Smoski Moria J, LaBar Kevin S, Steffens David C
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC.
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC.
Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2014 Sep;22(9):898-907. doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2013.01.070. Epub 2013 Sep 8.
The present study compares the effectiveness of two strategies, reappraisal and distraction, in reducing negative affect in older adults induced by focusing on personally relevant negative events and stressors.
30 adults with major depressive disorger (MDD) and 40 never-depressed (ND) comparison participants ages 60 years and over (mean age = 69.7 years).
Participants underwent three affect induction trials, each followed by a different emotion regulation strategy: distraction, reappraisal, and a no-instruction control condition. Self-reported affect was recorded pre- and post-affect induction, and at one-minute intervals during regulation.
Across groups, participants reported greater reductions in negative affect with distraction than reappraisal or the no-instruction control condition. An interaction between group and regulation condition indicated that distraction was more effective in reducing negative affect in the MDD group than the ND group.
These results suggest that distraction is an especially effective strategy for reducing negative affect in older adults with MDD. Finding ways to incorporate distraction skills into psychotherapeutic interventions for late-life MDD may improve their effectiveness, especially for short-term improvement of affect following rumination.
本研究比较了重新评价和分心这两种策略在减轻老年人因关注个人相关负面事件和压力源而产生的负面影响方面的有效性。
30名患有重度抑郁症（MDD）的成年人以及40名60岁及以上（平均年龄 = 69.7岁）的从未患过抑郁症（ND）的对照参与者。
参与者进行了三项情绪诱导试验，每项试验后采用不同的情绪调节策略：分心、重新评价和无指导控制条件。在情绪诱导前后以及调节过程中每隔一分钟记录一次自我报告的情绪。
在所有组中，与重新评价或无指导控制条件相比，参与者报告称分心对负面影响的减轻作用更大。组与调节条件之间的交互作用表明，分心在减轻MDD组的负面影响方面比ND组更有效。
这些结果表明，分心是减轻患有MDD的老年人负面影响的一种特别有效的策略。找到将分心技巧纳入老年期MDD心理治疗干预措施的方法可能会提高其有效性，尤其是在短期改善沉思后的情绪方面。
