An integrative study of motivation and goal regulation processes in subclinical anxiety, depression and hypomania

Abstract

Research has implicated motivation and goal regulation in susceptibility to mood disorders. We studied for the first time key facets of motivation and goal regulation concurrently in relation to affective symptoms. The cross-national sample comprised 510 university students from the United States (n = 279) and United Kingdom (n = 231). Participants completed self-report measures of motivation, conditional goal setting, urgency, depression, anxiety, and mania risk. Structural Equation Modeling results found that behavioral activation system scores correlated negatively with depression and positively with mania risk, but were unrelated to anxiety. High conditional goal setting correlated uniquely with higher depression but not to anxiety or mania risk. Urgency correlated with higher anxiety, depression, and mania risk. Behavioral inhibition system scores correlated negatively with mania risk but unexpectedly did not correlate with anxiety in the multivariate model. The behavioral activation, behavioral inhibition, conditional goal setting, and urgency results showed shared and distinct patterns of relationships with depression, anxiety and mania risk. Our findings indicate unique and common risk vulnerabilities in depressive, anxious, and manic syndromes and extend an integrative knowledge of these syndromes in relation to goal regulation.

The role of positive goal engagement in increased mental well-being among individuals with chronic non-cancer pain

“…12 Goal motivation is fundamental to human experience and giving people a sense of meaning, purpose and fulfilment in life. [13][14][15][16] How individuals adjust and regulate their goal pursuit when experiencing chronic pain may be a key determinant in accounting for individual differences in pain tolerance and management, and understanding psychological well-being. 17,18 Recent goal-related research indicates two emerging areas in the physical health field: the solution-focused approach and goal-focused hope.…”

Symptom continuum reported by affective disorder patients through a structure-validated questionnaire

“…The fifth factor, Retardation, refers to slow-down behavior, amotivation, in daily activities, also as previously described in depression [31]. It describes the features of lack of motivation, as previously reported in depressive state [32,33], found to be prominent in our MDD and BD II. Former studies have declared that BD II patients experienced major depressive episodes more frequently than those with BD I [34].…”

Affective symptoms and swallow‐specific quality of life in total laryngectomy patients

“…Affective symptoms are known to cause physical complaints, such as a dry mouth, 34 causing swallowing difficulty. Moreover, suffering from affective symptoms might subsequently hamper motivation during the HNC rehabilitation phase, 35 which may result in poor functional outcome. A possible neurobiological explanation is that cerebral motor cortex areas relate to the neural stress connectome in case of affective symptoms, thereby affecting muscle control, 36 which could certainly play a role in the motor control of swallowing in TL patients.…”