionnaires, including the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, the Insomnia Severity Index, the Beck Depression Inventory-II, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Youth Self Report. We employed hierarchical multiple regressions to assess the unique contribution of cognitive ER strategies to mental health outcomes. Maladaptive strategies (such as rumination and catastrophizing) were consistently associated with impaired mental health in both samples, while adaptive strategies (such as positive refocusing and positive reappraisal) were only associated with better mental health in young adults. These findings support the importance of cognitive ER strategies as potential risk factors for psychopathology and suggest that interventions aimed at improving emotion regulation may be beneficial. The age-specific differences in the relationship between cognitive ER strategies and mental health may reflect the refinement of emotion regulation abilities across the lifespan.

Positive Prospective Mental Imagery Characteristics in Young Adults and Their Associations with Depressive Symptoms

Background

Positive prospective mental imagery plays an important role in mental well-being, and depressive symptoms have been associated with difficulties in generating positive prospective mental images (PPMIs). We used a mobile app to gather PPMIs generated by young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic and analyzed content, characteristics, and associations with depressive symptoms.

Methods

This is a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial with 95 healthy young adults allocated into two groups (intervention and control). Participants used the mobile app decreasing mental health symptoms for seven consecutive days. Fifty participants in the intervention group reported PPMIs at least three times per day using a mobile app inducing PPMI generation. We categorized entries into themes and applied moderation models to investigate associations between PPMI characteristics and depressive symptoms.

Results

We distinguished 25 PPMI themes. The most frequent were related to consuming food and drinks, watching TV/streaming platforms, and doing sports. Vividness and ease of generation of PPMIs, but not their anticipation, pleasure intensity or number of engagements with the app were associated with fewer depressive symptoms.

Conclusions

We identified PPMI themes in young adults and found significant negative associations between depressive symptoms and vividness and generation ease of PPMIs. These results may inform prevention and intervention science, including the design of personalized interventions. We discuss implications for future studies and treatment development for individuals experiencing diminished PPMI.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10608-023-10378-5.

Entrapment, Hopelessness, and Cognitive Control: A Moderated Mediation Model of Depression

The present study aimed to examine the roles that hopelessness and cognitive control play in the relationship between entrapment and depression. Data were collected from 367 college students in South Korea. The participants completed a questionnaire that consisted of the Entrapment Scale, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, the Beck Hopelessness Inventory, and the Cognitive Flexibility Inventory. Results showed that hopelessness partially mediated the relationship between entrapment and depression. In addition, cognitive control moderated the relationship between entrapment and hopelessness: greater cognitive control weakened the positive association between entrapment and hopelessness. Finally, the mediating effect of hopelessness was moderated by cognitive control. The findings of this study expand the understanding of the protective role of cognitive control, especially when an increased sense of entrapment and hopelessness intensifies depression.

The Temporal Focus of Mind-Wandering and Chinese Adolescents' Well-Being

The relationships between the temporal focus of mind-wandering (i.e., past-oriented and future-oriented mind-wandering) and well-being are important issues for adolescents, which may have significant implications on their well-being and self-identity development. However, few studies tested the temporal focus of mind-wandering and its emotional consequences in adolescents. In the present study, we conducted two studies using self-reported questionnaires from large sample sets to examine the relationships between the temporal focus of mind-wandering and hedonic (pleasure attainment) and eudaimonic (meaning pursuing) well-being among Chinese adolescents. Study 1 preliminarily tested the relationships between the temporal focus of mind-wandering and hedonic well-being among adolescents (n = 1273) suggesting that both past-oriented mind-wandering (PMW) and future-oriented mind-wandering (FMW) were positively correlated with hedonic well-being. Study 2 used a new sample (n = 986) and included another aspect of well-being (i.e., eudaimonic well-being), showing that PMW and FMW were both positively correlated with hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Moreover, self-reflection mediated the relationships between FMW and hedonic/eudaimonic well-being, whereas self-reflection did not act as a mediator in the relationships between PMW and well-being. The present findings indicated that both PMW and FMW are beneficial for Chinese adolescents' well-being, and emphasized the mediating role of self-reflection in the relationships between FMW and well-being.

