Clinical Psychology Commons^™

A Cross-Methodological Investigation Of Emotional Reactivity In Major Depression, Vanessa Panaite

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is primarily characterized by prevalent sadness and anhedonia. Laboratory studies find that depression is characterized by reduced reactivity across emotional contexts, while a few studies using naturalistic designs find that depressed people show normative reactivity to negative life events and mood brightening in response to positive events. The current study was an investigation of emotional reactivity in depression through the use of experimental and naturalistic designs. This allowed for an investigation of sources of lab-life discrepancies in emotional functioning in depression, including negative affect (NA) regulation. We examined experiential reactivity across contexts and types of stimuli …