No1LikesU! - A Pilot Study on an Ecologically Valid and Highly Standardised Experimental Paradigm to Investigate Social Rejection Expectations and Their Modification

Depressive symptoms and the processing of unexpected social feedback: Differences in surprise levels, feedback acceptance, and "immunizing" cognition

Negative social expectations are a key symptom of depression. It has been suggested that individuals with depressive symptoms tend to maintain these expectations by devaluing new experiences that do not fit prior expectations. However, our understanding of the role of such "immunizing" cognition in response to unexpected social feedback in depression, as well as the cognitive mechanisms involved, remains limited. This study investigated the association between depressive symptoms and the cognitive processing of unexpected positive or negative social feedback using a novel, video-based approach featuring naturalistic social stimuli in a subclinical online sample (N = 155). We also examined how surprise levels, feedback acceptance and immunizing cognition relate to other cognitive processes, such as attributional style and rumination, using cross-sectional network analyses. Robust multiple linear regression analyses revealed that depressive symptoms were associated with higher surprise levels (R2adj. = .27), lower feedback acceptance (R2adj. = .19), and higher levels of immunizing cognition (R2adj. = .09) in response to unexpected positive social feedback, but only partially to unexpected negative social feedback. The network analysis suggested that self-efficacy expectations for coping with negative feelings and acceptance of positive social feedback had the strongest expected influence on the different cognitive processes. Our study highlights the challenges that individuals with depressive symptoms face in utilizing positive social feedback to modify negative expectations. For clinicians, our findings suggest the importance of promoting acceptance of positive social feedback, while simultaneously inhibiting immunizing cognition and avoiding the use of overly positive feedback.

Measuring dysfunctional interpersonal beliefs: validation of the Interpersonal Cognitive Distortions Scale among a heterogeneous German-speaking sample

BACKROUND

Dysfunctional interpersonal beliefs (DIBs) are a key symptom domain in numerous mental disorders. Because DIBs exert a strong influence on social experience and behavior, they play an important role in a mental disorder's development and progression. To date, only the Interpersonal Cognitive Distortions Scale (ICDS) captures DIBs independently of specific disorders, populations, or contexts. The present study's aim was to psychometrically evaluate and validate a German translation of the ICDS.

METHODS

The ICDS was administered along with indicators of convergent (rejection sensitivity, depressive expectations, interpersonal trust, interpersonal problems, perceived social support), discriminant (self-efficacy, perseverative negative thinking, optimism), and clinical validity (psychopathology, perceived stress, well-being) to a pooled sample incorporating non-clinical (N = 114) and clinical (N = 94) participants.

RESULTS

An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) suggested a five-factor solution (factor loadings: .44 to .85). Correlational analyses demonstrated acceptable convergent (ρ = -.29 to -.35, ρ = .27 to .59), suboptimal discriminant (ρ = -.27 to -.38, ρ = .52), and acceptable clinical validity (ρ = -.21, ρ = .36 to .44) at the total-scale level. However, results at the subscale level were mixed and required nuanced interpretation. Likewise, internal consistency was acceptable at the total-scale level (α = .76), but ranged from good to poor at the subscale level (α = .61 to .80). DIBs mediated the negative relationship between mental disorder onset and psychopathology levels.

DISCUSSION

Our results imply DIBs' relevance to mental health and related outcomes. When working with the ICDS's German version, we recommend employing only the "insecurity" subscale, as this was the only scale revealing acceptable psychometric properties. Future studies should improve the construct validity of the ICDS (and its subscales), e.g., by adding more items to the respective subscales and further classes of DIBs.

Biased belief updating in depression

Cognitive approaches to depression have benefitted from recent research on belief updating, examining how new information is used to alter beliefs. This review presents recent advances in understanding various sources of bias in belief updating in depression. Specifically, research has demonstrated that people with depression have difficulty revising negative beliefs in response to novel positive information, whereas belief updating in depression is not related to an enhanced integration of negative information. In terms of mechanisms underlying the deficient processing of positive information, research has shown that people with depression use defensive cognitive strategies to devalue novel positive information. Furthermore, the disregard of novel positive information can be amplified by the presence of state negative affect, and the resulting persistence of negative beliefs in turn perpetuates chronically low mood, contributing to a self-reinforcing negative feedback loop of beliefs and affect. Synthesising previous research, this review proposes a coherent framework of when belief change is likely to occur, and argues that future research also needs to elucidate why people with depression hesitate to abandon negative beliefs. Recent insights from belief updating have not only improved the understanding of the psychopathology of depression, but also have the potential to improve its cognitive-behavioural treatment.

Negative expectations regarding interpersonal interactions in daily life are associated with subclinical depressive symptoms in a student sample: A prospective experience sampling study

Dysfunctional expectations and interpersonal problems are associated with depression, so we measured expected emotions towards interaction partners and compared them with actual emotions. We hypothesized that, between persons, individuals with higher subclinical depression would display stronger, more stable, and less accurate negative expectations. Within persons, we hypothesized that momentary negative expectations would predict subsequent negative affect. Fifty-three students completed 6 days of Experience Sampling, consisting of one morning expectation-assessment (9 am), three assessments on actual interpersonal emotions (1 pm, 5 pm, 9 pm), and six random affect-assessments. We regressed expected emotions, experienced emotions, expectation fluctuations, and expectation violations on subclinical depression. Using mixed model analyses, we further examined whether negative expectations preceded negative affect, and whether expectation violations preceded adjustments of expectations. Higher subclinical depression predicted more negative expectations. Within persons, worse-than-expected interpersonal interactions preceded negative affect whereas better-than-expected interactions preceded reductions of negative expectations. Despite problems with skewed data, our approach appears well-suited to examine interpersonal expectations in vivo.

