A brighter future: The effect of positive episodic simulation on future predictions in non-depressed, moderately dysphoric & highly dysphoric individuals

Recalling and anticipating positive events to improve the positive affect and mental health of adolescents: A cluster randomized controlled trial in secondary schools

This cluster randomized controlled trial examined the effectiveness of Positive Events Training (PET), a combined group training aimed at simultaneously improving positive autobiographical memory (AM) and episodic future thinking (EFT) among adolescents (12-16 years). Delivered as a universal school-based program, PET was compared with an active (creative writing) control group (CREAT). Effects on resilience, wellbeing, positive emotions, emotional response styles towards positive emotions (savoring, dampening), anhedonia, depressive symptoms, and multiple AM and EFT indices were examined. Adolescents (NPET = 95, NCREAT = 93) completed self-report scales at baseline, post-training and two-month follow-up. Multilevel models revealed that PET led to significant improvements in certain AM and EFT skills. Moreover, a decrease in anhedonia was observed at post-training. However, this effect did not withstand correction for multiple testing. Absence of changes in the other outcomes should be interpreted within the context of the universal school-based approach and the potential limited scope for detectable changes. Exploratory analyses suggest the importance of further investigating PET's potential in addressing positive affect dysregulations in indicated samples, and exploring perceived likelihood of generated future events and dampening as potential underlying mechanisms. Study limitations and future directions to maximize the demonstrated potential of PET are discussed.

Episodic future thinking and psychopathology: A focus on depression and suicide risk

Episodic future thinking (EFT), the ability to imagine future autobiographical events, is both an everyday and clinically significant cognitive process. With a focus on depression and suicidality, here we discuss evidence connecting EFT with psychopathology. Emotional valence of imagined future events has emerged as the most widely established feature of EFT detected to date, with less positive EFT being associated with depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. This pattern may not be merely a byproduct of sadness or anhedonia. Promising directions for future research include clarifying the temporal association between EFT and clinical outcomes, investigating the potential benefits and drawbacks of positive EFT, and refining assessments for youth to measure EFT either preceding or soon after onset of psychopathology.

Web-Based Imagery Behavioral Activation (WIMBA): Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial Testing the Effects, Acceptability, and Feasibility of a Mental Imagery Activity Scheduling Training Delivered Online

Background

Behavioral activation (BA) is an effective and efficacious treatment for depression. Activity scheduling is the central treatment component of BA and involves planning of potentially enjoyable and rewarding activities. Evidence from non-clinical studies suggests that mental imagery simulations of planned activities can increase motivation and anticipated pleasure for these activities.

Method

We describe a randomized controlled trial testing a mental imagery activity scheduling training delivered online in four weekly sessions (total training duration approximately 90 minutes) in a sample meeting diagnostic criteria of a major depressive episode, as indicated by the Diagnostic Short-Interview for Mental Disorders (Mini-DIPS), and not currently receiving treatment. Participants (N = 140) will be randomized to either mental imagery activity scheduling or a wait-list control condition. Depressive symptoms (BDI-II) and behavioral activation (BADS) are the primary outcomes; BDI-II will be measured at Session 1, Session 4, and at two-week follow-up, BADS at Sessions 1-4 and at two-week follow-up.

Discussion

It is discussed how the expected results may reflect mechanisms and effects of a mental imagery activity scheduling training delivered online in a sample of individuals with depression. Concluding we outline next steps for future research and highlight the potential of this novel treatment for dissemination in the wider community and integration into routine care.

