Emotional mental imagery generation during spontaneous future thinking: relationship with optimism and negative mood

Optimism is known to buffer against negative mood. Thus, understanding the factors that contribute to individual variation in optimism may inform interventions for mood disorders. Preliminary evidence suggests that the generation of mental imagery-based representations of positive relative to negative future scenarios is related to optimism. This study investigated the hypothesis that an elevated tendency to generate positive relative to negative mental imagery during spontaneous future thinking would be associated with reduced negative mood via its relationship to higher optimism. Participants (N = 44) with varied levels of naturally occurring negative mood reported current levels of optimism and the real-time occurrence and characteristics of spontaneous thoughts during a sustained attention computer task. Consistent with hypotheses, higher optimism statistically mediated the relationship between a higher proportional frequency of positive relative to negative mental imagery during spontaneous future thinking and lower negative mood. Further, the relationship between emotional mental imagery and optimism was found for future, but not past, thinking, nor for verbal future or past thinking. Thus, a greater tendency to generate positive rather than negative imagery-based mental representations when spontaneously thinking about the future may influence how optimistic one feels, which in turn may influence one’s experience of negative mood.

Download Full-text

Increasing Anticipatory Pleasure in Major Depression through Enhancing Episodic Future Thinking: A Randomized Single-Case Series Trial

10.31234/osf.io/9uy42 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

David John Hallford ◽

Manoj Kumar Sharma ◽

David W. Austin

Keyword(s):

Major Depressive Disorder ◽

Major Depression ◽

Mental Imagery ◽

Single Case ◽

Case Series ◽

Episodic Future Thinking ◽

Future Thinking ◽

Major Depressive ◽

Positive Events ◽

Series Design

Depressed individuals have difficulty anticipating pleasure, which can impact motivation and functioning. One factor in this may be impairments in their episodic future thinking (EFT). This study examined whether enhancing EFT through increasing detail/vividness and mental imagery would increase anticipatory pleasure among individuals with Major Depressive Disorder. A randomized start-point, single case series design was used. Depressed outpatients (N = 7) completed surveys through the day over two weeks to nominate upcoming positive events and rate them on EFT detail/vividness, mental imagery, and anticipatory pleasure. At a randomized start-point, activities to enhance the detail/vividness and mental imagery for these upcoming events were introduced. Significant increases in detail and imagery were observed when EFT activities were introduced, which correlated with increases in how pleasurable it was thought the activities would be and how pleasurable it was thinking about them. Enhancing EFT may be a mechanism to increase anticipatory pleasure in depression. Implications for treatment are discussed.

Download Full-text

Edge of the Present: A Virtual Reality Tool to Cultivate Future Thinking, Positive Mood and Wellbeing

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18010140 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 140

Author(s):

Stephanie Habak ◽

Jill Bennett ◽

Alex Davies ◽

Michaela Davies ◽

Helen Christensen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Mixed Reality ◽

Virtual Work ◽

Mood State ◽

Negative Mood ◽

Positive Mood ◽

Well Being ◽

Future Thinking ◽

Post Intervention ◽

The Impact

Depression and suicidality are characterized by negative imagery as well as impoverished positive imagery. Although some evidence exists supporting the link between positive imagery and enhanced mood, much work needs to be done. This study explored the impact of an immersive virtual reality experience (Edge of the Present—EOTP) on an individual’s mood, state of well-being, and future thinking. Using a 10-min mixed reality experience, 79 individuals explored virtual landscapes within a purposefully built, physical room. A pre and post survey containing mental health measures were administered to each participant. An optional interview following the virtual work was also conducted. The results indicated that positive mood and well-being increased significantly post-intervention. Hopelessness scores and negative mood decreased, whilst sense of presence was very high. This pilot study is among the first to assess the feasibility of a mixed reality experience as a potential platform for depression and suicide prevention by increasing well-being and mood as well as decreasing hopelessness symptoms.

Download Full-text

Positive Mental Imagery in the Intervention of Negative Mood: A Randomized Controlled Trial

10.21203/rs.3.rs-60071/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Wenjing Zhou ◽

Peizhi Li ◽

Xu Lei ◽

yuan yh

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Imagery ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Negative Emotions ◽

Negative Mood ◽

Self Regulation ◽

Training Group ◽

Physical And Mental Health ◽

Imagery Training

Abstract Background The aim of this study was to explore the intervention effect of positive mental imagery training on college students’ negative emotions in adults with depression trend. Methods A 2 (group: training group, non-training group) and 4 (time: pre-, post-, 1-week follow-up, and 6-week follow-up) mixed design was used in the present study, with the group as between-subjects factor and the time as within-subjects factor. Forty-nine participants with depressive tendency were randomly assigned to either the imagery training group or the non-training group. Except for negative interpretive bias were assessed before and after training, participants’ depression and anxiety symptoms, vividness and likelihood of mental imagery were assessed at all four time points. Results Compared to the pre-training, imagery group reported improvement in depression and trait anxiety scores and the likelihood of positive imagery across subsequent three assessments, and showed the improvement in the vividness of positive imagery at post-training. However, there was no significant between-group difference was found in negative interpretation bias. Conclusions The positive mental imagery training could effectively promote negative emotions and anxiety in adults with depression trend after 1-week training, and the effects of mental imagery could at least last for 6weeks, which provides a choice for self-regulation in daily life and is a promising way of mental health care. Often imagine a positive future, at least to some extent, good for our physical and mental health.

