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Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2015Sadness is generally seen as a negative emotion, a response to distressing and adverse situations. In an aesthetic context, however, sadness is often associated with... (Review)
Review
Sadness is generally seen as a negative emotion, a response to distressing and adverse situations. In an aesthetic context, however, sadness is often associated with some degree of pleasure, as suggested by the ubiquity and popularity, throughout history, of music, plays, films and paintings with a sad content. Here, we focus on the fact that music regarded as sad is often experienced as pleasurable. Compared to other art forms, music has an exceptional ability to evoke a wide-range of feelings and is especially beguiling when it deals with grief and sorrow. Why is it, then, that while human survival depends on preventing painful experiences, mental pain often turns out to be explicitly sought through music? In this article we consider why and how sad music can become pleasurable. We offer a framework to account for how listening to sad music can lead to positive feelings, contending that this effect hinges on correcting an ongoing homeostatic imbalance. Sadness evoked by music is found pleasurable: (1) when it is perceived as non-threatening; (2) when it is aesthetically pleasing; and (3) when it produces psychological benefits such as mood regulation, and empathic feelings, caused, for example, by recollection of and reflection on past events. We also review neuroimaging studies related to music and emotion and focus on those that deal with sadness. Further exploration of the neural mechanisms through which stimuli that usually produce sadness can induce a positive affective state could help the development of effective therapies for disorders such as depression, in which the ability to experience pleasure is attenuated.
PubMed: 26257625
DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00404 -
Acta Psychologica May 2020An item-method directed forgetting task was used in three studies to present photographs of happy, neutral and sad faces to participants who had been induced to adopt a...
An item-method directed forgetting task was used in three studies to present photographs of happy, neutral and sad faces to participants who had been induced to adopt a happy, neutral or sad mood. At test remember, forget or new judgments of old and new photographs of happy, neutral or sad faces were collected. According to the affect-as-cognitive-feedback hypothesis positively valenced stimuli serve as 'go signals' validating the use of currently accessible cognitions to process task demands whereas negatively valenced stimuli serve as 'stop signals' inhibiting or reversing the use of those cognitions. Since directed forgetting tasks entail the cognitions (among others) that some stimuli should be remembered and others should be forgotten, happy faces should facilitate task demands whereas sad faces should not. As predicted, directed forgetting effects were found for happy but not sad faces in Experiments 1 and 3, and directed forgetting effects were found neutral valenced faces in Experiment 2. Across all three studies mood state did not influence directed forgetting. Findings are discussed in terms of the effects of facial valence cues on directed forgetting and some directions for future research.
Topics: Adult; Cues; Emotions; Facial Expression; Facial Recognition; Female; Humans; Male; Mental Recall; Photic Stimulation
PubMed: 32330690
DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2020.103077 -
Frontiers in Psychiatry 2022The EEG is suggested as a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for seasonal affective disorder (SAD). As a pre-clinical form of SAD, seasonality is...
The EEG is suggested as a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for seasonal affective disorder (SAD). As a pre-clinical form of SAD, seasonality is operationalized as seasonal variation in mood, appetite, weight, sleep, energy, and socializing. Importantly, both EEG biomarkers and seasonality interact with age. Inducing sad mood to assess cognitive vulnerability was suggested to improve the predictive value of summer assessments for winter depression. However, no EEG studies have been conducted on induced sad mood in relation to seasonality, and no studies so far have controlled for age. We recorded EEG and calculated bandpower in 114 participants during rest and during induced sad mood in summer. Participants were grouped by age and based on a seasonality score as obtained with the seasonal pattern assessment questionnaire (SPAQ). Participants with high seasonality scores showed significantly larger changes in EEG power from rest to sad mood induction, specifically in the alpha frequency range ( = 0.027), compared to participants with low seasonality scores. Furthermore, seasonality interacted significantly with age ( < 0.001), with lower activity in individuals with high seasonality scores that were older than 50 years but the opposite pattern in individuals up to 50 years. Effects of sad mood induction on brain activity are related to seasonality and can therefore be consider as potential predicting biomarkers for SAD. Future studies should control for age as a confounding factor, and more studies are needed to elaborate on the characteristics of EEG biomarkers in participants above 50 years.
PubMed: 36016970
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.950328 -
Epilepsy Research Sep 2021Depression and anxiety are often comorbid in people with epilepsy. Network models consider this comorbidity as an interacting system of depressive and anxiety symptoms....
PURPOSE
Depression and anxiety are often comorbid in people with epilepsy. Network models consider this comorbidity as an interacting system of depressive and anxiety symptoms. The present study investigates the network structure of depressive and anxiety symptoms in people with epilepsy and aims to identify the central and bridge symptoms to provide suggestions for the prevention of and intervention for depression-anxiety comorbidity in patients with epilepsy.