The development of the Negative Bias in Prospection Scale: A novel assessment of dysfunctional prospection in depression

"Prospection" refers to the ability to mentally simulate one's future episodes. Negative bias in prospection, which includes both reduced positivity and enhanced negativity, is considered to be closely related to the development and maintenance of depression. However, there is a relative paucity of measures that adequately assess negative bias in prospection in depressed people. The current study developed and initially validated the Negative Bias in Prospection Scale (NBPS) using a nonclinical sample (n = 959). The validity and reliability of the NBPS were investigated in several ways. Results suggested the 14 NBPS items loaded onto three factors, namely the "Increased negativity," the "Reduced positivity," and the "Overgeneralization." The NBPS demonstrated decent internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Further, the NBPS was strongly associated with severity of depressive symptoms. Moreover, the NBPS was correlated in a theoretically meaningful way with other measures of future-oriented cognitions or negative biases. In conclusion, the NBPS has promising preliminary psychometric properties. It will be an efficient tool for exploring dysfunctional prospection in depression and provides a novel measure for mechanism of change in prospection-based interventions.

Self-Continuity

Self-continuity is the subjective sense of connection between one's past and present selves (past-present self-continuity), between one's present and future selves (present-future self-continuity), or among one's past, present, and future selves (global self-continuity). We consider the motivational character of the three forms of self-continuity, their regulatory properties, and the internal or external factors that consolidate them. We also review their consequences for attitudes and judgments or decisions, motivation, intentions and behavior, and psychological and physical health. We further detail the psychological and behavioral benefits of self-discontinuity (i.e., a sense of disconnect among temporal selves). We next turn to the brain regions that are activated synchronously with self-continuity. We consider developmental perspectives on self-continuity, discuss collective self-continuity (along with its consequences and regulatory properties), and elaborate on cultural differences in self-continuity. This inaugural Annual Reviews chapter demonstrates the breadth, excitement, and sense of synergy among self-continuity researchers and points to promising research directions.

COVID-19 associated psychological symptoms in Turkish population: A path model

We investigated the mediator roles of risk factors (intolerance of uncertainty, negative metacognition, and negative prospections) and protective factors (positive prospections and psychological resilience) together on the link between COVID-19-related feelings and behaviors, thoughts, and precautions taken and psychological symptoms with an integrative approach in Turkey. The online sample consisted of Turkish adults. The results of path analyses indicated that feelings and behaviors related to COVID-19, thoughts about COVID-19, and precautions taken related to COVID-19 are significantly associated with intolerance of uncertainty. Intolerance of uncertainty is significantly associated with negative metacognition, negative and positive prospections, psychological symptoms, and psychological resilience. Negative metacognition, negative and positive prospections, and psychological resilience are significantly associated with psychological symptoms. Mediation analysis demonstrated that intolerance of uncertainty significantly mediated the relationship between feelings and behaviors related to COVID-19, thoughts about COVID-19, and precautions taken related to COVID-19 and negative metacognition, psychological resilience, positive and negative prospections, and psychological symptoms. Lastly, negative metacognition, psychological resilience, positive and negative prospections significantly mediated the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and psychological symptoms. Implications for mental health providers are discussed.

The effect of cognitive behavioral therapy on future thinking in patients with major depressive disorder: A randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Pessimistic thinking about the future is one of the cardinal symptoms of major depression. Few studies have assessed changes in pessimistic thinking after undergoing cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). A randomized clinical trial (RCT) was conducted with patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) to determine whether receiving a course of CBT affects pessimistic future thinking using a future thinking task.

METHODS

Thirty-one patients with MDD were randomly assigned to either CBT (n = 16) or a talking control (TC) (n = 15) for a 16-week intervention. The main outcomes were the change in response time (RT) and the ratio of the responses for positive valence, measured by the future thinking task. Secondary outcomes included the GRID-Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition (BDI-II), the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS), and the word fluency test (WFT).