The implicit power of positive thinking: The effect of positive episodic simulation on implicit future expectancies

Previous research demonstrating that positive episodic simulation enhances future expectancies has relied on explicit expectancy measures. The current study investigated the effects of episodic simulation on implicit expectancies. Using the Future Thinking Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (FT-IRAP), participants made true/false decisions to indicate whether or not they expected positive/negative outcomes after adopting orientations consistent or inconsistent with an optimistic disposition. The outcome measure, DIRAP, was based on response time differences between consistent and inconsistent blocks. Participants then engaged in either positive simulation training, in which they imagined positive future events, or a neutral visualisation task before repeating the FT-IRAP twice following 10-minute intervals. Positive simulation training increased DIRAP scores for don't-expect-negative trials-boosting participants' readiness to affirm that negative events were unlikely to happen to them. Although findings did not generalise across all trial types, they show potential for positive simulation training to enhance implicit future expectancies.

Neurocognitive Model of Schema-Congruent and -Incongruent Learning in Clinical Disorders: Application to Social Anxiety and Beyond

Negative schemas lie at the core of many common and debilitating mental disorders. Thus, intervention scientists and clinicians have long recognized the importance of designing effective interventions that target schema change. Here, we suggest that the optimal development and administration of such interventions can benefit from a framework outlining how schema change occurs in the brain. Guided by basic neuroscientific findings, we provide a memory-based neurocognitive framework for conceptualizing how schemas emerge and change over time and how they can be modified during psychological treatment of clinical disorders. We highlight the critical roles of the hippocampus, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and posterior neocortex in directing schema-congruent and -incongruent learning (SCIL) in the interactive neural network that comprises the autobiographical memory system. We then use this framework, which we call the SCIL model, to derive new insights about the optimal design features of clinical interventions that aim to strengthen or weaken schema-based knowledge through the core processes of episodic mental simulation and prediction error. Finally, we examine clinical applications of the SCIL model to schema-change interventions in psychotherapy and provide cognitive-behavior therapy for social anxiety disorder as an illustrative example.

Young people's future thinking and mental health: The development and validation of the Adolescent Future Thinking Rating Scale

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to develop and validate a new scale of future thinking and adolescent mental health-the Adolescent Future Thinking Rating Scale (AFTRS).

METHODS

A provisional AFTRS was developed from interviews with 19 adolescents. It was completed by three samples: exploratory (n = 161) aged 16-21 years, who also completed established measures of future thinking, cognitive risk factors, depression and anxiety; replication (n = 209) aged 16-25 years; and test-retest (n = 102) aged 17-23 years. The reliability, convergent, predictive, and discriminant validity were examined.

RESULTS

Exploratory factor analyses identified the AFTRS-18 and AFTRS-12. Both had three sub-scales: (i) Concerns about Maladaptive Future Thinking, (ii) Future Positivity, and (iii) Ability to Visualise the Future. Established future thinking measures were combined into two factors: Negative Future Emotions (Cognitive Triad Inventory-View of Future and Beck's Hopelessness Scale) and Immediacy Preference (Consideration of Future Consequences and Quick Delay Questionnaire). The AFTRS-18 and AFTRS-12 were similarly associated with both factors and with depression/anxiety. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were high.

CONCLUSIONS

The AFTRS-12 and AFTRS-18 are reliable and valid measures of the three key dimensions of adolescent future thinking and mental health. The first subscale remained significant in predicting depression and anxiety after controlling for general cognitive risks.

Shifting Episodic Prediction With Online Cognitive Bias Modification: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Negative future thinking pervades emotional disorders. This hybrid efficacy-effectiveness trial tested a four-session, scalable online cognitive bias modification program for training more positive episodic prediction. 958 adults (73.3% female, 86.5% White, 83.4% from United States) were randomized to positive conditions with ambiguous future scenarios that ended positively, 50/50 conditions that ended positively or negatively, or a control condition with neutral scenarios. As hypothesized (preregistration: https://osf.io/jrst6), positive training participants improved more than control participants in negative expectancy bias (d = -0.58), positive expectancy bias (d = 0.80), and self-efficacy (d = 0.29). Positive training was also superior to 50/50 training for expectancy bias and optimism (d = 0.31). Training gains attenuated yet remained by 1-month follow-up. Unexpectedly, participants across conditions improved comparably in anxiety and depression symptoms and growth mindset. Targeting a transdiagnostic process with a scalable program may improve bias and outlook; however, further validation of outcome measures is required.

