%0 Journal Article
%T The Role of Attention to Emotion in Recovery from Major Depressive Disorder
%A Renee J. Thompson
%A Jutta Mata
%A Susanne M. Jaeggi
%A Martin Buschkuehl
%A John Jonides
%A Ian H. Gotlib
%J Depression Research and Treatment
%D 2013
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2013/540726
%X Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is characterized by several emotional disturbances. One possible but not well-examined disturbance is in attention to emotion, an important facet of emotional awareness. We examined whether attention to emotion predicted recovery from MDD. Fifty-three adults with current MDD completed a week of experience sampling (Time 1). At each prompt, participants reported attention to emotion, negative affect (NA), and positive affect (PA). Approximately one year later (Time 2), the depressive status of 27 participants was reassessed. Participants who had recovered from MDD ( ) indicated paying less attention to their emotions at Time 1 than did participants who had not fully recovered ( ). Attention to emotion was better predictor of recovery than was severity of MDD, NA, or PA at Time 1. Levels of attention to emotion at Time 1 in participants who recovered from MDD did not differ significantly from the levels reported by 53 never-depressed individuals who had participated in the experience sampling. Findings indicate that high levels of an otherwise adaptive emotional facet can adversely affect the course of MDD. 1. Introduction Disturbances in emotional experiences are included in the diagnostic criteria for many mental health disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5; [1]) and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10; World Health [2]). For example, heightened levels of negative affect (NA), low levels of positive affect (PA), and excessive guilt are criteria for a DSM-5 diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). In addition to these diagnostic criteria, individuals with MDD experience greater emotional instability than do healthy controls [3, 4]. Importantly, these wide-ranging disturbances in emotional functioning have been found to impede the adaptive functions of emotions (e.g., effective social interaction; [5]) and to influence the course of mental health disorders [6]. A relatively unexplored emotional disturbance in MDD involves the construct of emotional awareness. We focus on one facet of emotional awareness¡ªattention to emotion, or the extent to which one notices, thinks about, and monitors one¡¯s moods [7]. Several theorists have postulated that being aware of one¡¯s feelings is vital to being able to use emotional information adaptively [8¨C10]. Because at least some aspects of the emotional experience of individuals with MDD are, by definition, aberrant from their typical experience (e.g., elevated levels of NA), examining how much they attend to these emotions may
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/drt/2013/540726/