RESULTS

Regarding the main outcomes, the CBT group showed reduced RT for the positive valence (within-group Cohen's d = 0.7, p = 0.012) and negative valence (within-group Cohen's d = 0.6, p = 0.03) in the distant future condition. The ratio of positive valence responses in both groups for all temporal conditions except for the distant past condition increased within group (distant future: CBT: Cohen's d = 0.5, p = 0.04; TC: Cohen's d = 0.8, p = 0.008; near future: CBT: Cohen's d = 1.0, p < 0.001; TC: Cohen's d = 1.1, p = 0.001; near past: CBT: Cohen's d = 0.8, p = 0.005; TC: Cohen's d = 1.0, p = 0.002). As for secondary outcomes, the CBT group showed greater improvement than the TC group regarding the need for social approval as measured by the DAS (p = 0.012).

CONCLUSION

Patients with MDD who received CBT showed a reduced RT for the positive and negative valence in the distant future condition. RT in the future thinking task for depressed patients may be a potential objective measure for the CBT treatment process. Because the present RCT is positioned as a pilot RCT, a confirmatory trial with a larger number of patients is warranted to elucidate the CBT treatment process that influences future thinking.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

https://center6.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/icdr_e/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000021028, identifier UMIN000018155.

Is Future Mental Imagery Associated with Reduced Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Negative Affect and Anhedonic Symptoms in Young People?

Background

Difficulties with prospective mental images are associated with adolescent depression. Current treatments mainly focus on verbal techniques to reduce negative affect (e.g. low mood) rather than enhancing positive affect, despite anhedonia being present in adolescents. We investigated the concurrent relationships between the vividness of negative and positive prospective mental imagery and negative affect and positive affect; and examined whether negative and positive prospective mental imagery moderated the impact of recent stress (COVID-19-linked stress) on negative and positive affect.

Methods

2602 young people (12-25 years) completed the Prospective Imagery Task and self-reported on symptoms of negative affect, anhedonia and COVID-19 linked stress.

Results

Elevated vividness of negative future mental imagery and reduced vividness of positive future mental imagery were associated with increased negative affect, whereas only reduced vividness of positive future imagery was associated with increased symptoms of anhedonia. Elevated vividness of negative future images amplified the association between COVID-19 linked stress and negative affect, while elevated vividness of positive future images attenuated the association between COVID-19 linked stress and anhedonia.

Conclusions

Future mental imagery may be differentially associated with negative and positive affect, but this needs to be replicated in clinical populations to support novel adolescent psychological treatments.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10608-023-10352-1.

Imagining emotional events benefits future-oriented decisions

How does imagining future events-whether positive or negative-influence our choices in the present? Prior work has shown the simulation of hypothetical future events, dubbed episodic future thinking, can alter the propensity to engage in delay discounting (the tendency to devalue future rewards) and does so in a valence-specific manner. Some research shows that positive episodic future thinking reduces delay discounting, whereas negative future thinking augments it. However, more recent research indicates that both positive and negative episodic future thinking reduce delay discounting, suggesting an effect of episodic future thinking that is independent of valence. In this study, we sought to replicate and extend these latter findings. Here, participants (N = 604; N = 572 after exclusions) completed an online study. In the baseline task, participants completed a delay discounting task. In the experimental task, they engaged in episodic future thinking before completing a second delay discounting task. Participants were randomly assigned to engage in either positive, neutral, or negative episodic future thinking. In accordance with Bulley et al., we found that episodic future thinking, regardless of valence, reduced delay discounting. Although episodic future thinking shifted decision-making in all conditions, the effect was stronger when participants engaged in positive episodic future thinking, even after accounting for personal relevance and vividness of imagined events. These findings suggest that episodic future thinking may promote future-oriented choices by contextualising the future, and this effect is further strengthened when the future is tied to positive emotion.

Putative juvenile terrorists: the relationship between multiple traumatization, mental health, and expectations for reintegration among Islamic State recruited adolescent and young adult fighters

Background

In several conflicts worldwide children are recruited as fighters in irregular forces. These children need to be reintegrated into the society after the conflict. However, concurrent to various reservations in the communities, the reintegration of former child soldiers is challenged by the fact that many of the affected children were indoctrinated by the armed group and traumatized through war events. Even several years after the defeat of the terrorist organization ISIS in Iraq, systematic efforts towards the reintegration of children who had been recruited by ISIS are notably absent.

