Holding on to negative self-thoughts at all cost: Modeling and examining negative self-referent thinking as a key vulnerability process in depression

Depressed people and those vulnerable to depression often think negatively about themselves (e.g., “I'm a failure.” “Why can’t I be happy?”); Positive self-thoughts, on the other hand, are rare. It should not come as a surprise that research shows that this imbalance is causal to (new) bouts of depression. But where does this imbalance come from, and why does it persist? At first, negative thinking may have some immediate perceived benefits (e.g., at start it may be perceived at as a means to enhance self-knowledge to generate possible solutions in difficult situations). However, negative thinking also has marked side-effects, which even increase over time. Yet, those vulnerable to depression often just cannot stop thinking negatively about themselves and find it difficult to engage in more positively valenced thinking. How come? Apparently depressed individuals cannot ‘update’ the idea that, after a while, negative self-thinking has negative consequences. We developed an experimental laboratory model that simulates this ‘updating’ problem. In a pilot study we showed that individuals who report more depressive complaints indeed show a delay in this ‘updating’. Given that this updating-problem may represent a core problem of depression, the current project sets out to examine this updating-model more systematically to deepen our understanding of depression and to explore potential therapeutic techniques to counter this ‘updating-problem’.