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How negative mood hinders belief updating in depression: results from two experimental studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 July 2021

Tobias Kube Open the ORCID record for Tobias Kube [Opens in a new window] ,
Lukas Kirchner ,
Thomas Gärtner  and
Julia Anna Glombiewski
Tobias Kube*
Affiliation:
Pain and Psychotherapy Research Lab, University of Koblenz-Landau, Ostbahnstr. 10, 76829 Landau, Germany
Lukas Kirchner
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University of Marburg, Gutenbergstraße 18, 35032 Marburg, Germany
Thomas Gärtner
Affiliation:
Schön Klinik Bad Arolsen, Hofgarten 10, 34454 Bad Arolsen, Germany
Julia Anna Glombiewski
Affiliation:
Pain and Psychotherapy Research Lab, University of Koblenz-Landau, Ostbahnstr. 10, 76829 Landau, Germany
*
Author for correspondence: Tobias Kube, E-mail: kube@uni-landau.de
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Abstract

Background

In two experimental studies, we tested the hypothesis that negative mood would hinder the revision of negative beliefs in response to unexpectedly positive information in depression, whereas positive mood was expected to enhance belief updating.

Methods

In study 1 (N = 101), we used a subclinical sample to compare the film-based induction of sad v. happy mood with a distraction control group. Subsequently, participants underwent a well-established paradigm to examine intra-individual changes in performance-related expectations after unexpectedly positive performance feedback. In study 2, we applied the belief-updating task from study 1 to an inpatient sample (N = 81) and induced sad v. happy mood via film-clips v. recall of autobiographic events.

Results

The results of study 1 showed no significant group differences in belief updating; the severity of depressive symptoms was a negative predictor of belief revision, though, and there was a non-significant trend suggesting that the presence of sad mood hindered belief updating in the subgroup of participants with a diagnosed depressive episode. Study 2 revealed that participants updated their expectations significantly less in line with positive feedback when they underwent the induction of negative mood prior to feedback, relative to positive mood.

Conclusions

By indicating that the presence of negative mood can hinder the revision of negative beliefs in clinically depressed people, our findings suggest that learning from new experiences can be hampered if state negative mood is activated. Thus, interventions relying on learning from novel positive experiences should aim at reducing state negative mood in depression.

Keywords

Belief updatingcognitive immunisationdepressionexpectationmood
Type
Original Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 53 , Issue 4 , March 2023 , pp. 1288 - 1301
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

*

Both authors contributed equally to this work.

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