Positive and Negative Affect Balance Trajectories in the Treatment of Depression

Details Positive and Negative Affect Balance Trajectories in the Treatment of Depression Positive and Negative Affect Balance Trajectories in the Treatment of Depression

2010-04-27

arxiv.org/abs/1004.4856v1

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To account for the complex interplay between positive and negative dimensions of experience in a well-defined framework, psychology needs theoretical models associated with mathematical tools that integrate both dimensions. To this end, we drew upon the Balanced States of Mind Model, an information-processing model that relates quantitatively precise emotional balances of positive and negative affects to psychopathology and optimal functioning. Using an intra-individual design, we conducted a time series analysis on the emotional balance variable as it evolved during different types of psychotherapy administered sequentially to the same patient, and compared the results of this precise analysis with three other patients. We mathematically identified three different trajectories of change (Phases) that varied with the type of therapy and the stage of treatment: variability, stability and oscillation. In contrast to a coping focused therapy, a dynamic focused therapy presented a longer initial phase of variability and resulted in a prolonged end-state phase characterized by oscillations of the emotional balance between normal and optimal levels that were associated with psychological flourishing and sustained through one year follow-up. This result suggests that initial variability and end-term oscillation (rather than stability) represents a more resilient treatment outcome. The use of theoretically based mathematical tools within a dynamical systems model generated the first observation of a post-treatment oscillatory pattern in the emotional system and provides a quantitative framework to investigate the process of human change.

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