(PS8-D100) Inducing Mood Through Music and Memories: Cultivating Joy Through Prevention of Depression

Mood induction procedures (MIPs) are used largely in experimental psychopathology research to examine and understand the effect of emotion on various psychological processes in treatment settings and more recently in intervention research as a guided exposure intervention to prevent future depression (McGinn et al., 2019). MIP are useful to understand the ways in which behaviors contribute to disorder vulnerability and maintenance and to help clients overcome experiential avoidance and tolerate distress in treatment studies. Multiple methods of inducing mood are successfully utilized within this area of research; two common methods are music and autobiographical recall. 

This study aims to compare individual sadness induction techniques with a combined method to determine their efficacy and impact. Participants will be randomly assigned to three groups: music only (external), autobiographical recall only (internal), and a combined group that will experience music and autobiographical recall simultaneously. It is hypothesized that the combined group will show the largest change in sadness from pre to post induction. It is further hypothesized that the autobiographical recall alone group will show a larger change in sadness from pre to post induction than the music alone group. To test both hypotheses, a mixed ANOVA analysis will be conducted. The 2 (time: pre vs. post) x 3 (MIP: music vs. recall vs. combined) mixed ANOVA will demonstrate the difference in change from pre to post induction across the 3 MIP groups. Secondly, pairwise comparison will be conducted to evaluate differences between groups. A total minimum sample size of 150 participants is necessary to properly estimate the between-groups effect size.  

This study will contribute to the current research on mood induction procedures by clarifying our knowledge on the efficacy of combined and singular induction methods, as well as the online adaptability of such procedures. Gaining a better understanding of the efficacy of differing mood induction procedures can continue to elevate their use beyond research in areas of treatment and prevention. Prevention is a promising approach to reduce the increasing burden of depressive disorders and focusing on how to best target prevention work through mood induction procedures will elevate joy in the long run. With a decrease in depressive disorders globally comes an increase in joy and the experience of enjoyable and pleasurable experiences. Expanding on research that bolsters prevention of depression work is a major step in cultivating joy and this poster will be instrumental in determining the effectiveness of mood induction procedures involving music and autobiographical memory.