Pub Date : 2026-09-01Epub Date: 2026-03-09DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2026.102100
Akihiro Masuyama
Depression has been linked to impairments in cognitive control, particularly proactive control within the Dual Mechanisms of Control framework, yet little is known about how proactive control, perceived stress, and depressive symptoms co-vary within and between individuals over time. In a three-wave online study, 195 adults completed monthly assessments of depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and an AX Continuous Performance Task. Random Effects Within–Between (REWB) models were used as the primary analytic approach to examine between-person differences and within-person month-to-month deviations in perceived stress and proactive control, whereas Cross-Lagged Panel Models (CLPMs) and Random Intercept CLPMs (RI-CLPMs) were estimated as auxiliary analyses. Across reaction-time and error-rate REWB models, perceived stress showed robust positive associations with depressive symptoms at both levels. Proactive control showed no consistent effects when stress was at its mean level, but small within-person perceived stress × proactive control interactions indicated weaker concurrent stress–depression coupling during higher-than-usual stress periods. In contrast, CLPM and RI-CLPM showed poor fit and negligible cross-lagged effects. Overall, proactive control appears to function primarily as a modest, context-dependent moderator of stress–depression covariation rather than a strong longitudinal driver of change.
{"title":"Cognitive control, stress, and depressive symptoms: A short-term longitudinal test of the Dual Mechanisms of Control framework","authors":"Akihiro Masuyama","doi":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2026.102100","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2026.102100","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Depression has been linked to impairments in cognitive control, particularly proactive control within the Dual Mechanisms of Control framework, yet little is known about how proactive control, perceived stress, and depressive symptoms co-vary within and between individuals over time. In a three-wave online study, 195 adults completed monthly assessments of depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and an AX Continuous Performance Task. Random Effects Within–Between (REWB) models were used as the primary analytic approach to examine between-person differences and within-person month-to-month deviations in perceived stress and proactive control, whereas Cross-Lagged Panel Models (CLPMs) and Random Intercept CLPMs (RI-CLPMs) were estimated as auxiliary analyses. Across reaction-time and error-rate REWB models, perceived stress showed robust positive associations with depressive symptoms at both levels. Proactive control showed no consistent effects when stress was at its mean level, but small within-person perceived stress × proactive control interactions indicated weaker concurrent stress–depression coupling during higher-than-usual stress periods. In contrast, CLPM and RI-CLPM showed poor fit and negligible cross-lagged effects. Overall, proactive control appears to function primarily as a modest, context-dependent moderator of stress–depression covariation rather than a strong longitudinal driver of change.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48198,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 102100"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147388464","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-06-01Epub Date: 2025-12-15DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102085
Catherine Ouellet-Courtois , Anna Coughtrey , Sandra Krause , Jakob Fink-Lamotte
Magical contagion beliefs—the idea that harm, essence, or impurity can be transmitted symbolically through resemblance, association, contact, or thought—are observed across several mental health conditions, including obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), trauma-related disorders, eating disorders, and hoarding disorder. This narrative review synthesizes empirical evidence to clarify the emotional and cognitive mechanisms that activate and sustain these beliefs. We propose a theoretical model describing how characteristics of the perceived contaminant (contact, proximity, association, emotional valence, perceived dynamic force) interact with individual vulnerability factors (contamination sensitivity, disgust proneness), cognitive misappraisals (sympathetic magic, contamination thought–action fusion, emotional reasoning), and maintaining processes (intolerance of uncertainty, rumination, cognitive biases), to collectively amplify subjective contamination experiences and reinforce avoidance and cleansing behaviors. The review integrates findings across disorders to highlight shared and distinct pathways through which symbolic contamination beliefs persist and generalize, providing a framework to guide future research and inform targeted clinical interventions.