Methods

we conducted clinical interviews with a sample of N = 59 adolescents and young adults who were incarcerated for terrorism in the prisons of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to assess levels and types of trauma exposure, PTSD, depression, readiness to reintegrate and ongoing identification with ISIS.

Results

We found high levels of PTSD and depression that were associated with trauma exposure. The subjective readiness to reintegrate into the communities was associated with trauma exposure and was mediated by depression, even after controlling for the influence of ongoing identification with the armed group.

Conclusion

The study indicates that trauma-related mental ill-health should be considered in efforts to reintegrate young former terrorists.

The Relationships between Prospection, Self-Efficacy, and Depression in College Students with Cross-Lagged Analysis

Depression is one of the most prevalent and disabling mental health problems in college students. Previous studies have established cross-sectional associations between negative bias in prospection e.g., increased negativity in future simulation, low self-efficacy, and depressive symptoms. Nevertheless, the temporal bidirectional associations between them are rarely examined. In the current study, we collected valid data on 276 college students at two time points within a 10 week interval. Cross-lagged panel analysis was applied to investigate the relationships between proportions of negative future events, levels of self-efficacy, and depressive symptoms. Results suggested depressive symptoms predict subsequent proportions of negative prospections and levels of self-efficacy. Inversely, neither prospection nor self-efficacy predicted depression. Temporal correlations between prospection and self-efficacy were also not significant. Since this is one of the first studies that attempts to figure out temporal links between these mutually informing factors, more longitudinal research is needed to draw a firm conclusion. This study provides new insights into the relationship between negative biases in cognitions and depressive symptoms and highlights the need to intervene early with depressive symptoms before any possible cognitive distortions in college students.

The COVID-19 pandemic, well-being, and transitions to post-secondary education

This study examines the immediate and intermediate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the well-being of two high school graduation cohorts (2020 and 2021) and how changes in well-being affect students' educational plans and outcomes. Our unique panel data on 3697 students from 214 schools in 8 German federal states contain prospective survey information on three dimensions of well-being: mental health problems, self-rated health, and life satisfaction. Data is collected several months before (fall 2019), shortly before and soon after (spring 2020) as well as several months after (fall/winter 2020/21) the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Applying difference-in-differences designs, random effect growth curve models, and linear regression models, we find that school closures had a positive immediate effect on students' well-being. Over the course of the pandemic, however, well-being strongly declined, mainly among the 2021 graduation cohort. We show that a strong decline in mental health is associated with changes in educational and career plans and transition outcomes. As adverse life experiences in adolescence are likely to accumulate over the life course, this study is the first to exhibit potential long-lasting negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on education and careers of young individuals.

Hopelessness during and after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown among Chinese college students: A longitudinal network analysis

INTRODUCTION

In China, recurrent pandemics require frequent city-wide lockdowns and quarantine actions to contain the impact of COVID-19, exposing college students to psychological problems, including hopelessness. Hence, the purpose of helping problematic college students alleviate hopelessness symptoms motivates us to carry out the present study to explore their interrelationship.

METHODS

Hopelessness (i.e., a complex phenomenon with important clinical consequences, such as depression and suicidality) was investigated in a large longitudinal sample of college students (N = 2787; 58.59% female; age _{mean ± SD}  = 18.34 ± 0.92) who were recruited during and after the COVID-19 lockdown using the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS).

RESULTS

Applying the novel approach (i.e., symptom network analysis), the results indicated that the edge of #BHS1 (i.e., [NOT] hope-enthusiasm)-#BHS15 (i.e., [NOT] faith-in-the-future) showed the strongest association both in Wave 1 and Wave 2. Similarly, #BHS20 (i.e., not-trying) had the highest node expectedinfluence (centrality) in the hopelessness symptoms network both among Wave 1 and Wave 2. The Network Comparison Test indicated that the global network strength significantly differed between the two time points. As expected, college students' hopelessness will gradually dissipate with the end of segregation control. The stability and accuracy indicated that the network analysis results were trustworthy.

