Microinterventions targeting regulatory focus and regulatory fit selectively reduce dysphoric and anxious mood

Abstract

Depression and generalized anxiety, separately and as comorbid states, continue to represent a significant public health challenge. Current cognitive-behavioral treatments are clearly beneficial but there remains a need for continued development of complementary interventions. This manuscript presents two proof-of-concept studies, in analog samples, of “microinterventions” derived from regulatory focus and regulatory fit theories and targeting dysphoric and anxious symptoms. In Study 1, participants with varying levels of dysphoric and/or anxious mood were exposed to a brief intervention either to increase or to reduce engagement in personal goal pursuit, under the hypothesis that dysphoria indicates under-engagement of the promotion system whereas anxiety indicates over-engagement of the prevention system. In Study 2, participants with varying levels of dysphoric and/or anxious mood received brief training in counterfactual thinking, under the hypothesis that inducing individuals in a state of promotion failure to generate subtractive counterfactuals for past failures (a non-fit) will lessen their dejection/depression-related symptoms, whereas inducing individuals in a state of prevention failure to generate additive counterfactuals for past failures (a non-fit) will lessen their agitation/anxiety-related symptoms. In both studies, we observed discriminant patterns of reduction in distress consistent with the hypothesized links between dysfunctional states of the two motivational systems and dysphoric versus anxious symptoms.

The importance of burrowing, climbing and standing upright for laboratory rats

“…by building and maintaining a burrow) may itself be rewarding, independently of having safety. Work in human psychology has shown that central to our sense of well-being is how successful and unsuccessful we are in our pursuit of approach and avoidance goals [ 53 ]. Approach goals/motivations can be divided into two types: promotion motivation, which aims to attain gains (e.g.…”

Using neuroimaging to individualize TMS treatment for depression: Toward a new paradigm for imaging-guided intervention

“…And in fact, recent experimental data from behavioral research in two analog samples showed that interventions specifically targeting up-regulation of the promotion system discriminantly led to an increase in positive affectivity, whereas interventions targeting down-regulation of the prevention system were discriminantly associated with decreased anxiety and negative affectivity (Strauman et al, 2015). Given these findings, along with previous correlational data linking promotion failure with dysphoria/anhedonia and prevention failure with anxiety/vigilance (Jones et al, 2013), the potential efficacy of combined TMS/SST across a range of internalizing disorders deserves further study.…”

Treatment of Depression from a Self-Regulation Perspective: Basic Concepts and Applied Strategies in Self-System Therapy

“…This distinction is important because it clarifies the critical difference in what constitutes a failure when the promotion versus prevention system is active. In turn, RFT implies that helping people who see themselves as failing requires different interventions depending on whether they are experiencing a prevention failure or a promotion failure (Strauman et al, 2015). This postulate led to the development of a psychotherapy which was organized around the promotion/prevention distinction, which we will elaborate upon in the following section.…”

“…To date we have conducted two proof-of-concept studies of self-regulation microinterventions that targeted dysphoric and anxious affective states in undergraduates who reported a range of symptoms (Strauman, Socolar, Kwapil, Cornwell, Franks, Sehnert, & Higgins, 2015). Study 1 exposed participants who varied in chronic dysphoric and/or anxious mood to a one-session “microintervention” designed to either strengthen or weaken engagement in goal pursuit.…”

“…For example, the microintervention research mentioned earlier (Strauman et al, 2015) included a study that redirected people with mild to moderate anxiety or dysphoria to think about a distressing situation in a different way based on regulatory fit. This strategy doesn’t seek to prevent or avoid repetitive thinking (rumination and worry), and it is not cognitive restructuring in the traditional CT sense; rather, it encourages people to reframe their thinking in a way that counteracts their regulatory tendencies, thereby attenuating the negative emotional impact.…”