{"title":"Magical contagion beliefs in psychopathology: A review of cognitive mechanisms and maintaining factors","authors":"Catherine Ouellet-Courtois , Anna Coughtrey , Sandra Krause , Jakob Fink-Lamotte","doi":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102085","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102085","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Magical contagion beliefs—the idea that harm, essence, or impurity can be transmitted symbolically through resemblance, association, contact, or thought—are observed across several mental health conditions, including obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), trauma-related disorders, eating disorders, and hoarding disorder. This narrative review synthesizes empirical evidence to clarify the emotional and cognitive mechanisms that activate and sustain these beliefs. We propose a theoretical model describing how characteristics of the perceived contaminant (contact, proximity, association, emotional valence, perceived dynamic force) interact with individual vulnerability factors (contamination sensitivity, disgust proneness), cognitive misappraisals (sympathetic magic, contamination thought–action fusion, emotional reasoning), and maintaining processes (intolerance of uncertainty, rumination, cognitive biases), to collectively amplify subjective contamination experiences and reinforce avoidance and cleansing behaviors. The review integrates findings across disorders to highlight shared and distinct pathways through which symbolic contamination beliefs persist and generalize, providing a framework to guide future research and inform targeted clinical interventions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48198,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 102085"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145791731","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-06-01Epub Date: 2026-02-10DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2026.102089
Marta Corberán , Sandra Arnáez , Ángel Carrasco , Yuliya Saman , Laura Carratalá-Ricart , Odalis I. Merchán , Belén Pascual-Vera , Guy Doron , Gemma García-Soriano , María Roncero
Objective
Eating disorders (EDs), including anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, are complex, distressing and debilitating disorders that affect a significant proportion of adolescents. Maladaptive beliefs about eating and body image are well-established cognitive risk factors for the development and maintenance of EDs; therefore, targeting these beliefs is an important component of prevention programs. This randomized trial evaluated the effects of a cognitive behavioral framework-based mobile application designed to reduce vulnerability to EDs by targeting associated maladaptive beliefs. Method: A non-clinical sample of adolescents (n = 93; Mage = 13.9; 56 girls) was randomized to use a mobile application targeting maladaptive beliefs related to EDs for approximately 5 min a day during a 2-week period. The non-active control group used the same app, for the same period of time but with neutral content. Maladaptive belief related to EDs, ED symptoms, body satisfaction and self-esteem were measured at baseline (T1), immediately after two weeks of mobile application use (T2), and at 1-month follow-up (T3).
Results
Data obtained indicated that relative to those in the control condition, adolescents that used the application demonstrated a decrease in some ED-related maladaptive beliefs and symptoms. These effects were small-to-medium size and were maintained at 1-month. No significant effects were found regarding depression, body satisfaction or self-esteem.
Conclusion
These results underscore the potential usefulness of brief, low-intensity, mobile interventions in reducing vulnerability to EDs in the adolescent population.
{"title":"Cognitive training via mobile app for addressing eating disorder-related cognitions in the general adolescent population: Randomized controlled trial","authors":"Marta Corberán , Sandra Arnáez , Ángel Carrasco , Yuliya Saman , Laura Carratalá-Ricart , Odalis I. Merchán , Belén Pascual-Vera , Guy Doron , Gemma García-Soriano , María Roncero","doi":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2026.102089","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2026.102089","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><div>Eating disorders (EDs), including anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, are complex, distressing and debilitating disorders that affect a significant proportion of adolescents. Maladaptive beliefs about eating and body image are well-established cognitive risk factors for the development and maintenance of EDs; therefore, targeting these beliefs is an important component of prevention programs. This randomized trial evaluated the effects of a cognitive behavioral framework-based mobile application designed to reduce vulnerability to EDs by targeting associated maladaptive beliefs. <em>Method</em>: A non-clinical sample of adolescents (<em>n</em> = 93; <em>M</em>age = 13.9; 56 girls) was randomized to use a mobile application targeting maladaptive beliefs related to EDs for approximately 5 min a day during a 2-week period. The non-active control group used the same app, for the same period of time but with neutral content. Maladaptive belief related to EDs, ED symptoms, body satisfaction and self-esteem were measured at baseline (T1), immediately after two weeks of mobile application use (T2), and at 1-month follow-up (T3).</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Data obtained indicated that relative to those in the control condition, adolescents that used the application demonstrated a decrease in some ED-related maladaptive beliefs and symptoms. These effects were small-to-medium size and were maintained at 1-month. No significant effects were found regarding depression, body satisfaction or self-esteem.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>These results underscore the potential usefulness of brief, low-intensity, mobile interventions in reducing vulnerability to EDs in the adolescent population.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48198,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 102089"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146173704","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-06-01Epub Date: 2025-12-06DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102084
Zachary Adolph Niese , Noga Smadar , Reuven Dar
Background and objectives
The Seeking Proxies for Internal States (SPIS) model of OCD posits that reduced access to internal states plays a key role in the development and maintenance of the disorder. The current work sought to provide further support for the model's central claim that obsessive-compulsive tendencies are associated with reduced access to internal states.
