title: Induced optimism as mental rehearsal to decrease depressive predictive certainty.
abstract: The present study examined whether practice in making optimistic future-event predictions would result in change in the hopelessness-related cognitions that characterize depression. Individuals (N = 170) with low, mild, and moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms were randomly assigned to a condition in which they practiced making optimistic future-event predictions or to a control condition in which they viewed the same stimuli but practiced determining whether a given phrase contained an adjective. Overall, individuals in the induced optimism condition showed increases in optimistic predictions, relative to the control condition, as a result of practice, but only individuals with moderate-to-severe symptoms of depression who practiced making optimistic future-event predictions showed decreases in depressive predictive certainty, relative to the control condition. In addition, they showed gains in efficiency in making optimistic predictions over the practice blocks, as assessed by response time. There was no difference in depressed mood by practice condition. Mental rehearsal might be one way of changing the hopelessness-related cognitions that characterize depression.
authors.affiliation: Hunter College, City University of New York, 695 Park Ave., Room 611HN, New York, NY, 10065, United States; The Graduate Center, City University of New York, 365 5th Ave., New York, NY, 10016, United States. Electronic address: regina.miranda@hunter.cuny.edu.
authors.forename: Regina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Miranda
authors.affiliation: Hunter College, City University of New York, 695 Park Ave., Room 611HN, New York, NY, 10065, United States; The Graduate Center, City University of New York, 365 5th Ave., New York, NY, 10016, United States.
authors.forename: Mariann
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weierich
authors.affiliation: Hunter College, City University of New York, 695 Park Ave., Room 611HN, New York, NY, 10065, United States.
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Khait
authors.affiliation: Hunter College, City University of New York, 695 Park Ave., Room 611HN, New York, NY, 10065, United States.
authors.forename: Justyna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jurska
authors.affiliation: New York University, 6 Washington Place, New York, NY, 10003, United States.
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Andersen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000067656:Optimism / Q000523:psychology*; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D011930:Reaction Time; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Depression; Depressive predictive certainty; Hopelessness; Induced optimism