Category: Cognitive Science/ Cognitive Processes
Ivan Blanco, Ph.D. (he/him/his)
Assistant Professor
Complutense University of Madrid
Pozuelo de Alarcon, Madrid, Spain
Rosa Baños, Ph.D.
Full Professor
Polibienestar Research Institute, University of Valencia; Department of Personality, Evaluation and Psychological Treatment, Faculty of Psychology, University of Valencia; CIBERObn Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
Valencia, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain
Wisteria Deng, M.S. (she/her/hers)
Yale University
New Haven, Connecticut
Ivan Blanco, Ph.D. (he/him/his)
Assistant Professor
Complutense University of Madrid
Pozuelo de Alarcon, Madrid, Spain
Bronwen Grocott, M.A. (she/her/hers)
Graduate Student
The University of British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Alvaro Sanchez-Lopez, Ph.D.
Assistant professor
Complutense University of Madrid
Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Maria Folgado-Alufre, Other (she/her/hers)
University of Valencia
Valencia, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain
Negative biases in attention, interpretation, and memory; and the use of dysfunctional emotion regulation strategies (ERS) - (e.g., higher use of rumination) have been widely studied as vulnerability mechanisms for developing emotional disorders (e.g., depression or anxiety). Yet, less is known about the relation between positive cognitive biases and the use of ERS of positive emotions (positive rumination or dampening) and its role as a potential protective factor.
In this symposium, we will provide an overview of the latest research on the role of positive cognition and positive ERs as protective or resilience factors using experimental, longitudinal and experience sample methodologies (ESM). The findings will be discussed in terms of their implications for the development of new therapeutic interventions.
Ms. Wisteria would examine the relationship between depressive symptoms and positive and negative social impression formation. She will show that individuals with depressive symptoms have difficulties not only in endorsing scenario-specific positive interpretations but also in integrating positive contextual information. She will emphasize the need for challenging positive social impressions as a potential target for new interventions. Dr. Blanco will provide longitudinal evidence on the role of positive interpretation biases as a predictor of positive rumination use and how these variables co-jointly predict long-term well-being. His study highlights the crucial role of positive interpretations and positive emotion regulation processes as intervention targets. Ms. Grocott will examine, using ESM, the role of positive interpretation biases in buffering adolescent depressive symptoms. In her study, she tested whether positive interpretation biases modulate the daily intensity and instability of positive and negative affect to influence depression. She will show that more positive interpretation biases were associated with lower negative affect intensity and decreased depressive symptoms, highlighting the potential of enhancing positive interpretations through interventions to promote resilience. Dr. Sanchez will expand these findings, through ESM data, on how positive interpretation biases, emotion regulation, and positive affect interplay during daily life functioning. He will show how higher momentary positive biases predict subsequent higher use of positive rumination and lower use of dampening, resulting in higher positive affect levels. This study demonstrates a dynamic interplay between the positive interpretations, positive affect, and its regulation in daily life and informs new avenues to study and intervene in cognitive mechanisms implicated in well-being promotion. Ms. Folgado will present a series of studies on Positive autobiographical memories (PAM) and savoring, and their relation to well-being. First, she will show that specificity of PAM led to higher levels of savoring, which in turn led to higher well-being and lower depression. Second, she will show data of a new intervention for training specificity and savoring of PAM. Finally, Prof. Rosa Banos will act as a discussant for the symposium, addressing the theoretical and clinical importance of the current set of studies.