Method
Participants (N = 170) listened to 60 sound stimuli, rated how each one made them feel, and completed a measure of obsessive-compulsive tendencies. Following past procedure, we compared participants' ratings to each sound's normative valence rating, such that higher deviations between the ratings reflect a noisier perception of affective internal states.
Results
As hypothesized, higher obsessive-compulsive tendencies predicted greater deviations for both normatively-positive and normatively-negative sounds.
Conclusions
The current work provides additional, novel support for the SPIS model, showing that with increasing obsessive-compulsive tendencies, people exhibited reduced attunement to how auditory stimuli made them feel.
{"title":"Obsessive-compulsive tendencies predict reduced access to affective reactions to auditory stimuli","authors":"Zachary Adolph Niese , Noga Smadar , Reuven Dar","doi":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102084","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102084","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background and objectives</h3><div>The Seeking Proxies for Internal States (SPIS) model of OCD posits that reduced access to internal states plays a key role in the development and maintenance of the disorder. The current work sought to provide further support for the model's central claim that obsessive-compulsive tendencies are associated with reduced access to internal states.</div></div><div><h3>Method</h3><div>Participants (N = 170) listened to 60 sound stimuli, rated how each one made them feel, and completed a measure of obsessive-compulsive tendencies. Following past procedure, we compared participants' ratings to each sound's normative valence rating, such that higher deviations between the ratings reflect a noisier perception of affective internal states.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>As hypothesized, higher obsessive-compulsive tendencies predicted greater deviations for both normatively-positive and normatively-negative sounds.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>The current work provides additional, novel support for the SPIS model, showing that with increasing obsessive-compulsive tendencies, people exhibited reduced attunement to how auditory stimuli made them feel.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48198,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 102084"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145698134","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-06-01Epub Date: 2026-02-03DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2026.102086
Lana Mrkonja , Zhan Feng , Nathan J. Marchant , Taco J. De Vries , Mateo Leganes-Fontenau , Reinout Wiers
Individuals differ in their responses to negative consequences. While some adjust quickly to avoid punishment, others persist in maladaptive behaviors despite adverse outcomes. Such differences in punishment sensitivity have been implicated in psychological disorders, including substance use, obsessive-compulsive, and mood disorders. The Pirates and Planets task (Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel et al., 2023) identified three punishment sensitivity profiles differing in punishment contingency awareness and responsiveness. However, the task's external validity and clinical relevance remain unclear.
Here, we replicate and extend their findings using a within-subjects design with a larger sample (N = 188), a broader array of trait and psychopathology measures, and an additional task block to enhance profile interpretability.
We replicated the three profiles: (1) “sensitive” individuals who adapt to avoid punishment; (2) “unaware” individuals who adapt only after explicit punishment contingency information; and (3) “compulsive” individuals who persist despite such information. Crucially, no significant associations emerged between these profiles and symptom measures (i.e., obsessive-compulsive behaviors, alcohol use, depression, anxiety), suggesting these patterns may reflect context-dependent punishment learning processes that do not directly correspond to self-reported clinical symptoms, at least in this non-clinical sample.
Taken together, these findings indicate that, in its current implementation, the Pirates and Planets task is valuable for studying punishment learning mechanisms, but it may not yet be suitable for addressing clinically relevant individual differences or for translation to clinical populations. Establishing which task parameters reliably produce behavior that maps onto clinically relevant outcomes would be an essential next step for future research.
每个人对消极后果的反应不同。虽然有些人会迅速调整以避免惩罚，但另一些人会坚持不适应行为，尽管会有不良后果。这种惩罚敏感性的差异与心理障碍有关，包括物质使用、强迫症和情绪障碍。海盗和行星任务（Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel et al., 2023）确定了惩罚偶然性意识和响应性的三种不同的惩罚敏感性特征。然而，该任务的外部效度和临床相关性尚不清楚。在这里，我们使用更大的样本（N = 188），更广泛的特征和精神病理学测量，以及额外的任务块来增强资料的可解释性，来复制和扩展他们的研究结果。我们复制了三种特征：(1)“敏感”个体，他们适应避免惩罚；(2)“不知情”个体，只有在获得明确的惩罚权变信息后才会适应；(3)“强迫性”个体，尽管有这样的信息，他们仍然坚持。至关重要的是，这些概况和症状测量（即强迫症行为、酒精使用、抑郁、焦虑）之间没有显著的关联，这表明这些模式可能反映了情境依赖的惩罚学习过程，而不是直接对应于自我报告的临床症状，至少在这个非临床样本中是这样。总之，这些发现表明，在目前的实施中，海盗和行星任务对于研究惩罚学习机制是有价值的，但它可能还不适合解决临床相关的个体差异或转化为临床人群。确定哪些任务参数可靠地产生映射到临床相关结果的行为将是未来研究的重要下一步。
{"title":"Replication of individual differences in the Pirates and Planets conditioned punishment task, but no correspondence to behavior in a non-clinical sample","authors":"Lana Mrkonja , Zhan Feng , Nathan J. Marchant , Taco J. De Vries , Mateo Leganes-Fontenau , Reinout Wiers","doi":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2026.102086","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2026.102086","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Individuals differ in their responses to negative consequences. While some adjust quickly to avoid punishment, others persist in maladaptive behaviors despite adverse outcomes. Such differences in punishment sensitivity have been implicated in psychological disorders, including substance use, obsessive-compulsive, and mood disorders. The Pirates and Planets task (Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel et al., 2023) identified three punishment sensitivity profiles differing in punishment contingency awareness and responsiveness. However, the task's external validity and clinical relevance remain unclear.</div><div>Here, we replicate and extend their findings using a within-subjects design with a larger sample (N = 188), a broader array of trait and psychopathology measures, and an additional task block to enhance profile interpretability.</div><div>We replicated the three profiles: (1) “sensitive” individuals who adapt to avoid punishment; (2) “unaware” individuals who adapt only after explicit punishment contingency information; and (3) “compulsive” individuals who persist despite such information. Crucially, no significant associations emerged between these profiles and symptom measures (i.e., obsessive-compulsive behaviors, alcohol use, depression, anxiety), suggesting these patterns may reflect context-dependent punishment learning processes that do not directly correspond to self-reported clinical symptoms, at least in this non-clinical sample.</div><div>Taken together, these findings indicate that, in its current implementation, the Pirates and Planets task is valuable for studying punishment learning mechanisms, but it may not yet be suitable for addressing clinically relevant individual differences or for translation to clinical populations. Establishing which task parameters reliably produce behavior that maps onto clinically relevant outcomes would be an essential next step for future research.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48198,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 102086"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146158724","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-06-01Epub Date: 2026-02-02DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2026.102088
Aleksandra E. Rupietta , Thomas Meyer , Jürgen Margraf , Marcella L. Woud
Background
Cognitive theories on trauma memory postulate that trauma-related intrusions are associated with more data-driven and less contextual processing. However, contextualisation can be enhanced via verbalization, suggesting that verbalizing traumatic material should reduce the number of intrusions and affect other trauma-relevant symptoms and processes.
Methods
In this experimental study, participants watched different trauma films and were instructed to verbalize the contents of each film clip, to visually imagine them, or to let their mind wander freely. Intrusions were measured via a diary and an intrusion provocation task applied three days after film presentation. General trauma-relevant symptoms were assessed with the Posttraumatic Symptom Checklist (PCL-5). Thought suppression was measured twice, i.e., before and after the experimental manipulation. During a memory processing task, participants were asked to recall the film clips, and their performance was evaluated based on the number of details they accurately remembered as well as the time it took them to do so.
Results
No group differences emerged regarding the number of intrusions, PCL-5 scores, memory processing task outcomes, levels of thought suppression, or data driven processing. Exploratory correlational analyses revealed that intrusion frequency (i.e., diary intrusions, provoked intrusions) and PCL-5 scores were positively correlated with thought suppression pre- and post-manipulation.
Conclusion
The verbalization task did not result in a reduction of intrusions and other trauma-relevant symptoms. However, results further underline the relationship between thought suppression and intrusions.
{"title":"The influence of verbalization versus imagery on trauma memory","authors":"Aleksandra E. Rupietta , Thomas Meyer , Jürgen Margraf , Marcella L. Woud","doi":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2026.102088","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2026.102088","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Cognitive theories on trauma memory postulate that trauma-related intrusions are associated with more data-driven and less contextual processing. However, contextualisation can be enhanced via verbalization, suggesting that verbalizing traumatic material should reduce the number of intrusions and affect other trauma-relevant symptoms and processes.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>In this experimental study, participants watched different trauma films and were instructed to verbalize the contents of each film clip, to visually imagine them, or to let their mind wander freely. Intrusions were measured via a diary and an intrusion provocation task applied three days after film presentation. General trauma-relevant symptoms were assessed with the Posttraumatic Symptom Checklist (PCL-5). Thought suppression was measured twice, i.e., before and after the experimental manipulation. During a memory processing task, participants were asked to recall the film clips, and their performance was evaluated based on the number of details they accurately remembered as well as the time it took them to do so.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>No group differences emerged regarding the number of intrusions, PCL-5 scores, memory processing task outcomes, levels of thought suppression, or data driven processing. Exploratory correlational analyses revealed that intrusion frequency (i.e., diary intrusions, provoked intrusions) and PCL-5 scores were positively correlated with thought suppression pre- and post-manipulation.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>The verbalization task did not result in a reduction of intrusions and other trauma-relevant symptoms. However, results further underline the relationship between thought suppression and intrusions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48198,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 102088"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146158650","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-06-01Epub Date: 2026-02-03DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2026.102087
Rendong He , Junxin Li , Yiming Qiu , Yongliang Jiao , Kexin Huang , Bingyue Han , Yuhang Pu , Yong Jia , Li Chen
Objective
Subthreshold depression is a highly prevalent and poses significant risks to quality of life among older adults. Cognitive biases play a critical role in the development and maintenance of depressive symptoms. Investigating cognitive biases in individuals with subthreshold depression may facilitate early detection of depressive tendencies. This study aims to examine cognitive biases in older adults with subthreshold depression.
Methods
This cross-sectional study included 60 community-dwelling older adults (26 men, 34 women) with a mean age of 81.5 ± 5.0 years. Among them, 30 were identified as having subthreshold depression (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores: 8.70 ± 2.04) and 30 served as healthy controls (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores: 1.53 ± 1.33). Participants completed assessments of attention, memory, and interpretive biases through the dot-probe paradigm, recognition tasks, and ambiguous-scene tests. Data were analyzed using generalized estimating equations. Multiple comparisons were adjusted using FDR (Benjamini–Hochberg) and Holm–Bonferroni corrections.
Results
Compared with controls, the subthreshold depression group exhibited stronger negative attentional bias (BI: Z = 7.83, p < 0.001; OI: Z = 3.57, p < 0.001; DI: Z = 3.25, p = 0.006), greater negative memory bias (Z = 8.46, p < 0.001), and more pronounced negative interpretive bias (Z = 4.51, p < 0.001).
Conclusion
Older adults with subthreshold depression exhibit significant attentional, memory, and interpretive biases towards negative information. These findings highlight the importance of early identification and intervention to prevent progression to MDD.
