Symposia
Cognitive Science/ Cognitive Processes
Bronwen Grocott, M.A. (she/her/hers)
Graduate Student
The University of British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Bronwen Grocott, M.A. (she/her/hers)
Graduate Student
The University of British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Ashley Battaglini, MA (she/her/hers)
Graduate Student
The University of British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Ellen Jopling, MA (she/her/hers)
Graduate Student
The University of British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Alison Tracy, M.A.
PhD student
The University of British Columbia
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Canada
Katerina Rnic, PhD (she/her/hers)
Postdoctoral Fellow
The University of British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Alvaro Sanchez-Lopez, Ph.D.
Assistant professor
Complutense University of Madrid
Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Joelle LeMoult, PhD (she/her/hers)
Professor
The University of British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Introduction: Early adolescence represents a time of heightened vulnerability for depression, in part due to stressors associated with this developmental period. Although positive interpretation biases may confer resilience against increases in depression, the mechanisms underlying this effect remain poorly understood. Cognitive theories posit that interpretation biases influence depression by modulating daily emotions. However, this has not yet been directly examined. The present study tested whether positive interpretation biases buffered increases in adolescent depressive symptoms by modulating the daily intensity and instability of positive (PA) and negative (NA) affect.
Methods: Ninety-four adolescents (aged 11-13 years; 51% boys) from Vancouver, Canada, were recruited for this longitudinal study. At baseline (Time 1), participants reported depressive symptoms and completed the Scrambled Sentences Task to assess positive interpretation biases. Next, participants completed daily diaries to assess PA and NA during a naturalistic stressor: the first two weeks of high school (Time 2). Finally, participants reported depressive symptoms three months later (Time 3). Path models were conducted to test whether PA and NA intensity and instability mediated prospective associations between positive interpretation bias and changes in depressive symptoms.
Results: Greater NA intensity, NA instability, and PA instability predicted increases in depressive symptoms, and a more positive interpretation bias was associated with lower NA and higher PA intensity across the high-school transition. Yet, only lower NA intensity mediated the negative association between a more positive interpretation bias and decreased depressive symptoms, b = -.68, 95% CI [-1.58, -0.09].
Conclusions: Positive interpretation biases may protect against increases in depressive symptoms across early adolescence by lowering daily levels of negative affect during times of stress. Enhancing positive interpretations through interventions such as interpretation bias training may promote resilience throughout this critical developmental period.