Positive future thinking without task-relevance increases anxiety and frontal stress regulation

Negative anticipatory biases can affect the way we interpret and subjectively experience events. Through its role in emotion regulation, positive future thinking may provide an accessible way to attenuate these biases. However, it is unclear whether positive future thinking works ubiquitously, independent of contextual relevance. Here, we used a positive future thinking intervention (task-relevant; task-irrelevant and control condition) prior to a social stress task to adapt the way this task was experienced. We assessed subjective and objective stress measures and also recorded resting state electroencephalography (EEG) to assess intervention related differences in the level of frontal delta-beta coupling, which is considered a neurobiological substrate of stress regulation. Results show that the intervention reduced subjective stress and anxiety, and increased social fixation behavior and task performance, but only if future thinking was task-relevant. Paradoxically, task-irrelevant positive future thoughts enhanced negative perceptual biases and stress reactivity. This increase in stress reactivity was corroborated by elevated levels of frontal delta-beta coupling during event anticipation, which suggests an increased demand for stress regulation. Together, these findings show that positive future thinking can mitigate the negative emotional, behavioral and neurobiological consequences of a stressful event, but that it should not be applied indiscriminately.

Positive Prospective Mental Imagery Characteristics in Young Adults and Their Associations with Depressive Symptoms

Background

Positive prospective mental imagery plays an important role in mental well-being, and depressive symptoms have been associated with difficulties in generating positive prospective mental images (PPMIs). We used a mobile app to gather PPMIs generated by young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic and analyzed content, characteristics, and associations with depressive symptoms.

Methods

This is a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial with 95 healthy young adults allocated into two groups (intervention and control). Participants used the mobile app decreasing mental health symptoms for seven consecutive days. Fifty participants in the intervention group reported PPMIs at least three times per day using a mobile app inducing PPMI generation. We categorized entries into themes and applied moderation models to investigate associations between PPMI characteristics and depressive symptoms.

Results

We distinguished 25 PPMI themes. The most frequent were related to consuming food and drinks, watching TV/streaming platforms, and doing sports. Vividness and ease of generation of PPMIs, but not their anticipation, pleasure intensity or number of engagements with the app were associated with fewer depressive symptoms.

Conclusions

We identified PPMI themes in young adults and found significant negative associations between depressive symptoms and vividness and generation ease of PPMIs. These results may inform prevention and intervention science, including the design of personalized interventions. We discuss implications for future studies and treatment development for individuals experiencing diminished PPMI.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10608-023-10378-5.

Selective effects of focusing on spatial details in episodic future thinking for self-relevant positive events

Mental simulations of positive future events increase their detail/vividness and plausibility, with effects on cognitive-affective processes such as anticipated and anticipatory pleasure. More recently, spatial details have been distinguished as important in increasing detail and elaborating mental scene construction. Building on this research, this study (N = 54; M age = 26.9) compared simulations of positive, self-relevant future events spatial details (i.e. people, objects, sequences of actions) with simulations focused on content details. Cross-sectionally at baseline, spatial details uniquely predicted phenomenological characteristics of future events, including anticipatory pleasure. The guided simulations increased detail and vividness, mental imagery, and pre-experiencing in both conditions. The content simulation condition did not increase content details relative to the spatial simulation condition, however, the inverse was true. Relatedly, overall detail and vividness were higher in the spatial condition, as was perceived control. The findings are discussed in relation to future thinking and mental health.

Is Future Mental Imagery Associated with Reduced Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Negative Affect and Anhedonic Symptoms in Young People?

Background

Difficulties with prospective mental images are associated with adolescent depression. Current treatments mainly focus on verbal techniques to reduce negative affect (e.g. low mood) rather than enhancing positive affect, despite anhedonia being present in adolescents. We investigated the concurrent relationships between the vividness of negative and positive prospective mental imagery and negative affect and positive affect; and examined whether negative and positive prospective mental imagery moderated the impact of recent stress (COVID-19-linked stress) on negative and positive affect.