Download Full-text

Impairments in Episodic Future Thinking for Positive Events and Anticipatory Pleasure in Major Depression

10.31234/osf.io/k2a3x ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

David John Hallford ◽

Tom Joseph Barry ◽

David W. Austin ◽

Filip Raes ◽

Keisuke Takano ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Imagery ◽

Lower State ◽

Episodic Future Thinking ◽

Future Thinking ◽

Person Perspective ◽

Depressed Group ◽

Future Events ◽

Cardinal Symptom ◽

Depressive Episodes ◽

Consummatory Pleasure

Background: Characteristic of the cardinal symptom of anhedonia, people with clinical depression report lower levels of anticipatory pleasure. However, the psychological mechanisms underlying these deficits are poorly understood. This is the first study to assess whether, and to what extent, phenomenological characteristics of episodic future thinking for positive future events are associated with anticipatory pleasure among depressed individuals. Methods: Individuals with a Major Depressive Episode (MDE; N = 117) and without (N = 47) completed ratings scales for depressive symptoms and trait anticipatory and consummatory pleasure. They then provided descriptions of personally-relevant positive future events and rated them for phenomenological characteristics and state anticipatory pleasure.Results: Between-groups analysis showed that those with MDE reported lower trait anticipatory and consummatory pleasure. They also simulated future events with less specificity, less detail/vividness, less use of mental imagery, less use of first-person perspective, less plausibility/perceived likelihood of occurring, and reported less associated state anticipatory pleasure. In regression analyses in the depressed group, lower scores for detail/vividness, mental imagery, and personal significance all uniquely predicted lower state anticipatory pleasure. Limitations: Cognitive functioning was not assessed, which may help clarify deficits that underpin these findings. History of previous depressive episodes in the comparison group were not assessed, which may underestimate between-group effects.Conclusions: This study provides further evidence of deficits in anticipatory pleasure and episodic future thinking in depressed individuals. It also establishes links between state anticipatory pleasure and particular characteristics of episodic future thinking that may be amenable to intervention to reduce anhedonia.

Download Full-text

Mental imagery and intraoral local anesthesia

Journal of Dental Education ◽

10.1002/j.0022-0337.1984.48.12.tb01843.x ◽

1984 ◽

Vol 48 (12) ◽

pp. 653-658

Author(s):

MM Walsh ◽

R Hannebrink ◽

B Heckman

Keyword(s):

Local Anesthesia ◽

Mental Imagery

Download Full-text

Reliabilität und Validität der deutschsprachigen Version der Generalized Expectancies for Negative Mood Regulation (NMR) Scale

Diagnostica ◽

10.1026/0012-1924.54.1.43 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 54 (1) ◽

pp. 43-51 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Matthias Backenstrass ◽

Nils Pfeiffer ◽

Thomas Schwarz ◽

Salvatore J. Catanzaro ◽

Jack Mearns

Keyword(s):

Locus Of Control ◽

Big Five ◽

Negative Mood ◽

Mood Regulation ◽

Reliabilität Und Validität ◽

Negative Mood Regulation ◽

Generalized Expectancies

Zusammenfassung. Generalisierten Erwartungen über die Regulation negativer Stimmungen (im englischen Original: generalized expectancies for negative mood regulation; NMR) wird in Bezug auf die Affektregulation große Bedeutung beigemessen. Catanzaro und Mearns (1990) hatten zur Messung dieser Erwartungen einen Fragebogen mit 30 Items konstruiert (NMR Scale). An mehreren Stichproben konnten sie die psychometrische Güte der NMR Scale bestätigen. Die vorliegende Studie untersuchte mit einer Stichprobe von N = 474 Personen die Reliabilität und Validität der deutschen Form der NMR Scale. Die Gesamtskala wies ein Cronbachs Alpha von .84 und eine Retest-Reliabilität von .88 über ein Zeitintervall von 4 Wochen auf. Eine explorative Faktorenanalyse legte eine eindimensionale Struktur des Itempools nahe. Bedeutsame Zusammenhänge zum Geschlecht oder Alter der Probanden ergaben sich nicht. Die NMR Skala korrelierte signifikant mit Maßen des affektiven und insbesondere depressiven Befindens (PANAS und BDI), was im Einklang mit den theoretischen Annahmen stand. Weiterhin ergaben sich bedeutsame Zusammenhänge der NMR Skala mit locus-of-control Variablen (FKK) und den “Big Five“ (NEO-FFI). Die Ergebnisse replizierten somit die Resultate, die mit der Originalversion ermittelt worden waren, so dass auch bei der deutschen Adaptation der NMR Scale von einem reliablen und validen Instrument auszugehen ist.

