Mind-wandering in daily life in depressed individuals: An experience sampling study.
J Affect Disord
; 366: 244-253, 2024 Dec 01.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39181165
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
A diagnostic criterion for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is difficulty concentrating and increased distractibility. One form of distraction that occurs in everyday life is mind-wandering. The current study aims to test how individuals with MDD and healthy controls differ in their mind-wandering in everyday life.METHODS:
Adults diagnosed with MDD (n = 53) and healthy controls (n = 53) completed a week of experience sampling, with prompts administered up to eight times per day. At each prompt, participants reported the occurrence and characteristics of their mind-wandering. They also reported levels of momentary negative affect (NA), positive affect (PA), and rumination.RESULTS:
MDD participants reported mind-wandering almost twice as often as healthy control participants. Compared to healthy participants, MDD participants rated their mind-wandering as more negative, but did not differ in terms of temporal orientation. Higher NA and lower PA predicted mind-wandering in the MDD group but not healthy controls, even after controlling for rumination. Time-lagged analyses revealed that current mind-wandering predicted future levels of PA in MDD participants but not in healthy controls; in contrast, current NA and PA did not predict future mind-wandering.LIMITATIONS:
Limitations include our examination of specific forms of mind-wandering (i.e., we did not sample the full spectrum of this construct).CONCLUSIONS:
Individuals with MDD frequently report engaging in mind-wandering in everyday life, and this appears to be coupled with affect. Mind-wandering may have maladaptive effects in MDD and could serve as a target for intervention.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
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Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Atención
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Afecto
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Trastorno Depresivo Mayor
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Evaluación Ecológica Momentánea
Límite:
Adult
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Female
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Humans
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Male
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Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Affect Disord
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article