Cognitive biases and affect persistence in previously dysphoric and never-dysphoric individuals

Persistence of affect and attentional and memory biases in dysphoria-prone and nonvulnerable individuals were investigated. In two experiments, never-dysphoric (ND) individuals and previously dysphoric (PD) individuals underwent a positive and a negative autobiographical mood-induction procedure (MIP). Following each MIP, individuals participated in an emotional Stroop task. Participants also rated their mood both immediately after, and five minutes after, each MIP. In addition, in Experiment 2, incidental memory for Stroop stimuli was assessed. PD participants reported more persistent negative affect following a negative MIP than did ND participants. Although PD and ND participants did not differ from each other with respect to their performance on the emotion Stroop task, PD participants demonstrated significantly better memory for negative stimuli than did ND participants. Thus, affect dysregulation and memory biases of PD participants outlasted the dysphoric episode. These findings suggest that memory biases and affect regulation style may play a causal role in susceptibility to depression.