title: The relation between depression and appreciation: The role of perceptions of emotional utility in an experimental test of causality.
abstract: The present research examined the potential role of perceived utility of appreciation in depressive symptoms. In a between-subjects design, participants were induced to increase their experience of appreciation or their perceived usefulness of appreciation. Self-reported perceptions of emotional utility, actual experience of emotion, as well as depression scores gathered from semi-structured interviews, were obtained at baseline and post-induction. As predicted, although participants in both groups evidenced lower levels of depressive symptoms at post-induction than at baseline, there was a greater decrease among participants in the appreciation-utility condition than among those in the appreciation-experience condition. Further, perceived utility of appreciation was an important mediator in moderated mediation models.
authors: a Department of Psychology , University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Champaign , IL , USA.
authors: Philip I
authors: PI
authors: Chow
authors: a Department of Psychology , University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Champaign , IL , USA.
authors: Howard
authors: H
authors: Berenbaum
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015984:Causality; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012649:Self Concept; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Appreciation; Depression; Emotion; Gratitude; Perceived utility