CONCLUSIONS

The study findings provide evidence that central nodes and edges connecting symptoms should be addressed. Further interventions and treatments that may target these symptoms are essential to effectively alleviate the overall hopelessness level among college students. Theoretical and clinical potential consequences were discussed in detail.

Countering Indeterminate Temporariness: Sheltering work in refugee camps

The experience of temporariness is increasingly prevalent across the world, both for transient populations such as refugees and in work life characterized by precarious employment relationships. In this article, we examine how local institutional work can shape people’s experience of indeterminate temporariness and mitigate its pernicious effects. Our qualitative, inductive study is set in refugee camps in Lebanon, where indeterminate temporariness created an oppressive experience of time among Syrian refugees. We document the efforts of an NGO to help refugees rebuild meaningful lives by developing small-scale entrepreneurial ventures – efforts we conceptualize as ‘sheltering work’. Our analysis points to the potential for sheltering work to alleviate the oppressive effects of temporariness by bounding, containing, and structuring individuals’ day-to-day lives. Although sheltering work reshaped refugees’ experience of time, it did not eradicate the oppressive effects of indeterminate temporariness; instead, oppressive and reclaimed experiences of time coexisted, with individuals shifting between them. Our study theorizes sheltering work as a potent form of modest, local institutional work in the face of immutable institutions, and elaborates how individual experiences of time influence embedded agency.

How social rejection expectations and depressive symptoms bi-directionally predict each other - A cross-lagged panel analysis

BACKGROUND

Although research suggests that social rejection expectations play a crucial role in the development and maintenance of depressive symptoms, it is not clear whether such expectations are a risk factor for depression or rather a consequence thereof. The present study addressed this issue by investigating the time-lagged bi-directional effects of social rejection expectations and depressive symptoms.

METHODS

In an online survey, participants (N = 347) completed measures of social rejection expectations, depressive symptoms, interpersonal competencies, and perceived social support at baseline and 2 months later. The relationships between the variables were examined using path models and cross-lagged path analyses.

RESULTS

Cross-lagged path analyses provided evidence for a substantial positive effect of social rejection expectations at baseline on depressive symptoms at follow-up in addition to the reverse effect. A mediator analysis indicated that neither interpersonal competencies nor perceived social support mediated these bi-directional effects.

CONCLUSION

The current results demonstrate that social rejection expectations and depressive symptoms bi-directionally predict each other. Thus, social rejection expectations appears to be both a risk factor for - and a symptom of - depression. In order to prevent a vicious circle of social rejection expectations and depressive symptoms, we recommend the early detection and treatment of social rejection expectations. Moreover, social rejection expectations should be specifically addressed in cognitive-behavioural treatment of depression.

Emotional mental imagery generation during spontaneous future thinking: relationship with optimism and negative mood

Optimism is known to buffer against negative mood. Thus, understanding the factors that contribute to individual variation in optimism may inform interventions for mood disorders. Preliminary evidence suggests that the generation of mental imagery-based representations of positive relative to negative future scenarios is related to optimism. This study investigated the hypothesis that an elevated tendency to generate positive relative to negative mental imagery during spontaneous future thinking would be associated with reduced negative mood via its relationship to higher optimism. Participants (N = 44) with varied levels of naturally occurring negative mood reported current levels of optimism and the real-time occurrence and characteristics of spontaneous thoughts during a sustained attention computer task. Consistent with hypotheses, higher optimism statistically mediated the relationship between a higher proportional frequency of positive relative to negative mental imagery during spontaneous future thinking and lower negative mood. Further, the relationship between emotional mental imagery and optimism was found for future, but not past, thinking, nor for verbal future or past thinking. Thus, a greater tendency to generate positive rather than negative imagery-based mental representations when spontaneously thinking about the future may influence how optimistic one feels, which in turn may influence one's experience of negative mood.