目的：阈下抑郁症在老年人中非常普遍，并对生活质量构成重大风险。认知偏差在抑郁症状的发展和维持中起着关键作用。研究阈下抑郁症患者的认知偏差可能有助于早期发现抑郁倾向。本研究旨在探讨阈下抑郁症老年人的认知偏差。方法：本横断面研究纳入60例社区居住老年人（男性26例，女性34例），平均年龄81.5±5.0岁。其中，阈下抑郁30例（Hamilton抑郁评定量表得分：8.70±2.04），健康对照30例（Hamilton抑郁评定量表得分：1.53±1.33）。参与者通过点探测范式、识别任务和模糊场景测试完成了注意力、记忆和解释偏差的评估。采用广义估计方程对数据进行分析。多重比较采用FDR （Benjamini-Hochberg）和Holm-Bonferroni校正进行校正。结果：与对照组相比，阈下抑郁症组表现出更强的负性注意偏倚（BI: Z = 7.83, p）。结论：阈下抑郁症老年人对负性信息表现出显著的注意偏倚、记忆偏倚和解释偏倚。这些发现强调了早期识别和干预对预防重度抑郁症发展的重要性。
{"title":"Negative cognitive biases in older adults with subthreshold depression","authors":"Rendong He , Junxin Li , Yiming Qiu , Yongliang Jiao , Kexin Huang , Bingyue Han , Yuhang Pu , Yong Jia , Li Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2026.102087","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2026.102087","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><div>Subthreshold depression is a highly prevalent and poses significant risks to quality of life among older adults. Cognitive biases play a critical role in the development and maintenance of depressive symptoms. Investigating cognitive biases in individuals with subthreshold depression may facilitate early detection of depressive tendencies. This study aims to examine cognitive biases in older adults with subthreshold depression.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>This cross-sectional study included 60 community-dwelling older adults (26 men, 34 women) with a mean age of 81.5 ± 5.0 years. Among them, 30 were identified as having subthreshold depression (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores: 8.70 ± 2.04) and 30 served as healthy controls (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores: 1.53 ± 1.33). Participants completed assessments of attention, memory, and interpretive biases through the dot-probe paradigm, recognition tasks, and ambiguous-scene tests. Data were analyzed using generalized estimating equations. Multiple comparisons were adjusted using FDR (Benjamini–Hochberg) and Holm–Bonferroni corrections.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Compared with controls, the subthreshold depression group exhibited stronger negative attentional bias (BI: Z = 7.83, p < 0.001; OI: Z = 3.57, p < 0.001; DI: Z = 3.25, p = 0.006), greater negative memory bias (Z = 8.46, p < 0.001), and more pronounced negative interpretive bias (Z = 4.51, p < 0.001).</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Older adults with subthreshold depression exhibit significant attentional, memory, and interpretive biases towards negative information. These findings highlight the importance of early identification and intervention to prevent progression to MDD.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48198,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 102087"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146137974","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-03-13DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2026.102101
Hannah E Bär, Andreas Bär, Deniz Kumral, Monika Schönauer, Fritz Renner
Imagining our behaviors and thereby anticipating their rewarding or unrewarding emotional consequences may motivate our choice behavior. This has great potential for clinical interventions aiming to motivate the engagement in adaptive behaviors. We investigated the difference in emotionality between mental imagery and verbal thought and its effect on subsequent choice behavior using a within-subject experimental design with pupil dilation as a measure of emotional arousal. Adults from the general population (N = 40) first imagined and constructed sentences concerning icon-word pairs yielding a positive or negative scenario and then chose between two icons from the same valence (positive or negative) but different thought modalities (mental imagery and verbal thought). Pupil dilation and self-reported emotionality were greater in response to mental imagery than verbal thought, irrespective of valence. Imagined compared to verbalized icons were chosen more often than expected by chance in positive comparisons but not less often than expected by chance in negative comparisons. Our findings extend previous work demonstrating the emotion amplifying quality of mental imagery on a subjective, physiological, and behavioral level. They further provide evidence for the potential to motivate choice behavior using mental imagery as an emotional amplifier in clinical interventions.
