Associations of negative affective biases and depressive symptoms in a community-based sample

Laura de Nooij; Mark J Adams; Emma L Hawkins; Liana Romaniuk; Marcus R Munafò; Ian S Penton-Voak; Rebecca Elliott; Amy R Bland; Gordon D Waiter; Anca-Larisa Sandu; Tina Habota; J Douglas Steele; Alison D Murray; Archie Campbell; David J Porteous; Andrew M McIntosh; Heather C Whalley; Generation Scotland

doi:10.1017/S0033291722002720

Associations of negative affective biases and depressive symptoms in a community-based sample

Laura de Nooij, Mark J Adams, Emma L Hawkins, Liana Romaniuk, Marcus R Munafò, Ian S Penton-Voak, Rebecca Elliott, Amy R Bland, Gordon D Waiter, Anca-Larisa Sandu, Tina Habota, J Douglas Steele, Alison D Murray, Archie Campbell, David J Porteous, Andrew M McIntosh, Heather C Whalley, Generation Scotland

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Major depressive disorder (MDD) was previously associated with negative affective biases. Evidence from larger population-based studies, however, is lacking, including whether biases normalise with remission. We investigated associations between affective bias measures and depressive symptom severity across a large community-based sample, followed by examining differences between remitted individuals and controls.

METHODS: Participants from Generation Scotland (N = 1109) completed the: (i) Bristol Emotion Recognition Task (BERT), (ii) Face Affective Go/No-go (FAGN), and (iii) Cambridge Gambling Task (CGT). Individuals were classified as MDD-current (n = 43), MDD-remitted (n = 282), or controls (n = 784). Analyses included using affective bias summary measures (primary analyses), followed by detailed emotion/condition analyses of BERT and FAGN (secondary analyses).

RESULTS: For summary measures, the only significant finding was an association between greater symptoms and lower risk adjustment for CGT across the sample (individuals with greater symptoms were less likely to bet more, despite increasingly favourable conditions). This was no longer significant when controlling for non-affective cognition. No differences were found for remitted-MDD v. controls. Detailed analysis of BERT and FAGN indicated subtle negative biases across multiple measures of affective cognition with increasing symptom severity, that were independent of non-effective cognition [e.g. greater tendency to rate faces as angry (BERT), and lower accuracy for happy/neutral conditions (FAGN)]. Results for remitted-MDD were inconsistent.

CONCLUSIONS: This suggests the presence of subtle negative affective biases at the level of emotion/condition in association with depressive symptoms across the sample, over and above those accounted for by non-affective cognition, with no evidence for affective biases in remitted individuals.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1-10
Number of pages	10
Journal	Psychological Medicine
Early online date	21 Sept 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291722002720
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 21 Sept 2022

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements. We thank professor Jonathan Roiser (University College London, UK) and professor emeritus Ian Deary (University of Edinburgh, UK) for their input on task selection and statistical analysis. We also acknowledge all researchers who have contributed to the collection of data for the current study. Most importantly, we would like to thank all participants of Generation Scotland, and particularly those of the STRADL subcohort, for their participation in the research.
Financial support. Stratifying Resilience and Depression Longitudinally is supported by the Wellcome Trust through a Strategic Award (Grant No. 104036/Z/14/Z) and through an Investigator Award (Grant No. 220857/Z/ 20/Z). The Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health Department (Grant No. CZD/16/6), Scottish Funding Council (Grant No. HR03006) and Wellcome Trust (Grant No. 216767/Z/19/Z) provided core support for Generation Scotland.

Keywords

affective cognition
EMOTICOM
emotion recognition
facial processing
major depressive disorder
negative bias

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de Nooij, L., Adams, M. J., Hawkins, E. L., Romaniuk, L., Munafò, M. R., Penton-Voak, I. S., Elliott, R., Bland, A. R., Waiter, G. D., Sandu, A.-L., Habota, T., Steele, J. D., Murray, A. D., Campbell, A., Porteous, D. J., McIntosh, A. M., Whalley, H. C., & Generation Scotland (2022). Associations of negative affective biases and depressive symptoms in a community-based sample. Psychological Medicine, 1-10. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291722002720

de Nooij, L, Adams, MJ, Hawkins, EL, Romaniuk, L, Munafò, MR, Penton-Voak, IS, Elliott, R, Bland, AR, Waiter, GD , Sandu, A-L, Habota, T, Steele, JD, Murray, AD, Campbell, A, Porteous, DJ, McIntosh, AM, Whalley, HC & Generation Scotland 2022, 'Associations of negative affective biases and depressive symptoms in a community-based sample', Psychological Medicine, pp. 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291722002720

