Negative Mood Induction Procedure Research Articles

Unlocking the past: efficacy of guided self-compassion and benefit-focused online interventions for managing negative personal memories

ABSTRACT Positive reappraisal strategies have been found to reduce negative affect following the recall of negative personal events. This study examined the restorative effect of two mood-repair instructions (self-compassion vs benefit-focused reappraisal) and a control condition with no instructions following a negative Mood Induction Procedure by using the guided recall of a negative autobiographical event. A total of 112 university students participated in the online study (81% women, Mage: 21.0 years). Immediately following the negative memory recall, participants were randomised to each condition [(self-compassion: n = 36, benefit-focused: n = 39) or a control condition (n = 37)]. Repeated measures ANOVAs 3 (Repair condition) × 3 (Time of mood assessment: pre-recall, post-recall, post-regulation) showed that, as expected, negative mood (sadness, shame, and guilt) worsened significantly after the guided recall in all groups (p < .001). After the mood-repair intervention, participants in the self-compassion and benefit-focused conditions showed a significant reduction in negative mood (p < .019), while such improvement was not observed in the control group. Self-compassion and benefit-focused reappraisal functioned similarly as mood repair strategies after experiencing negative affect induced by the recall of negative personal memories. Implications in the context of autobiographical memory biases are discussed.

Effects of Mood and School Related Stress on Academic Performance: A Mood Induction Investigation

This experimental research has been designed to explore the impact of visual cues (visual clips) of school stress on student’s mood and academic performance. It was aimed at investigating the relation between positive guided imagery and negative mood. Participants in the study included 90 boys and 95 girls (N = 185) with the age range of 10-14 years. The sample was randomly selected from different public and private schools of Multan and Bahawalpur. They were randomly assigned to two groups: Group 1 had negative Mood Induction Procedure (MIP) only; group 2 was treated with negative mood induction procedure which was followed by a Positive Guided Imagery (PGI). Students completed demographic sheet and School Situation Survey (Helms &amp; Gablem, 1989) prior to experimentation. The results revealed that academic performance decreases after negative mood induction but not after positive guided imagery. Both groups showed insignificant difference at pre and post-induction 1 level, while a significant difference was found between both groups at post induction phase 2.

Acute Effect of Physical Exercise on Negative Affect in Borderline Personality Disorder: A Pilot Study.

Physical exercise is an evidence-based treatment to reduce symptoms and negative affect in several psychiatric disorders, including depressive, anxiety, and psychotic disorders. However, the effect of physical exercise on negative affect in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) has not yet been investigated. In this pilot study, we tested the safety, acceptability, and potential acute effects on negative affect of a single session of aerobic physical exercise in adults with BPD. After completing a negative mood induction procedure, 28 adults with BPD were randomly assigned to a 20-minute single session of stationary bicycle or a control condition (emotionally neutral video). No adverse effects attributed to the physical exercise were reported and it was considered acceptable to patients. Following the negative mood induction, both conditions decreased the level of negative affect with a medium effect size but there was no significant difference between them. The results suggest that a single 20-minute session of physical exercise does not produce a reduction of negative affect in BPD. Future research should consider the duration and intensities of physical exercise with the greatest potential to reduce negative affect both acutely and in a more prolonged manner in this patient group.

Music Therapy for Depression in Adolescents: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective: The purpose of this systematic review is to examine the evidence of music therapy for depression in adolescents in order to answer the following questions: (1) What types of music therapy are being employed to target symptoms of depression in adolescents? (2) What is the effect of music therapy on depressive symptoms of depression in adolescents? Methods: PRISMA guidelines were followed in performing this systematic review. Studies published in the last 25 years from January 1996 to December 2020 were identified through the use of the PubMed database, using the keywords: ‘music’ AND ‘depres*’ OR ‘anx*’. Two authors independently conducted a focused analysis and reached a final consensus on 8 studies that met the specific selection criteria and passed the study quality checks. Results: Eight randomized controlled trials were selected in this review including 8 music therapy interventions for depression: musical negative mood induction procedures (NMIP), Health RHYTHMS drumming protocol, group music therapy (GMT), musical improvisation, Chinese 5-element music therapy, percussion exercises, and cognitive behavioral therapy combined with music therapy. Overall, music therapy interventions appear to significantly reduce depressive symptoms in adolescents. Conclusion: The findings of this systematic review indicate that music therapy may be an effective tool for reducing symptoms of depression in adolescents. There is a need for large sample studies examining this area, along with those that address symptoms of anxiety. Future research incorporating music therapy into clinical practice is necessary.