Methods

2602 young people (12-25 years) completed the Prospective Imagery Task and self-reported on symptoms of negative affect, anhedonia and COVID-19 linked stress.

Results

Elevated vividness of negative future mental imagery and reduced vividness of positive future mental imagery were associated with increased negative affect, whereas only reduced vividness of positive future imagery was associated with increased symptoms of anhedonia. Elevated vividness of negative future images amplified the association between COVID-19 linked stress and negative affect, while elevated vividness of positive future images attenuated the association between COVID-19 linked stress and anhedonia.

Conclusions

Future mental imagery may be differentially associated with negative and positive affect, but this needs to be replicated in clinical populations to support novel adolescent psychological treatments.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10608-023-10352-1.

Distinct Effects of Anxiety and Depression on Updating Emotional Information in Working Memory

Anxiety and depression have been shown to negatively influence the processing of emotional information in working memory. However, most studies have examined anxiety-related or depression-related working memory deficits independently, without considering their high co-morbidity. We tested the effects of emotional valence on working memory performance among healthy young adults with varying levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Ninety young adults aged between 18-24 (51 female) completed an emotional 2-back task in which positive, negative, and neutral images were presented. Multi-level modeling was used to examine anxiety and depressive symptoms as predictors of response accuracy and latency across the three emotional valence conditions. The results showed that participants responded to negative images with the highest accuracy and to positive images with the lowest accuracy. Both negative and positive images elicited slower responses than neutral images. Importantly, we found that more severe anxiety symptoms predicted a smaller difference in response accuracy between negative and neutral stimuli, whereas more severe depressive symptoms predicted a larger updating reaction time difference between positive and neutral stimuli. These findings demonstrated the uniquely anxiety-related deficits in processing negative contents and the uniquely depression-related deficits in updating positive contents in working memory, thus highlighting the necessity of novel cognitive bias modification interventions targeting the anxiety-specific and depression-specific deficits in working memory.

Reduced calibration between subjective and objective measures of episodic future thinking in alcohol use disorder

BACKGROUND

A reduced capacity to mentally simulate future scenarios could be of clinical importance in alcohol use disorder (AUD). However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying episodic future thinking (EFT) impairment in AUD.

METHODS

We tested patients with severe AUD using two measures of EFT: the individual's own subjective experience of their imaginings (phenomenology) and the objective number of details included in imagined events, as assessed by an independent observer (examination). The comparison between the two measures allowed us to investigate the extent to which the subjective and objective characteristics of EFT are calibrated in healthy and AUD participants matched for age, education, and gender. The possible impact of cognitive functioning and disturbed mood on EFT measures was also investigated.

RESULTS

In terms of objective details of EFT, patients with AUD (n = 40) generated fewer episodic components and more non-episodic components than control participants (n = 40), even when controlling for cognitive functioning. However, self-ratings of phenomenological characteristics indicated that participants with AUD perceived imagined future events at a similar level of detail as control participants. Additionally, there was a significant correlation between objective and subjective measures in healthy individuals but not in the AUD group. A higher depression score in the AUD group was not associated with the EFT measures.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest a distorted self-assessment of the richness of imagined future events in individuals with AUD. We discuss these apparent limitations in metacognitive abilities and verbal descriptions of imagined events among individuals with AUD and their clinical implications.

