Positive and negative affectivity and their relation to anxiety and depressive disorders.

Abstract

Distinguishing between depression and anxiety has been a matter of concern and controversy for some time. Studies in normal samples have suggested, however, that assessment of two broad mood factors-Negative Aflect (NA) and Positive Affect (PA)-may improve their differentiation. The present study extends these findings to a clinical sample. As part of an ongoing twin study, 90 inpatient probands and 60 cotwins were interviewed with the anxiety and depression sections of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS; Robins, Helzer, Croughan, & Ratcliff, 1981). Respondents also completed trait NA and PA scales. Consistent with previous research, NA was broadly correlated with symptoms and diagnoses of both anxiety and depression, and acted as a general predictor of psychiatric disorder. In contrast, PA was consistently related (negatively) only to symptoms and diagnoses of depression, indicating that the loss of pleasurable engagement is a distinctive feature of depression. The results suggest that strengthening the PA component in depression measures may enhance their discriminative power.

Personality factors and psychopathy, alexithymia and stress

“…One of the major outcomes of stress is depression and Neuroticism is associated with depression and negative affect (Chioqueta and Stiles, 2005;Hirschfeld et al, 1989;Lau et al, 2006;Watson et al, 1988). Perhaps the mediation by stress observed here is due to the stress sub facet included in the Neuroticism trait.…”

“…Moreover, Neuroticism predisposes people to experience negative emotions and distress, regardless of level of stress (Bolger and Schilling, 1991;Watson and Clark, 1984. ), whereas Extraversion predisposes them to experience positive affect (Watson et al, 1988). Rovik et al (2007) concluded that the combination of the personality dimensions of Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness may be important in understanding an individual's reaction to stress.…”

Rethinking the mood and anxiety disorders: A quantitative hierarchical model for DSM-V.

“…Thus, in this two-factor model, negative affectivity represents a nonspecific factor common to depression and anxiety, whereas low positive affectivity is a specific factor that is related primarily to depression. In support of this model, indicators of depression and anxiety both are found to be strongly related to measures of general negative affectivity; in contrast, measures of Rethinking the mood and anxiety disorders 15 positive affectivity are consistently negatively correlated with depressed mood and symptomatology and are more weakly related to anxious mood and symptomatology (e.g., Jolly, Dyck, Kramer, & Wherry, 1994;Mineka et al, 1998;Watson et al, 1988). …”

“…Most notably, Brown et al (1998) found that the anxious arousal component of the tripartite model was not generally characteristic of the anxiety disorders, but instead represented the specific, unique component of panic disorder (see also Zinbarg et Rethinking the mood and anxiety disorders 17 al, 1994); subsequent evidence also has linked anxious arousal to PTSD (see Brown, Campbell, et al, 2001). Second, several studies have demonstrated that the Positive Affect dimension is not uniquely linked to depression, but also shows consistent negative associations with indicators of social phobia (e.g., Brown et al, 1998;Watson et al, 1988; Watson, Gamez, & Simms, in press).The integrative hierarchical model. In light of this evidence, Mineka et al (1998) proposed an integrative hierarchical model that incorporated elements from both the tripartite model and Barlow's (1991;Zinbarg & Barlow, 1996) hierarchical organization of the anxiety disorders.…”

Influence of nicotine on positive affect in anhedonic smokers

“…Relatively overlooked, however, is the possibility that nicotine regulates defi cient positive affect, another affective vulnerability associated with depression. That omission is surprising given that low positive affect (i.e., anhedonia) is an important feature of major depressive disorder (Watson et al 1988a;Coyne 1994). Thus, defi cient positive affect may be an important and overlooked mechanism infl uencing smoking, particularly for anhedonic individuals who have chronic diffi culties experiencing positive affect in response to rewarding events.…”