Depressive disorders in young adulthood are highly prevalent and have been associated with serious deficits in psychosocial and global functioning. Treatments for depression that employ cognitive-behavioral techniques to address the dysregulation of negative emotion have been moderately successful. However, research in clinical psychology and affective neuroscience indicates that the dysregulation of positive emotion characterizes depression and distinguishes it from other mood disorders. The goal of the current study is to develop a treatment aimed at improving positive emotion regulation among individuals with depression. The intervention will be adapted from the written disclosure paradigm (WDP). The traditional WDP focuses on writing about past traumatic events and demonstrates improvements in physical and psychological health. Researchers have recently urged the exploration of WDP as a clinical intervention for psychopathology. The present study will adapt the WDP to direct dysphoric individuals to savor positive events in several writing sessions in order to enhance and extend the experience of positive emotion. Treatment efficacy will be assessed by examining post-intervention changes in depressive symptomatology as well as changes in positive emotion, savoring and attribution skills, pleasant life events and the behavioral activation system. ? ? ?
| McMakin, Dana L; Siegle, Greg J; Shirk, Stephen R (2011) Positive Affect Stimulation and Sustainment (PASS) Module for Depressed Mood: A preliminary investigation of treatment-related effects. Cognit Ther Res 35:217-226 |
| McMakin, Dana L; Santiago, Catherine D; Shirk, Stephen R (2009) The Time Course of Positive and Negative Emotion in Dysphoria. J Posit Psychol 4:182-192 |