Online validation of combined mood induction procedures.

Film clips, music, and self-referential statements (termed Velten, after their originator) have been successfully used to temporarily induce sadness and happiness. However, there is little research on the effectiveness of these procedures combined, particularly in internet-based settings, and whether Velten statements contribute to alter mood beyond the effect of simple instructions to close one's eyes and enter the targeted mood. In Study 1 (N = 106) we examined the effectiveness 80 Velten statements (positive, negative, neutral-self, neutral-facts) to create brief and effective sets that might be used in future research. In Study 2 (N = 445) we examined the effect size of 8-min combined mood induction procedures, which presented video clips in the first half and music excerpts with Velten statements or closed eyes instructions in the second half. Participants answered questionnaires on social desirability, joviality, and sadness before being randomly assigned to 1 of 7 groups varying in Valence (positive, negative, neutral) and Velten (closed eyes control, self-referential Velten, and, in the case of neutral condition, factual statements). Subsequently, participants completed the joviality and sadness scales a second time. Compared to the neutral conditions, the positive mood inductions increased joviality (Hedges G = 1.35, 95% CI [1.07, 1.63]), whereas the negative mood inductions increased sadness (Hedges G = 1.28, 95% CI [1.01, 1.55]). We did not observe any significant difference between Velten and closed eyes instructions in inducing joviality or sadness, nor did we observe any significant difference between neutral Velten statements referring to self and facts. Although social desirability bias was associated with reports of greater joviality and lower sadness, it could not account for the effects of the positive and negative mood induction procedures. We conclude that these combined mood induction procedures can be used in online research to study happy and sad mood.

Effects of Mindfulness on Negative Affect, Body Dissatisfaction, and Disordered Eating Urges

Eating disorders are debilitating mental illnesses characterized by disturbances in eating behaviors and weight regulation. Risk factors associated with disordered eating behaviors include negative affect and body dissatisfaction. Whereas mindfulness-based interventions have been shown to be effective in treating selected eating disorders, few studies have investigated the effects of brief mindfulness training on core features of eating disorders. Using a laboratory experimental design, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of a brief mindfulness induction on negative mood, implicit and explicit body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating urges in a sample of female college students with elevated eating disorder symptoms. Eighty-one students who met criteria for full or subthreshold diagnosis of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge eating disorder were recruited from a large Singaporean university and randomly assigned to either a brief mindful breathing exercise or a resting control condition, following a negative mood induction procedure. Analyses showed that the mindfulness induction resulted in significantly lower negative affect compared to the control condition, p = .001. There were trends for lower explicit body dissatisfaction and urges to engage in compensatory behaviors in the mindfulness condition versus the control condition. No effects on implicit body dissatisfaction or binge eating urges were observed. Overall, the findings highlight changes in negative affect as a potential mechanism underlying the effects of mindfulness-based interventions in treating eating disorders.

