Defining reactivity: How several methodological decisions can affect conclusions about emotional reactivity in psychopathology

Brady D Nelson,Stewart A Shankman,Thomas M Olino,Daniel N Klein

doi:10.1080/02699931.2010.551185

Brady D Nelson, Stewart A Shankman + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2010.551185

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Abstract

There are many important methodological decisions that need to be made when examining emotional reactivity in psychopathology. In the present study, we examined the effects of two such decisions in an investigation of emotional reactivity in depression: (1) which (if any) comparison condition to employ; and (2) how to define change. Depressed (N = 69) and control (N = 37) participants viewed emotion-inducing film clips while subjective and facial responses were measured. Emotional reactivity was defined using no comparison condition (i.e., raw scores), baseline comparison condition (i.e., no stimulus presented), and neutral comparison condition (i.e., neutral stimulus presented). Change in emotional reactivity was assessed using four analytic approaches: difference scores, percentage change, residualised change, and ANCOVA. Results differed among the three comparison conditions and among several of the analytic approaches. Overall, our investigation suggests that choosing a comparison condition and the definition of change can significantly influence the presence of group differences in emotional reactivity. Recommendations for studies of emotional reactivity in psychopathology are discussed.

Highlights

Aberrations in emotional reactivity have been identified in several psychopathologies, such as depression (Clark, Watson, & Mineka, 1994; Davidson, Pizzagalli, Nitschke, & Putnam, 2002; Rottenberg, Gross, & Gotlib, 2005), anxiety (Goldin, Manber, Hakimi, Canli, & Gross, 2009; McNeil, Vrana, Melamed, Cuthbert, & Lang, 1993) and schizophrenia (Herbener, Song, Khine, & Sweeney, 2008; Kring & Moran, 2008)
We examined the effects of two such decisions in an investigation of emotional reactivity in depression – 1) which comparison condition to employ and 2) how to define change
In the no comparison condition we examined the raw scores to each emotion induction using a oneway analysis of variance (ANOVA) with depression status entered as the betweensubjects factor

Summary

Introduction

Aberrations in emotional reactivity have been identified in several psychopathologies, such as depression (Clark, Watson, & Mineka, 1994; Davidson, Pizzagalli, Nitschke, & Putnam, 2002; Rottenberg, Gross, & Gotlib, 2005), anxiety (Goldin, Manber, Hakimi, Canli, & Gross, 2009; McNeil, Vrana, Melamed, Cuthbert, & Lang, 1993) and schizophrenia (Herbener, Song, Khine, & Sweeney, 2008; Kring & Moran, 2008). Experience sampling method is an approach that assesses in-the-moment emotional reactions to various daily events often without referencing a preceding emotional state (Csikszentmihalyi & Larson, 1987; Stone & Shiffman, 2002). In these types of studies, groups are often compared on their mean acute emotional response to daily events, rather than change in emotional state before and after the event.

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