Future-Oriented Positive Mental Imagery Reduces Anxiety for Exposure to Public Speaking

Exposure therapy is the recommended treatment for anxiety disorders, but many anxious individuals are unwilling to expose themselves to feared situations. Episodic simulation of future situations contributes to adaptive emotion regulation and motivates behavior. This study investigated whether future-oriented positive mental imagery reduces anticipatory anxiety and distress during exposure, and increases exposure willingness and duration. Forty-three individuals with moderate public speaking anxiety were randomized to a standardized positive mental imagery exercise about future public speaking or no-task. All participants were then asked to present in a virtual reality environment. Anticipatory anxiety reduced in the positive mental imagery group, but not in the control group. Additionally, the positive mental imagery group reported lower distress during exposure than the control group, but groups did not differ in exposure willingness. Due to limited variance, effects on exposure duration could not be tested. Future-oriented positive mental imagery is promising to prepare individuals for exposure to previously avoided situations.

Adapting cognitive bias modification to train healthy prospection

Prospection, the mental simulation of future events, has been theoretically linked to physical and mental health. Prior studies have found that prospection is malleable; however, no research to our knowledge has tested whether a scalable intervention explicitly targeting the simulation of positive future outcomes can lead to more generalized positive prospection, and enhance positive outlook and reduce distress. The current study tested a novel, web-based cognitive bias modification for interpretation (CBM-I) program designed to shift prospective bias towards more positive (as opposed to negative) representations of future outcomes among 172 participants selected for having a relatively negative baseline expectancy bias. Results showed that following CBM-I, participants in active training conditions exhibited more positive expectations about the future, and increased self-efficacy and growth mindset. Also, optimism increased and depression and anxiety symptoms decreased following active training, but this also occurred for the control condition. Analyses did not suggest that changes in positive expectations mediated changes in positive outlook outcomes. Results suggest that an online prospection intervention can lead to more positive expectations about future events and improve positive outlook, though open questions remain about what accounts for the training effects.

Prospective mental imagery in depression: Impact on reward processing and reward-motivated behaviour

Background

Mental imagery has long been part of cognitive behavioural therapies. More recently, a resurgence of interest has emerged for prospective mental imagery, i.e. future-directed imagery-based thought, and its relation to reward processing, motivation and behaviour in the context of depression.

Method

We conducted a selective review on the role of prospective mental imagery and its impact on reward processing and reward-motivated behaviour in depression.

Results

Based on the current literature, we propose a conceptual mechanistic model of prospective mental imagery. Prospective mental imagery of engaging in positive activities can increase reward anticipation and reward motivation, which can transfer to increased engagement in reward-motivated behaviour and more experiences of reward, thereby decreasing depressive symptoms. We suggest directions for future research using multimodal assessments to measure the impact of prospective mental imagery from its basic functioning in the lab to real-world and clinical implementation.

Conclusion

Prospective mental imagery has the potential to improve treatment for depression where the aim is to increase reward-motivated behaviours. Future research should investigate how exactly and for whom prospective mental imagery works.

This review provides a selected update of the literature on prospective mental imagery.

Prospective mental imagery might decrease depression via reward processing and reward-motivated behaviours.

Suggestions for future research to investigate these hypotheses are provided.

Is my patient too sad to approach their fear? Depression severity and imaginal exposure outcomes for patients with OCD

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

There is conflicting research on how comorbid depression impacts the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) with exposure with response prevention. To better understand this relationship, the current study tests theoretical claims that greater depression limits motivation to engage in exposures, restricts habituation, and interferes with adaptive learning.

METHODS

Fifty-one individuals with OCD completed a diagnostic interview and self-report questionnaires assessing depression symptom severity and then participated in a standardized imaginal exposure protocol, in which they repeatedly approached an idiosyncratic fear deemed "moderately anxiety-provoking."

RESULTS

Contrary to expectations, linear regression models indicated that depression symptom severity was not independently associated with motivation, subjective or objective within-session habituation or adaptive learning outcomes. However, the perceived likelihood of the best-case scenario occurring as a result of the exposure moderated the relationship between depression severity and motivation to engage in the exposure exercise.

LIMITATIONS

Use of a one-session exposure protocol precludes conclusions regarding how depression is associated with outcomes in a full ERP treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Depression symptom severity was not independently associated with motivation, habituation, or adaptive learning. The observed non-significant effects suggest that degree of depression, on its own, is not a meaningful indicator of how patients with OCD will fare an exposure intervention.