An examination of generalised implicit biases towards ‘wanting more’ as a proxy measure of materialistic behaviour: A Relational Frame Theory (RFT) perspective

The research investigated the contextual effects of mood on implicit measures of ‘wanting more’ as a proxy of materialism and investigated the basic verbal processes underpinning this behaviour. Sixty university students were recruited to participate. Participants were exposed to either a positive (n = 21), negative (n = 20) or neutral (n = 19) mood induction procedure; an Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) examining biases towards wanting more or less; and questionnaires assessing life satisfaction (Satisfaction with Life Scale; SWLS), materialism (Material Values Scale; MVS), and positive and negative affect (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule; PANAS). On the IRAP, shorter mean response latencies across consistent (more-good/less-bad) compared to inconsistent (more-bad/less-good) trial-blocks were interpreted as an implicit bias towards ‘wanting more’. Compared to the neutral mood condition, participants in the positive mood condition demonstrated an increased bias towards ‘wanting less’ (p = .028). Several predicted associations were also observed. Measures of negative affect and reduced life satisfaction were significantly associated with an implicit bias towards ‘wanting more’ (rs's ranging from − .455 to − .565, p's ranging from .01 to .038), while reduced levels of materialism were significantly correlated with an implicit bias towards wanting less (rs = .579, p = .006). The findings provide preliminary support for the IRAP as a generalised implicit measure of ‘wanting more’ as a proxy of materialism; and suggest that changes in mood may influence this effect. Findings are discussed from a Relational Frame Theory (RFT) perspective.

Building Blocks of Emotional Flexibility: Trait Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Are Associated with Positive and Negative Mood Shifts

Emotional flexibility can be defined as the ability to respond in a context-appropriate emotional manner and recover from one’s initial emotional responses when the context changes. Emotional flexibility has been associated with psychological health. Mindfulness and self-compassion have both been associated with various aspects of well-being and are considered buffers against psychopathology; however, few studies have examined the relationships of mindfulness and self-compassion with emotional flexibility. A total of 417 participants were recruited through an online crowdsourcing website and completed study questionnaires as well as negative and positive mood induction procedures. Results indicated that both mindfulness and self-compassion were significantly and positively associated with mood drops and mood increases in response to negative and positive mood induction procedures, respectively. We also found that depressive symptoms and depression-related negative cognitions were negatively correlated with emotional flexibility. Further, hierarchical regression analyses revealed that self-compassion may explain variance in emotional flexibility beyond what is accounted for by trait mindfulness. Findings of this study underscore the importance of mindfulness and, specifically, self-compassion as likely key factors in emotional flexibility. Further, it appears that self-compassion may explain some aspects of emotional flexibility beyond variance contributed for by trait mindfulness alone, suggesting that both these constructs may need to be cultivated directly in psychological interventions for optimal psychological health. Future work should replicate and extend our findings and examine directionality among the examined factors.

Negative mood disrupts self- and reward-biases in perceptual matching.

There are established effects of self- and reward-biases even on simple perceptual matching tasks [Sui, J., He, X., & Humphreys, G. W. (2012). Perceptual effects of social salience: Evidence from self-prioritization effects on perceptual matching. Journal of Experimental Psychology, Human Perception and Performance, 38, 1105-1117]; however we know little about whether these biases can be modulated by particular interventions, and whether the biases then change in the same way. Here we assessed how the biases alter under conditions designed to induce negative mood. We had participants read a list of self-related negative or neutral mood statements [Velten, E. (1968). A laboratory task for induction of mood states. Behavior Research and Therapy, 6, 473-482] and also listen for 10 min to a passage of negative or neutral music, prior to carrying out perceptual matching with shapes associated to personal labels (self or stranger) or reward (£12 or £1). Responses to the self- and high-reward-associated shapes were selectively slower and less sensitive (d') following the negative mood induction procedures, and the decrease in mood correlated with decreases in the reaction time bias across "high saliency" (self and high-reward) stimuli. We suggest that negative mood may decrease self- and reward-biases through reducing attention to salient external stimuli.

Gaze-fixation to happy faces predicts mood repair after a negative mood induction.

The present study tested the interplay between mood and attentional deployment by examining attention to positive (i.e., happy faces) and negative (i.e., angry and sad faces) stimuli in response to experimental inductions of sad and happy mood. Participants underwent a negative, neutral, or positive mood induction procedure (MIP) which was followed by an assessment of their attentional deployment to emotional faces using eye-tracking technology. Faces were selected from the Karolinska Directed Emotional Faces (KDEF) database (Lundqvist, Flykt, & Öhman, 1998). In the positive MIP condition, analyses revealed a mood-congruent relation between positive mood and greater attentional deployment to happy faces. In the negative MIP condition, however, analyses revealed a mood-incongruent relation between increased negative mood and greater attentional deployment to happy faces. Furthermore, attentional deployment to happy faces after the negative MIP predicted participants' mood recovery at the end of the experimental session. These results suggest that attentional processing of positive information may play a role in mood repair, which may have important clinical implications.

Experimental evidence that changes in mood cause changes in body dissatisfaction among undergraduate women

Previous research has found concurrent and prospective associations between negative mood and body dissatisfaction; however, only experimental research can establish causal relationships. This study utilized an experimental design to examine the influence of negative mood on body dissatisfaction. Undergraduate women were randomly assigned to an experimental or control condition. Participants in the experimental condition (n=21) completed a negative mood induction procedure. Participants in the control condition (n=24) completed a neutral mood procedure. All participants completed visual analog scales regarding their mood and satisfaction with weight and shape before and after each manipulation. Body dissatisfaction increased following the procedure for experimental but not control participants, suggesting that negative mood caused increased body dissatisfaction. In cultures that idealize thinness, body dissatisfaction may arise from funneling general feelings of dysphoria into more concrete and culturally meaningful negative feelings about the body.

A Comparison of Mood‐Dependent Memory in Bipolar Disorder and Normal Controls

Mood-dependent memory was investigated in a sample of 28 individuals, with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder I but not during acute episodes, and 30 non-clinical controls by using the word lists from Wechsler Memory Scale--Third Edition and abstract inkblot recognition. Positive or negative mood induction procedures were used prior to and after the stimuli were presented. After either the same or contrasting high or low mood inductions, participants attempted to recall the word list and performed an inkblot recognition task. Bipolar patients were significantly better at the inkblot recognition in the same mood state, showing mood-dependent memory. No differences were found in the verbal recall task. This study paves the way for further investigation into memory differences of this sort in mood disorders.

Mood and Implicit Alcohol Expectancy Processes: Predicting Alcohol Consumption in the Laboratory

Implicit positive alcohol expectancy (PAE) processes are thought to respond phasically to external and internal stimuli-including mood states-and so they may exert powerful proximal influences over drinking behavior. Although social learning theory contends that mood states activate mood-congruent implicit PAEs, which in turn lead to alcohol use, there is a dearth of experimental research examining this mediation model relative to observable drinking. Moreover, an expectancy theory perspective might suggest that, rather than influencing PAEs directly, mood may moderate the association between PAEs and drinking. To test these models, this study examined the role of mood in the association between implicitly measured PAE processes (i.e., latency to endorse PAEs) and immediate alcohol consumption in the laboratory. Gender differences in these processes also were examined. College students (N = 146) were exposed to either a positive, negative, or neutral mood induction procedure, completed a computerized PAE reaction time (RT) task, and subsequently consumed alcohol ad libitum. The mood manipulation had no direct effects on drinking in the laboratory, making the mediation hypothesis irrelevant. Instead, gender and mood condition moderated the association between RT to endorse PAEs and drinking in the laboratory. For males, RT to tension reduction PAEs was a stronger predictor of volume of beer consumed and peak blood alcohol concentration in the context of general arousal (i.e., positive and negative mood) relative to neutral mood. RT to PAEs did not predict drinking in the laboratory for females. The results show that PAE processes are important determinants of immediate drinking behavior in men, suggesting that biased attention to mood-relevant PAEs-as indicated by longer RTs-predicts greater alcohol consumption in the appropriate mood context. The findings also highlight the need to consider gender differences in PAE processes. This study underscores the need for interventions that target automatic cognitive processes related to alcohol use.

Does negative mood drive the urge to eat? The contribution of negative mood, exposure to food cues and eating style

The current study investigated whether negative mood alone, or in conjunction with exposure to food cues, influences the urge to eat. Female participants ( N = 160) were allocated to either a negative or neutral mood induction procedure followed by exposure to either a preferred food cue or a non-food cue. Participants reported their urge to eat at baseline, following the mood induction procedure, and following the cue exposure, as well as completing measures of restrained and disinhibited eating. Contrary to prediction, urge to eat decreased following the mood induction procedure for those in the negative mood condition. This was not influenced by eating style (i.e., restrained or disinhibited eaters). Urge to eat subsequently increased following exposure to the food, but not the non-food, cue. This effect was moderated by negative mood and eating style with disinhibited eating being positively associated with urge to eat for those women in the negative mood condition. These findings suggest that negative mood plays a role in the tendency to overeat, but only in the context of personally desirable food cues and for a subgroup of women with a history of disinhibited eating.

Trained interpretive bias survives mood change

Evidence is accumulating that interpretations can be trained using Cognitive Bias Modification procedures (CBM). The effects are replicable, stable over time and there is some evidence of generalizability. As a next step in determining the boundaries of the CBM model, the present experiment was designed to test whether modified interpretive style endures fluctuations in mood. Participants were trained to interpret ambiguous scenarios in either a positive ( n = 42) or negative ( n = 40) way. Then, participants were exposed to either a positive ( n = 41) or negative ( n = 41) mood induction procedure to change their current mood state. Results showed that the modified interpretive bias did not change in reaction to a mood change. That is, differences in interpretation of new ambiguous information were related to the interpretive bias modification procedure and not to the current mood state.

Acute Negative Affect Relief from Smoking Depends on the Affect Situation and Measure but Not on Nicotine

Smoking acutely relieves negative affect (NA) due to smoking abstinence but may not relieve NA from other sources, such as stressors. Dependent smokers (n = 104) randomly assigned to one of three smoking conditions (nicotine or denicotinized cigarettes, or no smoking) completed four negative mood induction procedures (one per session): 1) overnight smoking abstinence, 2) challenging computer task, 3) public speech preparation, and 4) watching negative mood slides. A fifth session involved a neutral mood control. The two smoking groups took four puffs on their assigned cigarette and then smoked those same cigarettes ad libitum during continued mood induction. All subjects rated their level of NA and positive affect on several measures (Mood Form, Positive and Negative Affect Scale, Stress-Arousal Checklist, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-state). They also rated craving and withdrawal. Negative affect relief from smoking depended on the NA source (i.e., mood induction procedure) and the affect measure. Smoking robustly relieved NA due to abstinence on all four measures but only modestly relieved NA due to the other sources and typically on only some measures. Smoking's effects on positive affect and withdrawal were similar to effects on NA, but relief of craving depended less on NA source. Smoking reinforcement only partly matched the pattern of NA relief. Few responses differed between the nicotine and denicotinized smoking groups. Acute NA relief from smoking depends on the situation and the affect measure used but may not depend on nicotine intake. These results challenge the common assumption that smoking, and nicotine in particular, broadly alleviates NA.

The influence of negative mood on heart rate complexity measures and baroreflex sensitivity in healthy subjects

Background:Decreased cardiac vagal function is linked with increased cardiac mortality and depression is associated with decreased heart rate variability. We have previously shown that the Mood Induction Procedure (MIP) in healthy subjects alters pain perception and thalamic activity during pain perception.Aim:To study the effect of negative emotion on heart rate variability and complexity measures as well as on baroreceptor sensitivity, as these parameters reflect cardiac autonomic function.Patients and Methods:We studied 20 healthy female controls before and after neutral MIP and 20 healthy female subjects before and after negative MIP. We investigated measures of valence of mood, heart rate variability and complexity and the baroreceptor sensitivity index.Results:While there was a significant difference in the valence of mood between the neutral and the negative effect condition, there were no significant differences in any of the heart rate or baroreceptor sensitivity measures between the two groups.Conclusions:Our findings did not show any significant influence of acute negative MIP on heart rate variability and complexity measures and baroreceptor sensitivity, even though depressive disorder and stress are associated with decreased heart rate variability. These findings are discussed in the context of clinical depression and anxiety and the increased risk for cardiac mortality. In contrast to the presented results here, we have previously shown that MIP in healthy subjects alters pain perception and thalamic activity.

