Is it worth turning a trigger into a joke? Humor as an emotion regulation strategy in remitted depression.

ABSTRACT:

Aim

Humor has long been considered as an effective emotion regulation strategy for people vulnerable to depression, but empirical evidence in this area is scarce. To address this issue, we investigated the emotional consequences of humor in remitted depressed patients and compared them with the effects of positive reappraisal and spontaneous emotion regulation.

Methods

Fifty-five patients with remitted major depression took part in a laboratory computer experiment in which they were shown negative pictures twice. First, the patients simply viewed the pictures and rated their reactions. Second, they viewed each of the pictures according to instructions, which are to (a) use humor, (b) use positive reappraisal, or (c) simply view the pictures, and then, they again rated their

SUBMITTER: Braniecka A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6379593 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature