SynthesisPsychological bulletin2016
Is low positive emotionality a specific risk factor for depression? A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies.
Synthesis in Psychological bulletin, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 56 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
56 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 226 citations in OpenAlex.
- Temperament, personality, and psychopathology in youth: A preregistered multilevel meta-analytic review and preregistered large-scale replication and extension.Psychological bulletin · 2026Pooled it
- Identifying transdiagnostically relevant risk and protective factors for internalizing psychopathology: An umbrella review of longitudinal meta-analyses.Journal of psychiatric research · 2023Pooled it
- A meta-analysis of longitudinal associations between substance use and interpersonal attachment security.Psychological bulletin · 2018Pooled it
- Positive Affect as a Transdiagnostic Target for Reducing Adolescent Depression & Suicide Risk: Do Mindfulness, Savoring, & Gratitude Help?Journal of adolescence · 2026Trial
- Positive Affect Treatment for Depression, Anxiety, and Low Positive Affect: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2026Trial
- Effectiveness of and Mechanisms of Change in a Self-Help Web- and App-Based Resilience Intervention on Perceived Stress in the General Working Population: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Trial
- Positive affect treatment targets reward sensitivity: A randomized controlled trial.Journal of consulting and clinical psychology · 2023Trial
- Examining Positive and Negative Affect as Outcomes and Moderators of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder.Behavior therapy · 2019Trial
- Negative and Positive Emotion Reactivity and Regulation in Adolescents: A Multimethod Investigation of Associations With Depressive Symptoms.Research on child and adolescent psychopathology · 2026Article
- Low Reward and Heightened Threat Neural Activity are Both Associated with Heightened Anhedonia: A Transdiagnostic Perspective.Research square · 2026Article
- Positive affect as a developmental mediator of early adversity and internalizing psychopathology.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2026Article
- Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and incident depression: an exploratory multi-omics analysis of candidate biological mediators.Nutrition journal · 2026Article
- Gender-Specific Depression-Anxiety Symptom Networks and the Impact of Weight Status: Insights From a Large-Scale Study.PsyCh journal · 2026Article
- Dampening of Positive Affect Serves an Emotional Contrast Avoidance Function: Preliminary Evidence From an Adult Community Sample.Journal of clinical psychology · 2026Article
- Article
- Improvements in depression symptomatology in a sample of undergraduate students: a pre-post Balint group intervention study.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Effects of 12-Week Infant Shantala Massage Program on Maternal Emotional Well-Being Following First-Time Birth.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Emotional Reactivity and Internalizing Symptoms in Middle Childhood: Integrating Autonomic and Behavioral Markers of Social Fear and Positive Affect.Developmental psychobiology · 2025Article
- Changes in network centrality of anxiety and depression symptoms associated with childhood trauma among Chinese college students.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Targeting emotion dysregulation in depression: an intervention mapping protocol augmented by participatory action research.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Depression is well known to share a negative cross-sectional relationship with personality constructs defined by positive emotion (positive affect, extraversion, behavioral activation). These Positive Emotionality (PE) constructs have been proposed to represent stable temperamental risk factors for depression, not merely current mood state. These constructs have also been proposed to increase risk specifically for depression, relative to anxiety. We performed a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies to examine the relationship of PE to depression (59 effect sizes) and anxiety (26 effect sizes). In cross-sectional analyses, PE constructs were negatively associated with depression (r = -.34) and anxiety (r = -.24). PE constructs also prospectively predicted depression (r = -.26) and anxiety (r = -.19). These relationships remained statistically significant, but were markedly attenuated, when baseline levels of depression (β = -.08) and anxiety (β = -.06) were controlled. Moreover, depression and anxiety were equally strong predictors of subsequent changes in PE (β = -.07 and -.09, respectively). These findings are consistent with theoretical accounts of low PE as a temperamental vulnerability for depression, but suggest that the prospective relationship of PE to depression may be weaker and less specific than previously assumed. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.