ArticleJournal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry2023
A network analytic investigation of avoidance, dampening, and devaluation of positivity.
Article in Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Dampening of Positive Affect Serves an Emotional Contrast Avoidance Function: Preliminary Evidence From an Adult Community Sample.Journal of clinical psychology · 2026Article
- Fear of Happiness and Devaluation of Positive Climate Information in Climate-Concerned Individuals.Personality and individual differences · 2025Article
- Semantic signals in self-reference: The detection and prediction of depressive symptoms from the daily diary entries of a sample with major depressive disorder.Journal of psychopathology and clinical science · 2025Article
- Anhedonia in flux: Understanding the associations of emotion regulation and anxiety with anhedonia dynamics in a sample with major depressive disorder.Journal of affective disorders · 2025Article
- Assessing relinquishment of positivity as a central symptom bridging anxiety and depression.Journal of affective disorders · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectivesReward Devaluation Theory suggests that devaluation of positivity may be integral in understanding depression (Winer & Salem, 2016). Specifically, the anticipatory (e.g., fear of happiness) and responsive (e.g., dampening) behaviors related to the processing of positivity may play a role in the development and maintenance of depression.
methodsThe goal of this study was to examine the potential overlap between measures that operationalize positivity avoidance, two Fear of Happiness Scales (Gilbert et al., 2012; Joshanloo, 2013), as well as positivity dampening, measured via the dampening subscale of the Responses to Positive Affect Questionnaire (Feldman et al., 2008). Network and community analyses were employed to examine the extent to which the items of these measures clustered into their parent measures and investigate the dynamic interactions between items.
resultsThe results of the community analysis revealed that the three self-report measures overall clustered into their parent measures, except for the Gilbert et al. (2012) Fear of Happiness Scale, which clustered into two separate communities. The most influential nodes represented the concept that good feelings are often followed by negative outcomes. Additionally, nodes related to the theme of fear of letting oneself become happy emerged as the strongest bridge nodes. LIMITATIONS: One limitation of this study is the use of a cross-sectional design; thus, causality cannot be inferred, but the results can guide future longitudinal network designs.
conclusionsThese findings demonstrate how anticipatory avoidance and responsive dampening may influence depression, thus providing evidence for unique targets for treatment.
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