Emotional reactivity in depression: diminished responsiveness to anticipated reward but not to anticipated punishment or to nonreward or avoidance
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVES: This study compared depressed and nondepressed participants' emotional reactivity to anticipated reward, anticipated punishment, failure to obtain a reward, and successful avoidance of punishment. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: This study compared residualized change scores on target emotions for currently depressed (n=19), previously depressed (n=19), and never-depressed (n=43) participants during four experimental conditions: anticipated reward (cash), anticipated punishment (cold pressor), nonreward (failure to earn cash), and avoidance (successful avoidance of a cold pressor). PRINCIPAL OBSERVATIONS: Currently depressed participants' reactivity in response to anticipated reward was significantly diminished compared with never depressed participants', and marginally diminished compared with previously depressed participants'. Currently depressed, previously depressed, and never-depressed participants did not differ significantly in their emotional reactivity to anticipated punishment or to nonreward or avoidance. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that depressed individuals' diminished emotional reactivity may be mainly a state effect and may be limited to anticipated reward.
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Individuals with MDD show a blunted response to a range of rewarding stimuli.
“Behavioral studies have reliably found that individuals with MDD show a blunted response to a range of rewarding stimuli [203-205].”
From Reward circuitry dysfunction in psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders and genetic syndromes: animal models and clinical findings (2012) · cites this paper as [204]
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References 35 · Cited by 157
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Gray JA. Framework for a taxonomy of psychiatric disorder. In: van Goozen SHM, Van de Poll NE, eds. Emotions: Essays on Emotion Theory. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; 1994:29-59.
- First MB, Spitzer RL, Gibbon M, Williams JBW. Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, Non-Patient Version. Washing- ton, DC: American Psychiatric Press; 1995.
- Authors
- McFarland, B. R., & Klein, D. N.
- Affiliations
- Stony Brook University (US)
- Corresponding author
- McFarland, Brian R.
- ORCID
- Klein, Daniel N.
- Venue
- Depression and Anxiety
- Publisher
- Hindawi Limited
- Published
- 2009-02
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 117-122
- ISSN
- 1091-4269 (ISSN-L)
- 1520-6394
- OpenAlex
- W1996242554
- Cited by
- 157
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 7.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Depression and Anxiety (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Keywords
- depression, emotional reactivity, reward anticipation, nonreward, avoidance, state effects
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Arousal, Avoidance Learning, Major Depressive Disorder, Emotions, Female, Humans, Male, Motivation, Orientation, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Personality Inventory, Problem Solving, Punishment, Reference Values, Reward, Semantics, Dysthymic Disorder, Feedback, Psychological, Young Adult
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