@article{0dea7fb6d91a456e8935b039ab33e8a0,

title = "Associations of negative affective biases and depressive symptoms in a community-based sample",

abstract = "BACKGROUND: Major depressive disorder (MDD) was previously associated with negative affective biases. Evidence from larger population-based studies, however, is lacking, including whether biases normalise with remission. We investigated associations between affective bias measures and depressive symptom severity across a large community-based sample, followed by examining differences between remitted individuals and controls.METHODS: Participants from Generation Scotland (N = 1109) completed the: (i) Bristol Emotion Recognition Task (BERT), (ii) Face Affective Go/No-go (FAGN), and (iii) Cambridge Gambling Task (CGT). Individuals were classified as MDD-current (n = 43), MDD-remitted (n = 282), or controls (n = 784). Analyses included using affective bias summary measures (primary analyses), followed by detailed emotion/condition analyses of BERT and FAGN (secondary analyses).RESULTS: For summary measures, the only significant finding was an association between greater symptoms and lower risk adjustment for CGT across the sample (individuals with greater symptoms were less likely to bet more, despite increasingly favourable conditions). This was no longer significant when controlling for non-affective cognition. No differences were found for remitted-MDD v. controls. Detailed analysis of BERT and FAGN indicated subtle negative biases across multiple measures of affective cognition with increasing symptom severity, that were independent of non-effective cognition [e.g. greater tendency to rate faces as angry (BERT), and lower accuracy for happy/neutral conditions (FAGN)]. Results for remitted-MDD were inconsistent.CONCLUSIONS: This suggests the presence of subtle negative affective biases at the level of emotion/condition in association with depressive symptoms across the sample, over and above those accounted for by non-affective cognition, with no evidence for affective biases in remitted individuals.",

keywords = "affective cognition, EMOTICOM, emotion recognition, facial processing, major depressive disorder, negative bias",

author = "{de Nooij}, Laura and Adams, {Mark J} and Hawkins, {Emma L} and Liana Romaniuk and Munaf{\`o}, {Marcus R} and Penton-Voak, {Ian S} and Rebecca Elliott and Bland, {Amy R} and Waiter, {Gordon D} and Anca-Larisa Sandu and Tina Habota and Steele, {J Douglas} and Murray, {Alison D} and Archie Campbell and Porteous, {David J} and McIntosh, {Andrew M} and Whalley, {Heather C} and {Generation Scotland}",

note = "Acknowledgements. We thank professor Jonathan Roiser (University College London, UK) and professor emeritus Ian Deary (University of Edinburgh, UK) for their input on task selection and statistical analysis. We also acknowledge all researchers who have contributed to the collection of data for the current study. Most importantly, we would like to thank all participants of Generation Scotland, and particularly those of the STRADL subcohort, for their participation in the research. Financial support. Stratifying Resilience and Depression Longitudinally is supported by the Wellcome Trust through a Strategic Award (Grant No. 104036/Z/14/Z) and through an Investigator Award (Grant No. 220857/Z/ 20/Z). The Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health Department (Grant No. CZD/16/6), Scottish Funding Council (Grant No. HR03006) and Wellcome Trust (Grant No. 216767/Z/19/Z) provided core support for Generation Scotland.",

year = "2022",

month = sep,

day = "21",

doi = "10.1017/S0033291722002720",

language = "English",

pages = "1--10",

journal = "Psychological Medicine",

issn = "0033-2917",

publisher = "Cambridge University Press",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Associations of negative affective biases and depressive symptoms in a community-based sample