How childhood maltreatment alters perception and cognition - the predictive processing account of borderline personality disorder

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe mental disorder, comprised of heterogeneous psychological and neurobiological pathologies. Here, we propose a predictive processing (PP) account of BPD to integrate these seemingly unrelated pathologies. In particular, we argue that the experience of childhood maltreatment, which is highly prevalent in BPD, leaves a developmental legacy with two facets: first, a coarse-grained, alexithymic model of self and others - leading to a rigidity and inflexibility concerning beliefs about self and others. Second, this developmental legacy leads to a loss of confidence or precision afforded beliefs about the consequences of social behavior. This results in an over reliance on sensory evidence and social feedback, with concomitant lability, impulsivity and hypersensitivity. In terms of PP, people with BPD show a distorted belief updating in response to new information with two opposing manifestations: rapid changes in beliefs and a lack of belief updating despite disconfirmatory evidence. This account of distorted information processing has the potential to explain both the instability (of affect, self-image, and interpersonal relationships) and the rigidity (of beliefs about self and others) which is typical of BPD. At the neurobiological level, we propose that enhanced levels of dopamine are associated with the increased integration of negative social feedback, and we also discuss the hypothesis of an impaired inhibitory control of the prefrontal cortex in the processing of negative social information. Our account may provide a new understanding not only of the clinical aspects of BPD, but also a unifying theory of the corresponding neurobiological pathologies. We conclude by outlining some directions for future research on the behavioral, neurobiological, and computational underpinnings of this model, and point to some clinical implications of it.

How social rejection expectations and depressive symptoms bi-directionally predict each other - A cross-lagged panel analysis

BACKGROUND

Although research suggests that social rejection expectations play a crucial role in the development and maintenance of depressive symptoms, it is not clear whether such expectations are a risk factor for depression or rather a consequence thereof. The present study addressed this issue by investigating the time-lagged bi-directional effects of social rejection expectations and depressive symptoms.

METHODS

In an online survey, participants (N = 347) completed measures of social rejection expectations, depressive symptoms, interpersonal competencies, and perceived social support at baseline and 2 months later. The relationships between the variables were examined using path models and cross-lagged path analyses.

RESULTS

Cross-lagged path analyses provided evidence for a substantial positive effect of social rejection expectations at baseline on depressive symptoms at follow-up in addition to the reverse effect. A mediator analysis indicated that neither interpersonal competencies nor perceived social support mediated these bi-directional effects.

CONCLUSION

The current results demonstrate that social rejection expectations and depressive symptoms bi-directionally predict each other. Thus, social rejection expectations appears to be both a risk factor for - and a symptom of - depression. In order to prevent a vicious circle of social rejection expectations and depressive symptoms, we recommend the early detection and treatment of social rejection expectations. Moreover, social rejection expectations should be specifically addressed in cognitive-behavioural treatment of depression.

No Evidence for the Involvement of Cognitive Immunisation in Updating Beliefs About the Self in Three Non-Clinical Samples

BACKGROUND

Cognitive immunisation against disconfirmatory evidence (i.e., devaluing expectation-disconfirming information through cognitive mechanisms) has recently been discussed as an obstacle to the revision of dysfunctional beliefs in mental disorders such as depression. Yet, it is unclear whether cognitive immunisation is also involved in belief updating in non-clinical samples.

METHODS

Using a three-group modulation protocol (promotion vs. inhibition of cognitive immunisation vs. control group), we examined how cognitive immunisation influences belief updating in response to performance feedback in three non-clinical samples. In Experiments 1 (N = 99) and 2 (N = 93), participants received unexpectedly negative feedback, whereas participants from Experiment 3 (N = 118) received unexpectedly positive feedback. Depressive symptoms and dispositional optimism were examined as additional predictors of belief updating.

RESULTS

In all experiments, participants adjusted their expectations in line with the feedback received, but this effect was not influenced by the cognitive immunisation manipulation. In Experiment 3, expectation change remained stable over 2 weeks. Depressive symptoms were associated with a reduced integration of positive feedback, but not with an increased sensitivity to negative feedback.

CONCLUSIONS

Whereas previous research has shown that cognitive immunisation contributes to persistent beliefs in clinical populations, the present findings suggest that it does not affect belief updating in non-clinical samples.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10608-021-10256-y.

Positive attitudes and negative expectations in lonely individuals

Loneliness is a central predictor of depression and major factor of all-cause mortality. Loneliness is supposed to be a warning signal prompting individuals to seek out social connections. However, lonely individuals seem to be less likely to engage in prosocial activities and are overall more socially withdrawn. Hence, it is yet unclear whether and how loneliness affects an individual's social motivations. Prosocial attitudes and expectations about social interactions of lonely individuals might shed light on whether lonely individuals are more prone to connect or withdraw from social activities. Here, results from a large dataset (~ 15,500 individuals) provide evidence for both. In particular, lonely individuals indicate stronger altruistic attitudes, suggesting a positive tendency to build and maintain social bonds. However, they also report more negative expectations about others, as they believe their social partners be less fair and trustworthy, suggesting less favorable evaluations of social interactions. By highlighting an important link between loneliness, prosocial attitudes and social expectations, this work stresses the role of loneliness in social motivations, points to potential consequences for social behaviors, and proposes a mechanism for the paradoxical effects of loneliness on an individual's social attitudes and expectations, with important implications for future basic and clinical research, as well as education, economics and public policy.