Work

Negative affect interference and fear of happiness are independently associated with depressive symptoms

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: OBJECTIVES: Reward devaluation theory (RDT) posits that some depressed individuals avoid positivity due to its previous association with negative outcomes. Behavioral indicators of avoidance of reward support RDT, but self-report indicators have yet to be examined discriminantly. Two candidate self-report measures were examined in relation to depression: negative affect interference (NAI), or the experience of negative affect in response to positivity, and fear of happiness, a fear of prospective happiness. METHOD: Participants completed measures assessing NAI, fear of happiness scale, and depression online via Amazon's Mechanical Turk at three time points (N = 375). Multilevel modeling examined the relationship between NAI, fear of happiness, and depressive symptoms longitudinally. RESULTS: NAI and fear of happiness were both positively associated with depressive symptoms. They both uniquely predicted depressive symptoms when included within the same model. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that different conceptualizations of positivity avoidance are uniquely associated with depressive symptoms.

Source: Journal of Clinical Psychology

DOI: 10.1002/jclp.23066

Authors: D. Gage Jordan, Amanda C. Collins, Matthew G. Dunaway, Jenna Kilgore, E. Samuel Winer

Institutions: Mississippi State University, Georgia State University

Language: English

Topic: Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes

Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institute of Mental Health