AU - de Nooij, Laura

AU - Adams, Mark J

AU - Hawkins, Emma L

AU - Romaniuk, Liana

AU - Munafò, Marcus R

AU - Penton-Voak, Ian S

AU - Elliott, Rebecca

AU - Bland, Amy R

AU - Waiter, Gordon D

AU - Sandu, Anca-Larisa

AU - Habota, Tina

AU - Steele, J Douglas

AU - Murray, Alison D

AU - Campbell, Archie

AU - Porteous, David J

AU - McIntosh, Andrew M

AU - Whalley, Heather C

AU - Generation Scotland

N1 - Acknowledgements. We thank professor Jonathan Roiser (University College London, UK) and professor emeritus Ian Deary (University of Edinburgh, UK) for their input on task selection and statistical analysis. We also acknowledge all researchers who have contributed to the collection of data for the current study. Most importantly, we would like to thank all participants of Generation Scotland, and particularly those of the STRADL subcohort, for their participation in the research. Financial support. Stratifying Resilience and Depression Longitudinally is supported by the Wellcome Trust through a Strategic Award (Grant No. 104036/Z/14/Z) and through an Investigator Award (Grant No. 220857/Z/ 20/Z). The Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health Department (Grant No. CZD/16/6), Scottish Funding Council (Grant No. HR03006) and Wellcome Trust (Grant No. 216767/Z/19/Z) provided core support for Generation Scotland.

PY - 2022/9/21

Y1 - 2022/9/21

N2 - BACKGROUND: Major depressive disorder (MDD) was previously associated with negative affective biases. Evidence from larger population-based studies, however, is lacking, including whether biases normalise with remission. We investigated associations between affective bias measures and depressive symptom severity across a large community-based sample, followed by examining differences between remitted individuals and controls.METHODS: Participants from Generation Scotland (N = 1109) completed the: (i) Bristol Emotion Recognition Task (BERT), (ii) Face Affective Go/No-go (FAGN), and (iii) Cambridge Gambling Task (CGT). Individuals were classified as MDD-current (n = 43), MDD-remitted (n = 282), or controls (n = 784). Analyses included using affective bias summary measures (primary analyses), followed by detailed emotion/condition analyses of BERT and FAGN (secondary analyses).RESULTS: For summary measures, the only significant finding was an association between greater symptoms and lower risk adjustment for CGT across the sample (individuals with greater symptoms were less likely to bet more, despite increasingly favourable conditions). This was no longer significant when controlling for non-affective cognition. No differences were found for remitted-MDD v. controls. Detailed analysis of BERT and FAGN indicated subtle negative biases across multiple measures of affective cognition with increasing symptom severity, that were independent of non-effective cognition [e.g. greater tendency to rate faces as angry (BERT), and lower accuracy for happy/neutral conditions (FAGN)]. Results for remitted-MDD were inconsistent.CONCLUSIONS: This suggests the presence of subtle negative affective biases at the level of emotion/condition in association with depressive symptoms across the sample, over and above those accounted for by non-affective cognition, with no evidence for affective biases in remitted individuals.

AB - BACKGROUND: Major depressive disorder (MDD) was previously associated with negative affective biases. Evidence from larger population-based studies, however, is lacking, including whether biases normalise with remission. We investigated associations between affective bias measures and depressive symptom severity across a large community-based sample, followed by examining differences between remitted individuals and controls.METHODS: Participants from Generation Scotland (N = 1109) completed the: (i) Bristol Emotion Recognition Task (BERT), (ii) Face Affective Go/No-go (FAGN), and (iii) Cambridge Gambling Task (CGT). Individuals were classified as MDD-current (n = 43), MDD-remitted (n = 282), or controls (n = 784). Analyses included using affective bias summary measures (primary analyses), followed by detailed emotion/condition analyses of BERT and FAGN (secondary analyses).RESULTS: For summary measures, the only significant finding was an association between greater symptoms and lower risk adjustment for CGT across the sample (individuals with greater symptoms were less likely to bet more, despite increasingly favourable conditions). This was no longer significant when controlling for non-affective cognition. No differences were found for remitted-MDD v. controls. Detailed analysis of BERT and FAGN indicated subtle negative biases across multiple measures of affective cognition with increasing symptom severity, that were independent of non-effective cognition [e.g. greater tendency to rate faces as angry (BERT), and lower accuracy for happy/neutral conditions (FAGN)]. Results for remitted-MDD were inconsistent.CONCLUSIONS: This suggests the presence of subtle negative affective biases at the level of emotion/condition in association with depressive symptoms across the sample, over and above those accounted for by non-affective cognition, with no evidence for affective biases in remitted individuals.

KW - affective cognition

KW - EMOTICOM

KW - emotion recognition

KW - facial processing

KW - major depressive disorder

KW - negative bias

U2 - 10.1017/S0033291722002720

DO - 10.1017/S0033291722002720

M3 - Article

C2 - 36128632

SN - 0033-2917

SP - 1

EP - 10

JO - Psychological Medicine

JF - Psychological Medicine

ER -

Associations of negative affective biases and depressive symptoms in a community-based sample

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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