Abstract
This study was designed to examine whether processing of emotional stimuli predicts both symptomatic improvement and recovery from depression. Participants diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) (N = 63) completed information-processing tasks to assess attention to and memory for sad, physically threatening, socially threatening, and happy stimuli. At a follow-up session an average of nine months later, participants were reassessed to determine diagnostic status and depression severity. None of the measure of attention or memory predicted diagnostic status at follow-up. Those depressed participants who remembered a higher proportion of positive words that they had endorsed as self-descriptive exhibited greater symptomatic improvement. After controlling for memory of positive self-referential words, attentional measures did not predict symptomatic change. These results are consistent with a growing literature highlighting the importance of emotionally relevant memory processes for understanding the course of major depression.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 201-206 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Emotion |
Volume | 7 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 2007 |
Keywords
- Attention
- Depression
- Emotional stimuli
- Information processing
- Memory
- Recovery
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychology(all)