“What has been is what will be”? Autobiographical memory and prediction of future events in depression

Depression is associated with negative autobiographical thinking regarding the past and the future. The association between the two temporal dimensions, however, has not been examined. In the present study, 32 participants diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and 32 controls completed a cued-recall task. Participants rated memories for positivity, frequency of occurrence to themselves/others, and expected recurrence, and listed planned social events and expected participation and enjoyment of these events. Memories of individuals diagnosed with MDD (vs. controls) were rated as more negative by both participants and objective coders. Individuals diagnosed with MDD were more negative in their evaluation of past events and in future expectations compared to controls. For both groups, expected recurrence of <i>positive</i> past events was associated with the frequency of these events occurring to oneself. For individuals diagnosed with MDD, however, expected recurrence of <i>negative</i> past events was associated exclusively with the frequency of these events occurring to self and not to others. Expectations for past events’ recurrence predicted increased expected participation and enjoyment from social events in both groups. These results suggest that memory in MDD is associated with more negative future expectations, which may affect mood and motivation.

抑郁与针对过去与未来的负性自传性思维存在关联。然而，这两个时间维度之间的关联尚未得到研究。本研究中，32名被诊断为重性抑郁障碍（Major Depressive Disorder, MDD）的参与者与32名健康对照者完成了线索回忆任务（cued-recall task）。参与者对记忆的正性程度、自身/他人经历该事件的频率以及预期重现性进行评分，并列出计划中的社交活动，同时评估对这些活动的预期参与度与愉悦感。无论是由参与者自身还是客观编码员评定，被诊断为MDD的个体的记忆均被认为比对照者的记忆更具负性。与健康对照者相比，MDD患者对过往事件的评价与未来预期均更为负性。对于两组参与者而言，正向过往事件的预期重现性均与自身经历该类事件的频率存在关联。但对于MDD患者而言，负向过往事件的预期重现性仅与自身经历该类事件的频率相关，而与他人经历该类事件的频率无关。两组参与者中，过往事件重现的预期均能正向预测社交活动的预期参与度与愉悦感提升。上述结果表明，MDD患者的记忆与更为负性的未来预期存在关联，这可能会对其情绪与动机产生影响。