Cognitive mechanisms of episodic simulation in psychiatric populations

Episodic simulation is the construction of a mental representation of a specific autobiographical future event. Episodic simulation has increasingly been studied in psychiatric populations. Here we 1) review evidence indicating that episodic simulation is compromised in patients with depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and PTSD; and 2) consider several potential cognitive mechanisms of episodic simulation in psychiatric populations: episodic retrieval, scene construction, mental imagery, components of the CaRFAX model (i.e., capture and rumination, functional avoidance, and executive functioning), and narrative style. We evaluate evidence regarding these mechanisms across psychiatric populations, and identify areas of future research. Understanding the factors that contribute to episodic simulation impairment in psychiatric populations may lead to targeted and effective treatment approaches.

Changing the future: An initial test of Future Specificity Training (FeST)

A range of psychiatric disorders are characterised by impairments in episodic future thinking (EFT), and particularly simulating specific, spatiotemporally-located future events. No study has examined whether training can lead to sustained improvement in specific EFT. In this study, participants (N = 60; M age = 31, SD = 13.2) were randomized to a two-session, group-based future thinking program (Future Specificity Training; FeST) or wait-list. At follow-up the training group, relative to wait-list, showed large, statistically-significant improvements in the ability to mentally simulate specific EFT (d = .82), increases in detail (d = 1.32), use of mental imagery (d = 1.32), anticipated (d = 1.78) and anticipatory pleasure (d = 1.07), perceived control (d = 1.20), and likelihood of occurrence (d = 1.09). Some effects were also observed on positive, generalised future self-states. In the context of inherent limitations of subjective reporting in trials, this study provides evidence that EFT specificity can be enhanced, and the effects of FeST indicate a possible avenue to disrupt psychopathological processes.

Prior Day Negative Affect Influences Current Day Procrastination: A Lagged Daily Diary Analysis

Background and objectives: Procrastination is a common problem among college students. Negative affect associated with stress and anxiety is linked to higher levels of procrastination. Although there is a relationship between procrastination and affect, little is known about the direction of this relationship. The current study explored whether changes in daily negative affect (NA) or positive affect (PA) preceded procrastination or whether procrastination preceded changes in affect. Method and design: The current study is a secondary data analysis of a larger study. After completing an initial survey assessing students' emotional well-being, students were asked to participate in a follow-up daily diary survey. Participants in the daily diary (N = 53) completed a brief survey each weekday evening for two weeks that assessed daily affect and events. Multilevel regression tested whether NA and PA predicted next-day procrastination and vice versa. Results: Cross-lag panel analysis demonstrated that students reported more procrastination following days they experienced higher levels of NA. However, procrastination did not predict changes in NA. PA was not associated with prior day or next day procrastination experiences when controlling for NA. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that negative emotions motivate procrastination behavior. Implications for helping students cope with and regulate NA are discussed.

A web-based episodic specificity and future thinking session modulates delay discounting in cannabis users

Episodic future thinking (EFT), a brief intervention involving mental simulation of positive future events, improves delay discounting (DD) in nicotine and alcohol dependent individuals. This study is the first to assess effects of a single-session, online episodic training (ET) on constructs that might impact cannabis use and cannabis use disorder. A sample of 200 active cannabis users recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk were randomized to an EFT group (n = 102) or an episodic recent thinking control group (ERT; n = 98). A novel episodic specificity induction (ES) was included to enhance quality of episodic thinking for the ET group, and an ES attention control was provided to the ERT group (control training group; CT). Quality and manipulation ratings of event excitement, vividness, importance, and enjoyment of trainings were collected in addition to DD tasks (gains and losses) and readiness to change cannabis use. The ET group reported higher overall quality and manipulation ratings than did the CT group (p < .001, d = 0.79). DD of gains was lower in the ET relative to those of the CT group after controlling for relevant variables (p = .003, d = 0.48), unlike DD of losses (p = .50, d = 0.11). The ET group showed larger pre/post increases in readiness to change, but they were not statistically significant (p = .069, d = 0.26). These effects, following a session of online ET, suggests that ET may positively impact factors related to reduction in cannabis use. Differential effects of EFT and ES components on DD and the development of ET as an adjunctive mHealth intervention targeting reduction in cannabis use appears warranted. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Impairments in episodic future thinking for positive events and anticipatory pleasure in major depression

