ABSTRACT

Past research suggests that depressed individuals are less likely than non-depressed individuals to engage in mood-incongruent recall in response to negative mood and do not experience associated mood reparative effects. The present study examined the effects of adopting a reflective versus ruminative self-focus orientation towards one's mood on the valence of autobiographical memories recalled following a negative mood induction and the extent of mood repair following memory recall among individuals with varying depressive symptomatology. Participants underwent a negative mood induction and either a ruminative (n = 69) or reflective (n = 49) self-focus manipulation, and then recalled five specific autobiographical memories. Depression symptoms were associated with recall of less positive memories and reduced mood repair. The valence of recalled memories was associated with the extent of mood improvement, and depressive symptoms did not moderate this association. Contrary to our hypothesis, a reflective self-focus was not associated with recall of more positive memories or greater mood improvement than a ruminative self-focus. The results suggest that more depressed individuals are less likely to spontaneously engage in mood-incongruent recall in a negative mood state; however, recall of positive memories is associated with similar mood reparative effects regardless of depressive symptomatology.

摘要

过去的研究表明，与非抑郁症患者相比，抑郁症患者不太可能在应对消极情绪时进行情绪不一致的回忆，并且不会经历相关的情绪修复效应。本研究检查了对情绪采用反思与沉思的自我聚焦取向对消极情绪诱导后回忆起的自传体记忆效价的影响，以及在具有不同抑郁症状的个体中回忆回忆后情绪修复的程度。参与者经历了消极情绪诱导和反刍 ( n  = 69) 或反思 ( n = 49）自我聚焦操纵，然后回忆起五个特定的自传体记忆。抑郁症状与不太积极的记忆的回忆和情绪修复的减少有关。回忆的效价与情绪改善的程度有关，而抑郁症状并没有缓和这种关联。与我们的假设相反，与沉思的自我关注相比，反思性自我关注与回忆更积极的记忆或更大的情绪改善无关。结果表明，越抑郁的人就越不可能在消极情绪状态下自发地进行情绪不一致的回忆；然而，无论抑郁症状如何，积极记忆的回忆都与类似的情绪修复效果相关。