Abstract
Clinical theory from multiple psychological perspectives, including cognitive therapies, have long suggested that the maladaptive use of strategies to regulate emotion play a central role in the development and maintenance of psychopathology. This consideration may be particularly salient for depressive symptoms, given the prevalence of multiple negative emotions in the context of depression and the recently established tendency for depressed individuals to suppress emotions. We experimentally tested whether emotional and physiological effects of emotion suppression in response to separate sadness and anxiety inductions are moderated by depressive symptoms. Results indicated no effect of suppression on self-reported sadness compared to control condition for depressed or nondepressed participants (total N = 113). However, suppressing anxiety led to a reduction in self-reported anxiety compared to control condition for nondepressed participants, but there was no effect of suppression on anxiety among depressed participants. A similar pattern emerged for cardiac responding during both inductions. Results suggest that the effects of suppression depend on the emotion suppressed and on one’s level of depressive symptoms. Depressed participants’ difficulty mitigating state anxiety also suggests that depressed individuals have difficulty regulating certain emotions, but not others. Further implications for theoretical understanding, assessment of psychopathology, and clinical practice are discussed.
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Notes
By use of the term “depressed” to describe the symptom level experienced by participants, it is understood that participants may or may not meet full criteria for major depressive episode following comprehensive clinical assessment.
Sensitivity analysis was conducted by comparing all outcomes between those who were recruited through recruitment flyers versus through SONA System, and between those who accepted cash payment versus course extra credit. Analysis revealed no differences across comparisons (p’s > 0.25), except that those who chose cash compensation, M = 6.00, SE = 0.27, showed higher levels of sadness in response to sadness induction compared to those who chose course credit, M = 4.76, SE = 0.36, Mdifference = 1.24, SEdifference = 0.43, t(109) = 2.85, p = .005 (note 2 cases had missing data on what form of compensation was chosen).
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Matthew Boland, Anthony Papa, Elysia Oliver, and Robert del Carlo declare that they have no conflict of interest. The authors received no funding from an external source or granting agency for this study. The first author received a small internal department grant that was used to offer optional financial compensation to participants (as discussed in Methods section of the study manuscript) and to purchase electrodes for heart rate measurements. This small grant was not used for other purposes for this study.
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Boland, M., Papa, A., Oliver, E. et al. Depressive Suppression: Effects of Emotion Suppression on Multiple Emotions for Depressed Versus Nondepressed Individuals. Cogn Ther Res 43, 910–925 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-019-10002-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-019-10002-5