Abstract
Background
The differential activation hypothesis (Teasdale & Dent, 1987) proposes that negative cognitions in individuals with a history of depression are activated more easily by negative mood than individuals without this history. The change of cognitions due to mood change was termed cognitive reactivity. Negative cognitions might exist on both explicit and implicit dimensions.
Methods
This study examined the differential activation hypothesis on coping-related cognitions among people with a history of depression under different mood states in comparison with people who are currently depressed and those who have no history of depression. Coping-related cognitions were examined on both explicit and implicit dimensions. Currently depressed (n = 42), previously depressed (n = 61), and never depressed (n = 62) participants were tested on computer-based paradigms designed to measure depression, mood, and explicit and implicit cognitions.
Results
Explicit negatively biased cognitions on coping existed among currently depressed individuals and to some extent among previously depressed individuals. Explicit cognitive reactivity existed among previously depressed individuals for emotional-related content. Implicit cognitive compensation tendency existed among currently depressed individuals on negative coping while implicit cognitive reactivity existed among previously depressed individuals on positive coping.
Conclusions
This study demonstrated the existence of negatively biased cognitions and cognitive reactivity among people with a history of depression with coping-related contents, and on both explicit and implicit dimensions. The findings are consistent with the differential activation hypothesis.
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Data Availability
Data is available upon request from the first author.
Notes
The original stressful life events scenarios were developed for college students. The stressful life events scenarios used in this study were adapted from the original scenarios to fit with the community sample in this study. Please write to the first author for a detailed description of the material development study.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Dr. Andrew Szeto and Dr. Christopher Sears from University of Calgary for useful discussions and feedback on the research. We thank our research assistants for participant recruitment and data collection.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation were performed by Xiao-Miao Li and Keith S. Dobson, data collection and analysis were performed by Xiao-Miao Li. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Xiao-Miao Li and Keith S. Dobson, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Li, XM., Dobson, K.S. Cognitive Reactivity Related to Coping Behaviors: An Assessment of Explicit and Implicit Dimensions in Clinical Depression. Cogn Ther Res 45, 1222–1234 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-021-10229-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-021-10229-1