(PS2-C70) Individuals with Internalizing Disorders Rate Hobbies as Less Active Than Those Without

Introduction: Common mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety disorders, are prevalent and burdensome on our healthcare system. Behavioral activation (BA) is an empirically supported treatment for depression and related disorders. One of the key components of BA includes Activity Scheduling, the process of increasing opportunities for positive reinforcement in one’s environment. Through this technique, patients schedule pleasant activities, social activities, or activities associated with improved mood. However, there may be differences in how those with internalizing disorders anticipate mood boosting benefits from different activities to be scheduled. There may also be differences in their abilities to generate a range of BA activities, due to cognitive symptoms that accompany depression and anxiety.

Methods: We recruited a sample of 500 online workers to complete a brief survey in February 2023. Participants were asked about their mental health history of diagnoses and then asked to rank 78 different hobbies on a scale from 0 (sedentary, requiring little physical movement) to 3 (active, requiring physical movement).

Results: Of the 500 participants, 195 (39%) were classified as depressed by either endorsing having a diagnosis, or believe they should have received a diagnosis, of depression. 213 participants (43%) were classified as anxious by either endorsing having a diagnosis, or believing they should be diagnosed, with an anxiety disorder (i.e., generalized anxiety, panic disorder, specific phobia, agoraphobia, or social anxiety). Participants with depression ranked activities on average as less active than those without depression (t = -2.34, df = 497, p-value = 0.019). A similar pattern of results was found for those with anxiety (t = -2.42, df = 496, p-value = 0.016).

Discussion: The results of this analysis suggest those with internalizing disorders perceive hobbies as generally being less active than those without internalizing disorders. This finding may be related to impairments in anticipatory pleasure found for those with internalizing distress. There are many implications for this finding, including the idea that BA should include either therapist oversight and encouragement or more psychoeducation if the treatment if self-guided. Moreover, given the number of activities that people engage with that are sedentary but may be associated with patients’ values, perhaps a larger variety of BA activities should be encouraged to maximize treatment effects. This remains to be tested.