BACKGROUND

Characteristic of the cardinal symptom of anhedonia, people with clinical depression report lower levels of anticipatory pleasure. However, the psychological mechanisms underlying these deficits are poorly understood. This is the first study to assess whether, and to what extent, phenomenological characteristics of episodic future thinking for positive future events are associated with anticipatory pleasure among depressed individuals.

METHODS

Individuals with a Major Depressive Episode (MDE; N = 117) and without (N = 47) completed ratings scales for depressive symptoms and trait anticipatory and consummatory pleasure. They then provided descriptions of personally-relevant positive future events and rated them for phenomenological characteristics and state anticipatory pleasure.

RESULTS

Between-groups analysis showed that those with MDE reported lower trait anticipatory and consummatory pleasure. They also simulated future events with less specificity, less detail/vividness, less use of mental imagery, less use of first-person perspective, less plausibility/perceived likelihood of occurring, and reported less associated state anticipatory pleasure. In regression analyses in the depressed group, lower scores for detail/vividness, mental imagery, and personal significance all uniquely predicted lower state anticipatory pleasure.

LIMITATIONS

Cognitive functioning was not assessed, which may help clarify deficits that underpin these findings. History of previous depressive episodes in the comparison group were not assessed, which may mean the observed between-group effects are underestimated.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides further evidence of deficits in episodic future thinking and anticipatory pleasure in depressed individuals. It also establishes links between particular characteristics of episodic future thinking and state anticipatory pleasure, and indicates cognitive targets that may be amenable to intervention in order to reduce anhedonia.

Not to worry: Episodic retrieval impacts emotion regulation in older adults

Interventions that increase the specificity of episodic memory and future-oriented problem solving have been shown to help both young adults and clinical populations regulate their emotions toward potential stressors. However, little is known about how episodic specificity impacts anxiety levels in older adults, who show reduced specificity of episodic memory, future simulation, and problem-solving performance. Although emotion regulation generally improves with age, older adults still experience worries pertaining to their health and interpersonal relationships. The current studies test how episodic specificity affects emotion regulation in older adults. In Experiment 1, participants received an episodic specificity induction (ESI)-brief training in recollecting details of past experiences-prior to generating steps to solve worrisome problems. Older adults provided more relevant steps and episodic details after the specificity induction relative to a control induction, but we found no difference in emotion regulation ratings between induction conditions. In Experiment 2, we contrasted performance on a personal problem-solving task (i.e., generating steps to solve one's own problems) intended to draw on episodic retrieval with an advice task focused on semantic processing (i.e., listing general advice for an acquaintance worried about similar problems). Participants provided more relevant steps and episodic details in the personal problem-solving task relative to the advice task, and boosts in detail were related to larger reductions in anxiety toward the target worrisome events. These results indicate that solving worrisome problems with greater levels of episodic detail can positively influence emotion regulation in older adults. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The phenomenological characteristics of autobiographical future thinking in dysphoric and non-dysphoric individuals

