An investigation of the relationship between positive affect regulation and depression

There is preliminary evidence that dysphoric symptoms are associated with maladaptive regulation of positive emotion. We investigated to what extent this pattern is unique to depression symptoms, persists in recovery, and extends to apprehension of intense emotion experience. In Study 1, in a sample of undergraduates (N = 112), dysphoria was associated with apprehension about experiencing intense emotion and dampening of positive emotion. Reductions in the amplification of positive emotion experience were uniquely associated with anhedonic depressive symptoms. Study 2 compared a recovered depressed and never-depressed student sample (N = 123), and found that recovered individuals reported using more maladaptive responses to positive affect. In Study 3 we examined community-recruited depressed, recovered and never-depressed groups (N = 50), and found that depressed individuals reported a greater tendency to dampen positive emotion than their never-depressed counterparts, but did not significantly differ from recovered depressed individuals. Greater dampening and reduced amplification of positive experience were again uniquely associated with anhedonic depressive symptoms. Our findings converge on the proposal that current depressive symptoms, rather than a history of depression, are more strongly linked to difficulties with emotion regulation, and suggest that targeting positive emotion could reduce anhedonia and improve treatment outcomes.