Towards an animal model of consciousness based on the platform theory

The evolution of intellectual capacities has brought forth a continuum of consciousness levels subserved by neuronal networks of varying complexity. Brain pathologies, neurodegenerative, and mental diseases affect conscious cognition and behavior. Although impairments in consciousness are among the most devastating consequences of neurological and mental diseases, valid and reliable animal models of consciousness, that could be used for preclinical research are missing. The platform theory holds that the brain enters a conscious operation mode, whenever mental representations of stimuli, associations, concepts, memories, and experiences are effortfully maintained (in working memory) and actively manipulated. We used the platform theory as a framework and evaluation standard to categorize behavioral paradigms with respect to the level of consciousness involved in task performance. According to the platform theory, a behavioral paradigm involves conscious cognitive operations, when the problem posed is unexpected, novel or requires the maintenance and manipulation of a large amount of information to perform cognitive operations on them. Conscious cognitive operations are associated with a relocation of processing resources and the redirection of attentional focus. A consciousness behavioral test battery is proposed that is composed of tests which are assumed to require higher levels of consciousness as compared to other tasks and paradigms. The consciousness test battery for rodents includes the following tests: Working memory in the radial arm maze, episodic-like memory, prospective memory, detour test, and operant conditioning with concurrent variable-interval variable-ratio schedules. Performance in this test battery can be contrasted with the performance in paradigms and tests that require lower levels of consciousness. Additionally, a second more comprehensive behavioral test battery is proposed to control for behavioral phenotypes not related to consciousness. Our theory could serve as a guidance for the decryption of the neurobiological basis of consciousness.

Cognitive behavioral therapy effects on frontopolar cortex function during future thinking in major depressive disorder: A randomized clinical trial

BACKGROUND

Despite the importance of Beck's theoretical cognitive model of psychopathology, the neural mechanisms underlying future thinking in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) remain elusive. Recent neuroimaging studies have shown that the function of the frontopolar cortex (Brodmann area 10 [BA10]) is associated with future thinking. We hypothesized that, compared with unstructured psychotherapy (talking control: TC), CBT may involve different neural responses in BA10 associated with future thinking.

METHODS

This randomized clinical trial included 38 adult patients with moderate-to-severe major depressive disorder who underwent up to 16 weeks of CBT or TC with a 6-month follow-up period. We evaluated changes in BA10 activation during distant future thinking using functional magnetic resonance imaging with a future-thinking task. We assessed frontal neurocognitive function and clinical symptoms at baseline and post-treatment. Depression severity and automatic thoughts were assessed at the 6-month follow-up.

RESULTS

We found decreased activation in the frontopolar cortex during distant future thinking after CBT (t = 3.00, df=15, p = 0.009) and no changes after TC. Further, the reduction in BA10 activity significantly correlated with changes in frontal cognitive function after the treatment (r = 0.48, p = 0.007), and in positive automatic thought after 6 months of treatments (r = 0.39; p = 0.03).

LIMITATIONS

Relatively small sample size and homogenous clinical profile could limit the generalizability. Patients received pharmacotherapy including antidepressant.

CONCLUSIONS

CBT appears to improve frontopolar cortex function during future thinking in a manner distinct from TC. Larger clinical trials are necessary to provide firm evidence whether BA10 activity may serve as a neuro-marker for monitoring successful depression treatment with CBT.

Treatment Effect of Exercise Intervention for Female College Students with Depression: Analysis of Electroencephalogram Microstates and Power Spectrum

This paper aims to assess the effect of exercise intervention on the improvement of college students with depression and to explore the change characteristics of microstates and the power spectrum in their resting-state electroencephalogram (EEG). Forty female college students with moderate depression were screened according to the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and Depression Self-Rating Scale (SDS) scores, and half of them received an exercise intervention for 18 weeks. The study utilized an EEG to define the resting-state networks, and the scores of all the participants were tracked during the intervention. Compared with those in the depression group, the power spectrum values in the θ and α bands were significantly decreased (p < 0.05), and the duration of microstate C increased significantly (p < 0.05), while the frequency of microstate B decreased significantly (p < 0.05) in the exercise intervention group. The transition probabilities showed that the exercise intervention group had a higher probability from B to D than those in the depression group (p < 0.01). In addition, the power of the δ and α bands were negatively correlated with the occurrence of microstate C (r = −0.842, p < 0.05 and r = −0.885, p < 0.01, respectively), and the power of the β band was positively correlated with the duration of microstate C (r = 0.900, p < 0.01) after exercise intervention. Our results suggest that the decreased duration of microstate C and the increased α power in depressed students are associated with reduced cognitive ability, emotional stability, and brain activity. Depression symptoms were notably improved after exercise intervention, thus providing a more scientific index for the research, rehabilitation mechanisms, and treatment of depression.