{"title":"Emotionality of mental imagery and its effect on choice behavior.","authors":"Hannah E Bär, Andreas Bär, Deniz Kumral, Monika Schönauer, Fritz Renner","doi":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2026.102101","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2026.102101","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Imagining our behaviors and thereby anticipating their rewarding or unrewarding emotional consequences may motivate our choice behavior. This has great potential for clinical interventions aiming to motivate the engagement in adaptive behaviors. We investigated the difference in emotionality between mental imagery and verbal thought and its effect on subsequent choice behavior using a within-subject experimental design with pupil dilation as a measure of emotional arousal. Adults from the general population (N = 40) first imagined and constructed sentences concerning icon-word pairs yielding a positive or negative scenario and then chose between two icons from the same valence (positive or negative) but different thought modalities (mental imagery and verbal thought). Pupil dilation and self-reported emotionality were greater in response to mental imagery than verbal thought, irrespective of valence. Imagined compared to verbalized icons were chosen more often than expected by chance in positive comparisons but not less often than expected by chance in negative comparisons. Our findings extend previous work demonstrating the emotion amplifying quality of mental imagery on a subjective, physiological, and behavioral level. They further provide evidence for the potential to motivate choice behavior using mental imagery as an emotional amplifier in clinical interventions.</p>","PeriodicalId":48198,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry","volume":"92 ","pages":"102101"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147494430","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-10-24DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102073
Hallvard Solbø Hagen , Jan Ivar Røssberg , Catherine J. Harmer , Rune Jonassen , Nils Inge Landrø , Ragnhild Bø
Background
Clinical trials of Attention Bias Modification for depressive symptoms have consistently produced small effect sizes and mixed results. Therefore, identifying patient characteristics that can improve the efficacy has been called for. Residual depressive symptoms have been shown to increase the chance of relapse and treating this group of patients may serve to reduce the risk. In this analysis we examined whether baseline attention bias moderates the effect of Attention Bias Modification, the intended mechanism of change of the intervention.
Methods
The analysis was based on data from a randomized controlled trial with participants with a history of depression (N = 301) who were randomized to receive two daily sessions of either Attention Bias Modification or a sham treatment for 14 days. A response-based attention bias score at baseline was calculated, and a moderator analysis was run at post-intervention and 1-month follow-up measured by change in Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI II), respectively.
Results
Baseline attention bias did not moderate the effect of Attention Bias Modification at post-intervention (HDRS F(1,295) = .303, p = .582, BDI II F(1,295) = 1.1567, p = .283: or at 1-month follow-up (HDRS F(1,265) = .000, p = .247, BDI II F(1,267) = .021, p = .885).
Conclusion
Even though Attention Bias Modification targets attention bias, the baseline score did not significantly moderate the effect of Attention Bias Modification on any of the time points or depression measures. Consequently, baseline attentional bias does not seem to be a useful variable for identifying patients with subclinical depressive symptoms more likely to benefit from ABM.
背景：注意偏倚矫正治疗抑郁症状的临床试验一直产生较小的效应量和混合的结果。因此，识别能够提高疗效的患者特征已被要求。残留的抑郁症状已被证明会增加复发的机会，治疗这类患者可能有助于降低风险。在本分析中，我们检验了基线注意偏倚是否会调节注意偏倚修正的效果，注意偏倚修正是干预改变的预期机制。方法分析基于一项随机对照试验的数据，该试验的参与者有抑郁症病史（N = 301），他们被随机分为两组，一组每天接受两次注意偏倚矫正治疗，另一组接受为期14天的假治疗。计算基线时基于反应的注意偏倚得分，并在干预后和1个月随访时分别通过汉密尔顿抑郁评定量表（HDRS）和贝克抑郁量表II （BDI II）的变化进行调节分析。结果基线注意偏倚在干预后(HDRS F（1,295) = .303, p = .582, BDI II F(1,295) = 1.1567, p = .283）和1个月随访时(HDRS F（1,265) = .000, p = .247, BDI II F(1,267) = .021, p = .885）没有调节注意偏倚修正的效果。结论尽管注意偏倚修正的目标是注意偏倚，但基线得分并未显著调节注意偏倚修正对任何时间点或抑郁测量的影响。因此，基线注意偏倚似乎不是一个有用的变量，以确定亚临床抑郁症状的患者更有可能从ABM中获益。