Validation of the “recognition task” used in the training of interpretation biases

It was recently established that interpretive bias plays a causal role in anxiety. The vast majority of studies examining this causal relationship have used a social script interpretive bias training and have tested whether interpretations were indeed changed. Typically, a recognition task is used as the manipulation check. However, despite its widespread use, this task has not been validated. The aim of the present study was to examine the validity of the recognition task. It was hypothesised that the recognition task should reflect differences in interpretive bias between high and low levels of neuroticism, while it should not be affected by temporarily mood states that result from the interpretive bias modification. Participants scoring high (n = 35) and low (n = 54) on neuroticism followed either a positive or a negative mood induction procedure and subsequently completed the recognition task. Results showed that the recognition task differentiated between individuals scoring high and low on neuroticism. In addition, the task was insensitive to mood state. The data argue in favour of the validity of this measure of trained interpretive bias following the modification of that bias.

Negative mood increases selective attention to food cues and subjective appetite

Following negative reinforcement and affect-regulation models of dysfunctional appetitive motivation, this study examined the effect of negative mood on objective and subjective cognitive indices of motivation for food; i.e., attentional bias for food cues and self-reported hunger/urge to eat, respectively. The study extended previous research on the effect of mood on food motivation by using (i) an experimental mood manipulation, (ii) an established index of attentional bias from the visual-probe task and (iii) pictorial food cues, which have greater ecological validity than word stimuli. Young female adults ( n = 80) were randomly allocated to a neutral or negative mood induction procedure. Attentional biases were assessed at two cue exposure durations (500 and 2000 ms). Results showed that negative mood increased both attentional bias for food cues and subjective appetite. Attentional bias and subjective appetite were positively inter-correlated, suggesting a common mechanism, i.e. activation of the food-reward system. Attentional bias was also associated with trait eating style, such as external and restrained eating. Thus, current mood and trait eating style each influenced motivation for food (as reflected by subjective appetite and attentional bias). Findings relate to models of cognitive mechanisms underlying normal and dysfunctional appetitive motivation and eating behaviour.

Acute tryptophan depletion evokes negative mood in healthy females who have previously experienced concurrent negative mood and tryptophan depletion

IntroductionThe majority of individuals who suffer an episode of depression go on to experience recurrences. We have proposed, based upon the observation that reducing serotonin via acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) is more likely to induce negative mood in recovered depressed individuals than never depressed individuals, that this may be because associations form between negative mood and reduced serotonin during an episode of depression (Robinson and Sahakian, Psychol Med 38:315–318, 2008b). Such associations would mean that subsequent reductions in serotonin are more likely to provoke depressed mood and hence trigger an episode of depression.MethodsIn this study, we tested this hypothesis by manipulating the mood state of healthy females undergoing ATD (or balanced placebo) on two separate testing sessions. On the first session, subjects received either negative or neutral mood induction, while on the second session all subjects received neutral mood induction.ResultsOur findings demonstrate significant ATD-induced negative mood exclusively on the second visit of subjects who received both ATD and negative mood induction procedure on their first visit.DiscussionThese findings may be explained by the formation of an association between the negative mood and reduced serotonin states during the first visit. As such, these findings provide preliminary support for the associative hypothesis of recurrence in depression.ConclusionSuch associations might therefore explain the discrepancy between the effects of ATD in recovered- and never-depressed individuals and may, in turn, explain why an episode of depression increases the risk of subsequent episodes.