A qualitative study exploring adolescents' experience of brief behavioural activation for depression and its impact on the symptom of anhedonia

OBJECTIVES

Anhedonia, the loss of interest and pleasure, is a core symptom of depression and is associated with deficits in reward processing. Behavioural Activation for depression may address this symptom due to its focus on identifying and increasing intrinsically rewarding activities.

DESIGN

This was a qualitative study employing reflexive thematic analysis (TA).

METHODS

Participants were eight treatment-seeking adolescents with a recent primary diagnosis of depression who had received eight sessions of Brief Behavioural Activation. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted after treatment was completed.

RESULTS

Three main themes emerged: (1) connecting, reviewing, and taking action: 'focus on getting better rather than what you're feeling'; (2) struggles, restrictors, and motivators: 'it seemed really unachievable'; and (3) feeling, acting, or seeing things differently: 'looking forwards in a more healthy way'.

CONCLUSIONS

Both specific Brief Behavioural Activation strategies (e.g., connecting with values) and more generic therapeutic strategies (e.g., self-monitoring) may be helpful in treating the symptom of anhedonia in adolescent depression. Motivational aspects of anhedonia, as well as anxiety, fatigue, and academic pressures act as potential barriers to recovery. This highlights the need for psychological treatments for adolescent depression to include explicit and targeted strategies to enhance motivation.

PRACTITIONER POINTS

Young people reported that specific Brief Behavioural Activation strategies (e.g., connecting with values) and more generic therapeutic techniques (e.g., self-monitoring) had a role in treating anhedonia. Barriers to engaging in Brief BA included: motivational anhedonia, fatigue, and academic demands.

The Legal Vulnerability Model for Same-Sex Parent Families: A Mixed Methods Systematic Review and Theoretical Integration

Globally, parents and children in same-sex parent families are impacted by many laws related to the parental sexual orientation. These laws vary considerably from one country to another, ranging from full legal recognition to criminalization. The psychological consequences of living in an ambiguous or hostile legal climate likely interfere with parental health, family functioning, and child development. However, a systematic evidence synthesis of the pertinent literature and its placement within a broader psychological model are currently lacking. The aims of this review were thus (1) to systematically review qualitative and quantitative evidence on the impact of sexual orientation laws on same-sex parent families in key domains and (2) to place these findings within a broader model informed by minority stress and family theories. Our review was preregistered and conducted in line with PRISMA guidelines. We searched for qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods studies on the impact of sexual orientation laws on target outcomes (parental health, family functioning, child outcomes) via systematic database search (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science) and forward-backward searches. Fifty-five studies published between 1999 and 2020 were eligible for inclusion and were synthesized using a data-based convergent synthesis design. Thirteen descriptive and three overarching analytical themes were identified through thematic synthesis. Linking our findings with minority stress and family theories, we propose a novel legal vulnerability model for same-sex parent families. The model posits that legal vulnerability constitutes an increased risk for parental and child health as well as family functioning through individual and shared pathways between family members. Additionally, the model introduces counteractions that families engage in on the personal, familial, and systemic level to mitigate the impact of legal vulnerability, as well as moderators on the contextual, familial, couple, and individual level that modulate this impact. Implications for research and clinical practice are discussed.