{"title":"Attention bias at baseline does not moderate the effect of attention bias modification for residual depressive symptoms","authors":"Hallvard Solbø Hagen , Jan Ivar Røssberg , Catherine J. Harmer , Rune Jonassen , Nils Inge Landrø , Ragnhild Bø","doi":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102073","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102073","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Clinical trials of Attention Bias Modification for depressive symptoms have consistently produced small effect sizes and mixed results. Therefore, identifying patient characteristics that can improve the efficacy has been called for. Residual depressive symptoms have been shown to increase the chance of relapse and treating this group of patients may serve to reduce the risk. In this analysis we examined whether baseline attention bias moderates the effect of Attention Bias Modification, the intended mechanism of change of the intervention.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>The analysis was based on data from a randomized controlled trial with participants with a history of depression (N = 301) who were randomized to receive two daily sessions of either Attention Bias Modification or a sham treatment for 14 days. A response-based attention bias score at baseline was calculated, and a moderator analysis was run at post-intervention and 1-month follow-up measured by change in Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI II), respectively.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Baseline attention bias did not moderate the effect of Attention Bias Modification at post-intervention (HDRS F(1,295) = .303, p = .582, BDI II F(1,295) = 1.1567, p = .283: or at 1-month follow-up (HDRS F(1,265) = .000, p = .247, BDI II F(1,267) = .021, p = .885).</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Even though Attention Bias Modification targets attention bias, the baseline score did not significantly moderate the effect of Attention Bias Modification on any of the time points or depression measures. Consequently, baseline attentional bias does not seem to be a useful variable for identifying patients with subclinical depressive symptoms more likely to benefit from ABM.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48198,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry","volume":"90 ","pages":"Article 102073"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145362575","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-11-09DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102076
Kaneez Fatima Dar , Manish Kumar Asthana
Cognitive reappraisal is a cognitive emotion regulation strategy that involves reinterpreting the meaning associated with a situation. It has been shown to alter emotional responses. In recent years, the human capability of voluntary regulation of emotion has been employed to regulate conditioned fear responses. The aim of the current systematic review is to provide a review of studies investigating the effect of reappraisal on the attenuation of conditioned fear responses in healthy participants. Following the PRISMA guideline for reporting, two digital databases, PubMed and Scopus, were used to search for relevant published articles. A total of eleven studies and twelve separate experiments fulfilled the selection criteria of the analysis. This systematic review discusses experimental studies assessing the effect of cognitive reappraisal on attenuation of conditioned fear responses, its effect on different phases of conditioning, its underlying neural mechanisms, and factors that influence successful reappraisal outcome. The current review also highlights the need for standardized cognitive reappraisal practice. Although the studies differ and have limitations in their methodology, the results suggest a positive effect of cognitive reappraisal.
{"title":"Cognitive reappraisal of conditioned fear: A systematic review","authors":"Kaneez Fatima Dar , Manish Kumar Asthana","doi":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102076","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102076","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cognitive reappraisal is a cognitive emotion regulation strategy that involves reinterpreting the meaning associated with a situation. It has been shown to alter emotional responses. In recent years, the human capability of voluntary regulation of emotion has been employed to regulate conditioned fear responses. The aim of the current systematic review is to provide a review of studies investigating the effect of reappraisal on the attenuation of conditioned fear responses in healthy participants. Following the PRISMA guideline for reporting, two digital databases, PubMed and Scopus, were used to search for relevant published articles. A total of eleven studies and twelve separate experiments fulfilled the selection criteria of the analysis. This systematic review discusses experimental studies assessing the effect of cognitive reappraisal on attenuation of conditioned fear responses, its effect on different phases of conditioning, its underlying neural mechanisms, and factors that influence successful reappraisal outcome. The current review also highlights the need for standardized cognitive reappraisal practice. Although the studies differ and have limitations in their methodology, the results suggest a positive effect of cognitive reappraisal.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48198,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry","volume":"90 ","pages":"Article 102076"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145519935","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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