Emotional inertia contributes to depressive symptoms beyond perseverative thinking.

Publisher: Routledge Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 8710375 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1464-0600 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 02699931 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Cogn Emot Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: 2013- : London : Routledge
Original Publication: Hove, UK ; Hillsdale, USA : L. Erlbaum Associates, [c1987-

Emotions* ; Thinking*; Depression/*psychology; Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Time Factors ; Young Adult

The autocorrelation or inertia of negative affect reflects how much negative emotions carry over from moment to moment and has been associated with increased depressive symptoms. In this study, we posed three challenges to this association by examining: (1) whether emotional inertia is relevant for depressive symptoms when assessed on a longer timescale than usual; (2) whether inertia is uniquely related to depressive symptoms after controlling for perseverative thoughts; and (3) whether inertia is related to depressive symptoms over and above the within-person association between affect and perseverative thoughts. Participants (N = 101) provided ratings of affect and perseverative thoughts for 100 days; depressive symptoms were reported before and after the study, and again after 2.5 years. Day-to-day emotional inertia was related to depressive symptoms over and above trait and state perseverative thoughts. Moreover, inertia predicted depressive symptoms when adjusting for its association with perseverative thoughts. These findings establish the relevance of emotional inertia in depressive symptoms independent of perseverative thoughts.

Keywords: Daily diary; Depressive symptoms; Emotional inertia; Perseverative thoughts; Rumination

Date Created: 20140514 Date Completed: 20150925 Latest Revision: 20150124

20240513

10.1080/02699931.2014.916252

24820350