Download Full-text

Weekly Exercise Consistently Reinstates Positive Mood

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027/1016-9040.3.4.271 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 3 (4) ◽

pp. 271-280 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Hannah Steinberg ◽

Briony R. Nicholls ◽

Elizabeth A. Sykes ◽

N. LeBoutillier ◽

Nerina Ramlakhan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Exercise ◽

Negative Mood ◽

Real Life ◽

Positive Mood ◽

Field Investigation ◽

Single Bout ◽

Before And After ◽

Exercise Class ◽

Negative Feelings ◽

Over Time

Mood improvement immediately after a single bout of exercise is well documented, but less is known about successive and longer term effects. In a “real-life” field investigation, four kinds of exercise class (Beginners, Advanced, Body Funk and Callanetics) met once a week for up to 7 weeks. Before and after each class the members assessed how they felt by completing a questionnaire listing equal numbers of “positive” and “negative” mood words. Subjects who had attended at least five times were included in the analysis, which led to groups consisting of 18, 20, 16, and 16 subjects, respectively. All four kinds of exercise significantly increased positive and decreased negative feelings, and this result was surprisingly consistent in successive weeks. However, exercise seemed to have a much greater effect on positive than on negative moods. The favorable moods induced by each class seemed to have worn off by the following week, to be reinstated by the class itself. In the Callanetics class, positive mood also improved significantly over time. The Callanetics class involved “slower,” more demanding exercises, not always done to music. The Callanetics and Advanced classes also showed significantly greater preexercise negative moods in the first three sessions. However, these differences disappeared following exercise. Possibly, these two groups had become more “tolerant” to the mood-enhancing effects of physical exercise; this may be in part have been due to “exercise addiction.”

Download Full-text

Perception of Emotional Expressions in Adults

Journal of Individual Differences ◽

10.1027/1614-0001/a000183 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 37 (1) ◽

pp. 16-23 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Chit Yuen Yi ◽

Matthew W. E. Murry ◽

Amy L. Gentzler

Keyword(s):

Facial Expressions ◽

Negative Mood ◽

Emotion Perception ◽

State Level ◽

Past Research ◽

Negative Emotionality ◽

Basic Emotions ◽

Perceived Intensity ◽

Trait Level ◽

Facial Expressions Of Emotion

Abstract. Past research suggests that transient mood influences the perception of facial expressions of emotion, but relatively little is known about how trait-level emotionality (i.e., temperament) may influence emotion perception or interact with mood in this process. Consequently, we extended earlier work by examining how temperamental dimensions of negative emotionality and extraversion were associated with the perception accuracy and perceived intensity of three basic emotions and how the trait-level temperamental effect interacted with state-level self-reported mood in a sample of 88 adults (27 men, 18–51 years of age). The results indicated that higher levels of negative mood were associated with higher perception accuracy of angry and sad facial expressions, and higher levels of perceived intensity of anger. For perceived intensity of sadness, negative mood was associated with lower levels of perceived intensity, whereas negative emotionality was associated with higher levels of perceived intensity of sadness. Overall, our findings added to the limited literature on adult temperament and emotion perception.

Download Full-text

The Type of Temperament, Mood, and Strategies of Categorization

Journal of Individual Differences ◽

10.1027/1614-0001/a000073 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 33 (4) ◽

pp. 227-236 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Agata Wytykowska

Keyword(s):

Information Processing ◽

Negative Mood ◽

Cognitive Activity ◽

Processing Capacity ◽

Affective Value ◽

The Relationship ◽

The Way

In Strelau’s theory of temperament (RTT), there are four types of temperament, differentiated according to low vs. high stimulation processing capacity and to the level of their internal harmonization. The type of temperament is considered harmonized when the constellation of all temperamental traits is internally matched to the need for stimulation, which is related to effectiveness of stimulation processing. In nonharmonized temperamental structure, an internal mismatch is observed which is linked to ineffectiveness of stimulation processing. The three studies presented here investigated the relationship between temperamental structures and the strategies of categorization. Results revealed that subjects with harmonized structures efficiently control the level of stimulation stemming from the cognitive activity, independent of the affective value of situation. The pattern of results attained for subjects with nonharmonized structures was more ambiguous: They were as good as subjects with harmonized structures at adjusting the way of information processing to their stimulation processing capacities, but they also proved to be more responsive to the affective character of stimulation (positive or negative mood).

Download Full-text