Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T19:26:09.720Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Cognitive reappraisal modulates performance following negative feedback in patients with major depressive disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 January 2010

A.-K. Fladung ,
U. Baron ,
I. Gunst  and
M. Kiefer
A.-K. Fladung*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Ulm, Germany
U. Baron
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Ulm, Germany
I. Gunst
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Ulm, Germany
M. Kiefer
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Ulm, Germany
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr A.-K. Fladung, University of Ulm, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Leimgrubenweg 12-14, 89075 Ulm, Germany. (Email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Depressed patients show impaired performance following negative feedback; the probability of committing an error is increased immediately after an error. This deficit is assumed to be highly specific and to represent a trait marker of major depressive disorder (MDD). Inconsistencies in currently available data could reflect inter-individually different strategies to regulate negative affect. The present study examined modulation of performance following negative feedback by cognitive reappraisal to regulate aversive affect in depressed patients.

Method

Thirty-three depressed patients and 33 control subjects performed tasks of varying difficulty over a prolonged time. Emotional feedback was given immediately after each trial. Performance was further analysed within subgroups using cognitive reappraisal of aversive events with high and low frequency.

Results

A significant group by task difficulty interaction for absolute number of subsequent errors revealed that depressed patients were especially impaired when receiving negative feedback more frequently. An increased probability of subsequent errors was shown in patients irrespective of task difficulty. Analysis of subgroups revealed higher absolute number and probability of subsequent errors only in depressed patients habitually not using cognitive reappraisal to regulate aversive emotions. Depressed patients using this strategy did not differ from controls.

Conclusions

The present results replicate the observation of impaired performance in depressed patients following failure feedback. Most importantly, a subgroup of patients who habitually rely on cognitive reappraisal of aversion-eliciting events, such as negative performance feedback, was not impaired. This modulatory influence of emotion regulation strategies on performance subsequent to negative feedback suggests that training emotion regulation in achievement situations should be incorporated in current concepts to prevent relapse.

Keywords

Major depressionperformance feedbackreappraisal
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 40 , Issue 10 , October 2010 , pp. 1703 - 1710
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

APA (1994). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edn. American Psychiatric Press: Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Austin, MP, Mitchell, P, Goodwin, GM (2001). Cognitive deficits in depression: possible implications for functional neuropathology. British Journal of Psychiatry 178, 200–206.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Austin, MP, Ross, M, Murray, C, O'Carroll, RE, Ebmeier, KP, Goodwin, GM (1992). Cognitive function in major depression. Journal of Affective Disorders 25, 21–29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bauer, B, Jolicoeur, P (1996). Stimulus dimensionality effects in mental rotation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 22, 82–94.Google ScholarPubMed
Beats, BC, Sahakian, BJ, Levy, R (1996). Cognitive performance in tests sensitive to frontal lobe dysfunction in the elderly depressed. Psychological Medicine 26, 591–603.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beck, AT (2008). The evolution of the cognitive model of depression and its neurobiological correlates. American Journal of Psychiatry 165, 969–977.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ben-Zur, H, Breznitz, SJ (1981). The effect of time pressure on risky choice behavior. Acta Psychologica 47, 89–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chiu, PH, Deldin, PJ (2007). Neural evidence for enhanced error detection in major depressive disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry 164, 608–616.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Douglas, KM, Porter, RJ, Framptom, CM, Gallagher, P, Young, AH (2009). Abnormal response to failure in unmedicated major depression. Journal of Affective Disorders 119, 92–99.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Elliott, R, Sahakian, BJ, Herrod, JJ, Robbins, TW, Paykel, ES (1997). Abnormal response to negative feedback in unipolar depression: evidence for a diagnosis specific impairment. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry 63, 74–82.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Elliott, R, Sahakian, BJ, McKay, AP, Herrod, JJ (1996). Neuropsychological impairments in unipolar depression: the influence of perceived failure on subsequent performance. Psychological Medicine 26, 975–989.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
First, MB, Spitzer, RL, Gibbon, M, Williams, JBW (1997). User's Guide for the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders. American Psychiatric Press: Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Gross, JJ, John, OP (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 85, 348–362.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hamilton, M (1960). A rating scale for depression. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry 23, 56–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Horn, W (1983). Leistungsprüfsystem (LPS) [Performance Test System]. Hogrefe: Göttingen.Google Scholar
Kessler, RC (2003). Epidemiology of women and depression. Journal of Affective Disorders 74, 5–13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kluger, AN, DeNisi, A (1996). The effects of feedback interventions on performance: a historical review, a meta-analysis, and a preliminary feedback intervention theory. Psychological Bulletin 119, 254–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lang, P (1980). Behavioral treatment and bio-behavioral assessment: computer applications. In Technology in Mental Health Care Delivery Systems (ed. Sidowski, J. B., Johnson, J. H. and Williams, T. A.), pp. 119–137. Ablex: Norwood, NJ.Google Scholar
Margraf, J, Schneider, S (2006). Diagnostisches Interview bei psychischen Störungen [Diagnostic Interview for Mental Disorders]. Springer: Heidelberg.Google Scholar
Melchior, M, Caspi, A, Milne, BJ, Danese, A, Poulton, R, Moffitt, TE (2007). Work stress precipitates depression and anxiety in young, working women and men. Psychological Medicine 37, 1119–1129.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murphy, FC, Michael, A, Robbins, TW, Sahakian, BJ (2003). Neuropsychological impairment in patients with major depressive disorder: the effects of feedback on task performance. Psychological Medicine 33, 455–467.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ochsner, KN, Gross, JJ (2005). The cognitive control of emotion. Trends in Cognitive Science 9, 242–249.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pálsson, S, Johansson, B, Berg, S, Skoog, I (2000). A population study on the influence of depression on neuropsychological functioning in 85-year-olds. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 101, 185–193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Power, M, Dalgleish, T (1997). Cognition and Emotion from Order to Disorder. Psychology Press: Hove.Google Scholar
Purcell, R, Maruff, P, Kyrios, M, Pantelis, C (1997). Neuropsychological function in young patients with unipolar major depression. Psychological Medicine 27, 1277–1285.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ruchsow, M, Herrnberger, B, Beschoner, P, Grön, G, Spitzer, M, Kiefer, M (2006). Error processing in major depressive disorder: evidence from event-related potentials. Journal of Psychiatric Research 40, 37–46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ruchsow, M, Herrnberger, B, Wiesend, C, Spitzer, M, Kiefer, M (2004). The effect of erroneous responses on response evaluation in patients with major depression: a study with event-related potentials. Psychophysiology 41, 833–840.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Santesso, DL, Steele, KT, Bogdan, R, Holmes, AJ, Deveney, CM, Meites, TM, Pizzagalli, DA (2008). Enhanced negative feedback responses in remitted depression. Neuroreport 19, 1045–1048.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shah, PJ, O'Carroll, RE, Rogers, A, Moffoot, AP, Ebmeier, KP (1999). Abnormal response to negative feedback in depression. Psychological Medicine 29, 63–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shepard, RN, Metzler, J (1971). Mental rotation of three-dimensional objects. Science 171, 701–703.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Steffens, DC, Wagner, HR, Levy, RM, Horn, KA, Krishnan, KR (2001). Performance feedback deficit in geriatric depression. Biological Psychiatry 50, 358–363.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stegge, H, Terwogt, MM (2007). Awareness and regulation of emotion in typical and atypical development. In Handbook of Emotion Regulation (ed. Gross, J. J.), pp. 269–286. Guilford Press: New York.Google Scholar