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Ji JL, Woud ML, Rölver A, Notebaert L, Todd J, Clarke PJF, Meeten F, Margraf J, Blackwell SE. Investigating the role of mental imagery use in the assessment of anhedonia. Cogn Emot 2024:1-19. [PMID: 39330940 DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2024.2405008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2024] [Revised: 07/01/2024] [Accepted: 09/11/2024] [Indexed: 09/28/2024]
Abstract
Anhedonia, or a deficit in the liking, wanting, and seeking of rewards, is typically assessed via self-reported "in-the-moment" emotional and motivational responses to reward stimuli and activities. Given that mental imagery is known to evoke emotion and motivational responses, we conducted two studies to investigate the relationship between mental imagery use and self-reported anhedonia. Using a novel Reward Response Scale (adapted from the Dimensional Anhedonia Rating Scale, DARS; Rizvi et al., 2015) modified to assess deliberate and spontaneous mental imagery use, Study 1 (N = 394) compared uninstructed and instructed mental imagery use, and Study 2 (N = 586) conducted a test of replication of uninstructed mental imagery use. Results showed that greater mental imagery use was associated with higher reward response scores (Study 1 & 2), and this relationship was not moderated by whether imagery use was uninstructed or instructed (Study 1). Importantly, mental imagery use moderated the convergence between reward response and depression scale measures of anhedonia, with lower convergence for those reporting higher mental imagery use (Study 1 & 2). Results suggest that higher spontaneous mental imagery use may increase self-reported reward response and reduce the convergence between reward response scale and depression questionnaire measures of anhedonia. [199 / 200 words].
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie L Ji
- School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK
- School of Psychological Science, Centre for the Advancement of Research on Emotion, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
| | - Marcella L Woud
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Experimental Psychopathology, Institute of Psychology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
- Mental Health Research and Treatment Center, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Angela Rölver
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Lies Notebaert
- School of Psychological Science, Centre for the Advancement of Research on Emotion, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
| | - Jemma Todd
- School of Psychological Science, Centre for the Advancement of Research on Emotion, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
- School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Perth, Australia
| | | | - Frances Meeten
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
| | - Jürgen Margraf
- Mental Health Research and Treatment Center, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Simon E Blackwell
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Experimental Psychopathology, Institute of Psychology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
- Mental Health Research and Treatment Center, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Bochum, Germany
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Ji JL, Geiles D, Saulsman LM. Mental imagery-based episodic simulation amplifies motivation and behavioural engagement in planned reward activities. Behav Res Ther 2021; 145:103947. [PMID: 34433114 DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2021.103947] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2020] [Revised: 07/27/2021] [Accepted: 08/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Preliminary evidence suggests mental imagery-based episodic simulation of planned reward activities may amplify motivation and promote greater behavioural engagement, particularly for activities with high motivational barriers (Renner, Murphy, Ji, Manly, & Holmes, 2019). This study conducted a conceptual replication and extension of Renner et al. (2019). N = 81 first-year university students self-selected and scheduled two reward activities (one hedonic, one mastery) for the following week before being randomly allocated to either an Imagery-Experiential elaboration condition (n = 27), a Verbal-Reasoning elaboration condition (n = 28), or a Scheduling-only Control condition (n = 26). Following the lab session, all participants received standardized daily prompts to complete daily activity diaries online for seven days. The Imagery-Experiential condition reported greater increases in anticipatory pleasure (state mood), anticipated pleasure, and self-reported motivation compared to the Scheduling-only Control condition, and greater increases in anticipatory pleasure (state mood), but not anticipated pleasure or motivation, relative to the Verbal-Reasoning condition. Consistent with Renner et al. (2019), the Imagery-Experiential condition, but not the Verbal-Reasoning condition, reported more frequent engagement in high motivational barrier activities than the Scheduling-only Control condition. Exploratory mediational analyses suggested that mental imagery may exert unique motivational impacts via its impact on anticipatory pleasure (state mood), although indirect effects were only observed for self-reported motivation change in the lab, with real world behavioural effects falling short of statistical significance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie L Ji
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Australia.
| | - Dylan Geiles
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Australia
| | - Lisa M Saulsman
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Australia
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