Self-esteem uncertainty and depression vulnerability

NEGATIVE FEEDBACK SEEKING AND EXCESSIVE REASSURANCE SEEKING BEHAVIOR AND DEPRESSION: A META-ANALYTIC REVIEW

Introduction: Negative feedback seeking and excessive reassurance seeking behaviors in interpersonal relationships have been shown to frequently occur in conjunction with levels of depression.

Method: We used meta-analysis to examine 102 studies (134 effects), relating depression with negative feedback seeking (k = 31) and/or excessive reassurance seeking (k = 103).

Results: Depression had positive, moderate effect sizes with both negative feedback seeking (r = .26, 95% CI [.21, .32], p < .001, k = 31) and excessive reassurance seeking (r = .33, 95% CI [.31, .36] p < .001, k = 103). Subgroup analysis revealed the effect size for negative feedback seeking was smaller in romantic relationships compared to other relationship types. Effect sizes for excessive reassurance seeking did not differ for romantic and other relationships but were smaller in romantic relationships of a longer duration. Participant gender and symptom severity did not moderate effect sizes. Studies with child and adolescent samples had larger effects for negative feedback seeking and smaller effects for excessive reassurance seeking, relative to adult samples.

Discussion: Longer closer relationships may protect against maladaptive interpersonal behaviors in individuals with depression.

Should I Stop Thinking About It: A Computational Exploration of Reappraisal Based Emotion Regulation

Agent-based simulation of people’s behaviors and minds has become increasingly popular in recent years. It provides a research platform to simulate and compare alternative psychological and social theories, as well as to create virtual characters that can interact with people or among each other to provide pedagogical or entertainment effects. In this paper, we investigate computationally modeling people’s coping behaviors and in particular in relation to depression, in decision-theoretic agents. Recent studies have suggested that depression can result from failed emotion regulation under limited cognitive resources. In this work, we demonstrate how reappraisal can fail under high levels of stress and limited cognitive resources using an agent-based simulation. Further, we explored the effectiveness of reappraisal under different conditions. Our experiments suggest that for people who are more likely to recall positive memories, it is more beneficial to think about the recalled events from multiple perspectives. However, for people who are more likely to recall negative memories, the better strategy is to not evaluate the recalled events against multiple goals.

The effect of short-term aerobic exercise on depression and body image in Iranian women

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of short-term aerobic exercise on depression symptoms and body image attitudes among Iranian women. In this quasiexperimental study, 82 females were assigned to experimental group (aerobic exercise group, n = 41) or control group (waiting list, n = 41) and evaluated by Beck Depression Inventory-second edition (BDI-II) and Multidimensional Body Self-Relation Questionnaire (MBSRQ), respectively. The experimental group received four-week aerobic exercise program, and control group had been asked to wait for the next four weeks. Results of this study confirmed the significant decrease in depression symptoms at the experimental group compared to control group (P < 0.5). For the body image dependent variables, significant improvement was also found in appearance evaluation, appearance orientation, health orientation, and illness orientation in aerobic exercise group (P < 0.5).

The effectiveness of stand-alone cognitive-behavioural therapy for body image: a meta-analysis

This meta-analysis examined the effectiveness of stand-alone body image (BI) cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT). Nineteen studies met inclusion criteria. The behavioural dimension of BI improves most after BI CBT while the investment dimension improves the least. Individuals with clinical BI disturbances improve more than do college student samples. Treatments addressing the attitudinal, behavioural, and perceptual components of BI are more effective than treatments addressing attitude and behaviour only. Therapist-assisted therapy is more effective than is self-directed therapy. BI variables improve somewhat more than do general psychological variables, while the latter show equivalent improvement. Finally, treatment gains are maintained at follow-up. More research is needed to better understand and treat the investment dimension of BI.