Somatic symptoms of helplessness and hopelessness

Helplessness and hopelessness are transdiagnostic and aggravating factors of mental ill health, but their relation with somatization is not well documented. The main objectives were to identify somatic symptoms that are particularly associated with helplessness, referred to as somatic symptoms of helplessness (SS-He), and hopelessness, referred to as somatic symptoms of hopelessness (SS-Ho), determine increased risk of helplessness and hopelessness if having these symptoms and a certain number of these symptoms, and determine sensitivity and specificity in identifying helplessness and hopelessness based on number of these symptoms in a general Swedish sample. Population-based data from validated questionnaire instruments were used from 3,210 participants who constituted case groups of helplessness and hopelessness, and corresponding reference groups. Among 15 common somatic symptoms, five SS-He (e.g., feeling tired/having low energy) and five SS-Ho (e.g., dizziness) were identified, showing increased risk of helplessness and hopelessness that ranged from the factor 1.73 to 2.58 and from 1.44 to 1.92, respectively, which decreased considerably when controlled for depression and anxiety. The risk of helplessness increased by the factor 1.49 for each additional SS-He, and by 1.38 for each SS-Ho. A cutoff of two/three or more SS-He showed a sensitivity of 81.7/63.7% and a specificity of 40.6/61.4% in identifying helplessness, and 77.4/54.6% and 40.4/66.1%, respectively, in identifying hopelessness based on two/three or more SS-Ho. Primary care clinicians may consider further investigation of helplessness and hopelessness as well as depression and anxiety if presenting with these symptoms.

Negative and Positive Affect Regulation in a Transdiagnostic Internet-Based Protocol for Emotional Disorders: Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND

Emotional disorders (EDs) are among the most prevalent mental disorders. Existing evidence-based psychological treatments are not sufficient to reduce the disease burden of mental disorders. It is therefore essential to implement innovative solutions to achieve a successful dissemination of psychological treatment protocols, and in this regard, the use of information and communication technologies such as the internet can be very useful. Furthermore, the literature suggests that not everyone with an ED receives the appropriate treatment. This situation has led to the development of new intervention proposals based on the transdiagnostic perspective, which attempts to address the underlying processes common to EDs. Most of these transdiagnostic interventions focus primarily on downregulating negative affectivity (NA), and less attention has been paid to strengths and the upregulation of positive affectivity, despite its importance for well-being and mental health.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of a transdiagnostic internet-based treatment for EDs in a community sample.

METHODS

A 3-armed randomized controlled trial was conducted. A total of 216 participants were randomly assigned to a transdiagnostic internet-based protocol (TIBP), a TIBP+ positive affect (PA) component, or a waiting list (WL) control group. The treatment protocol contained core components mainly addressed to downregulate NA (ie, present-focused emotional awareness and acceptance, cognitive flexibility, behavioral and emotional avoidance patterns, and interoceptive and situational exposure) as well as a PA regulation component to promote psychological strengths and enhance well-being. Data on depression, anxiety, quality of life, neuroticism and extraversion, and PA/NA before and after treatment were analyzed. Expectations and opinions of treatment were also analyzed.

RESULTS

Within-group comparisons indicated significant pre-post reductions in the two experimental conditions. In the TIBP+PA condition, the effect sizes were large for all primary outcomes (d=1.42, Beck Depression Inventory [BDI-II]; d=0.91, Beck Anxiety Inventory [BAI]; d=1.27, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-Positive [PANAS-P]; d=1.26, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-Negative [PANAS-N]), whereas the TIBP condition yielded large effect sizes for BDI-II (d=1.19) and PANAS-N (d=1.28) and medium effect sizes for BAI (d=0.63) and PANAS-P (d=0.69). Between-group comparisons revealed that participants who received one of the two active treatments scored better at posttreatment than WL participants. Although there were no statistically significant differences between the two intervention groups on the PA measure, effect sizes were consistently larger in the TIBP+PA condition than in the standard transdiagnostic protocol.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, the findings indicate that EDs can be effectively treated with a transdiagnostic intervention via the internet, as significant improvements in depression, anxiety, and quality of life measures were observed. Regarding PA measures, promising effects were found, but more research is needed to study the role of PA as a therapeutic component.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02578758; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02578758.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

RR2-10.1186/s12888-017-1297-z.