Depressive symptoms are associated with deficits in objectively-rated detail and specificity in autobiographical future thinking for personally-relevant events. However, how depressive symptoms might affect the subjective, phenomenal characteristics of future thinking in general is not well understood. This study examined future thinking as self-reported by dysphoric (n = 79; probable major depression on the Patient Health Questionnaire and very or extremely difficult impact on functioning) and non-dysphoric adults (n = 79; as defined by normal range on the PHQ) that were matched on age and gender. The dysphoric group reported more frequent thoughts about their future in general, particularly for the long-term future, which persisted after controlling for emotional-valence. Dysphoric individuals perceived their future thinking as being more frequently vivid and detailed, more often involving mental imagery and inner speech, more often involuntary, more often unrealistic or implausible, more negatively-valenced, and more often from a third-person perspective. The findings indicate differences in the phenomenology of thinking about one's future among dysphoric individuals, some of which contrast with prior research findings. The implications for understanding autobiographical future thinking in depression are discussed, and studies are indicated to further clarify the content, function, and context of future thinking in altered affective states.

Emotional Mental Imagery Abnormalities in Monozygotic Twins With, at High-Risk of, and Without Affective Disorders: Present in Affected Twins in Remission but Absent in High-Risk Twins

Background: Mental imagery abnormalities feature across affective disorders including bipolar disorder (BD) and unipolar depression (UD). Maladaptive emotional imagery has been proposed as a maintenance factor for affective symptomatology and a target for mechanism-driven psychological treatment developments. Where imagery abnormalities feature beyond acute affective episodes, further opportunities for innovation arise beyond treatments, such as for tertiary/relapse prevention (e.g., in remitted individuals) or primary prevention (e.g., in non-affected but at-risk individuals). The aim of our study was to investigate for the first time the presence of possible mental imagery abnormalities in affected individuals in remission and at-risk individuals for affective disorders using a familial risk design. Methods: A population-based cohort of monozygotic twins was recruited through linkage between the Danish national registries (N=204). Participants were grouped as: affected (remitted BD/UD; n = 115); high-risk (co-twin with history of BD/UD; n = 49), or low-risk (no co-twin history of BD/UD; n = 40). Twins completed mental imagery measures spanning key subjective domains (spontaneous imagery use and emotional imagery) and cognitive domains (imagery inspection and imagery manipulation). Results: Affected twins in remission reported enhanced emotional mental imagery compared to both low- and high-risk twins. This was characterized by greater impact of i) intrusive prospective imagery (Impact of Future Events Scale) and ii) deliberately-generated prospective imagery of negative scenarios (Prospective Imagery Task). There were no significant differences in these key measures between affected BD and UD twins in remission. Additionally, low- and high-risk twins did not significantly differ on these emotional imagery measures. There were also no significant differences between the three groups on non-emotional measures including spontaneous imagery use and cognitive stages of imagery. Conclusions: Abnormalities in emotional prospective imagery are present in monozygotic twins with affective disorders in remission-despite preserved cognitive stages of imagery-but absent in unaffected high-risk twins, and thus do not appear to index familial risk (i.e., unlikely to qualify as "endophenotypes"). Elevated emotional prospective imagery represents a promising treatment/prevention target in affective disorders.

Positive imagery training increases positive self-referent cognition in depression

Depressed adults often show a bias towards negative self-referent processing at the expense of positive self-referent processing. The current study assessed whether a mental imagery intervention (Positive Self Reference Training-PSRT) delivered via the Internet could improve self-referent processing and depressive symptomatology among adults with moderate or greater depression symptoms. Participants were recruited via online methods and randomly assigned to one of two computerized interventions: active PSRT (n=44) or control training (NTC; n=43). The PSRT involved visualizing the self in response to different positive cues (e.g., an achievement) every other day for two weeks. The NTC provided neutral cues about objects. Self-referential processing of positive and negative adjectives and depression symptoms were measured at baseline, one week, and two weeks after initiating training. Over those two weeks, PSRT participants showed a greater increase in positive self-referent processing than did NTC participants. Negative self-referent processing and symptoms of depression declined comparably in both groups. Similarly, for both groups, increase in positive and decrease in negative self-referent processing was associated with a greater reduction in depression. These results indicate that mental imagery has the potential to improve self-referential processing, especially for positive stimuli, which may, in turn, help reduce depressive symptomatology.