METHODS
A total of 313 patients with epilepsy were enrolled in our study. Anxiety symptoms were evaluated with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item questionnaire. Depressive symptoms were evaluated with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Network analyses were used for the statistical analysis.
RESULTS
The findings indicated that ten edges with the strongest regularized partial correlations existed in the network. Six were among depressive symptoms, such as "sleep difficulties" with "fatigue" and " feeling of worthlessness" with "thoughts of death". Four were among anxiety symptoms, such as "nervousness or anxiety" with "uncontrollable worry" and "uncontrollable worry" with "worry too much". Those strongest edges had no connection linking anxiety and depressive symptoms. The symptoms "depressed or sad mood", "trouble relaxing" and "uncontrollable worry" had the highest strength centrality in the network. The results revealed three bridge symptoms: "psychomotor agitation/retardation", "irritable", and "depressed or sad mood".
CONCLUSION
"Feeling of worthlessness" was identified as a key priority due to associations with suicidal ideation. The current study highlighted the critical central symptoms "depressed or sad mood", "trouble relaxing" and "uncontrollable worry" and the critical bridge symptoms "psychomotor agitation/retardation", "irritable", and "depressed or sad mood". Implications for clinical prevention and intervention based on these symptoms are discussed.
Topics: Anxiety; Anxiety Disorders; Comorbidity; Depression; Epilepsy; Humans
PubMed: 34186384
DOI: 10.1016/j.eplepsyres.2021.106696 -
Scientific Reports Jun 2020Previous studies have indicated that a sad mood and sleep deprivation increase mind wandering, but it is unclear whether these associations reflect reduced effort in...
Previous studies have indicated that a sad mood and sleep deprivation increase mind wandering, but it is unclear whether these associations reflect reduced effort in concentrating on the task at hand or diminished cognitive control. In an internet-based experiment, participants completed a sleep disturbance questionnaire followed by a complex span task and a 2-back task with thought-sampling probes. Subsequently, participants underwent a positive, neutral, or negative mood induction prior to repeating the 2-back. The results (N = 504) replicated the finding of increased task-unrelated thoughts following sad mood induction, B = 0.56 (SE = 0.14), p < 0.01, d = 0.31. Unguided thoughts were increased following sad mood induction, B = 0.31 (0.13), p = 0.02, but working memory did not significantly moderate this association (p = 0.31). People reported a lower degree of trying to concentrate on the 2-back after the sad mood induction, B = -0.07 (0.04), p = 0.04, but actual performance was not affected (p = 0.46). Sleep disturbances showed small associations with task-unrelated, B = 0.23 (0.08), p < 0.01, and unguided thoughts, B = 0.32 (0.08), p < 0.01. This study strengthens the evidence that a sad mood and poor sleep relate to mind wandering.
Topics: Adult; Affect; Attention; Cognition; Executive Function; Female; Humans; Male; Memory; Sadness; Sleep; Sleep Deprivation; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders; Sleep Wake Disorders; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 32488119
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-65739-x -
JAMA Network Open May 2023Despite the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on daily life, limited research exists on the prevalence and risk factors of suicidality and sadness among South Korean...
IMPORTANCE
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on daily life, limited research exists on the prevalence and risk factors of suicidality and sadness among South Korean adolescents.
OBJECTIVES
To examine whether the observed sadness and suicidality in the early to middle periods of the COVID-19 pandemic differed from the expected level and to investigate changes in risk factors for sadness and suicidality.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
This nationwide serial cross-sectional survey study used data on 1 109 776 Korean adolescents aged 13 to 18 years from the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey from 2005 to 2021.
EXPOSURE
The COVID-19 pandemic.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES
The pattern of changes in the percentage or proportion of sadness or suicidality, as well as the risk factors for sadness or suicidality. The transitional effect of the COVID-19 pandemic was assessed using weighted odds ratios (wORs) or weighted beta coefficients with 95% CIs.
RESULTS
Between 2005 and 2021, 1 109 776 adolescents (mean [SD] age, 15.0 [1.7] years; 51.5% male adolescents; and 51.7% in grades 7-9 and 48.3% in grades 10-12) were included in the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey. The slope of the long-term trends in sadness and suicidality decreased in the prepandemic period (sadness: from 37.8% [95% CI, 37.4%-38.2%] in 2005-2007 to 26.1% [95% CI, 25.9%-26.4%] in 2016-2019; suicidality: from 23.0% [95% CI, 22.7%-23.3%] in 2005-2007 to 12.3% [95% CI, 12.1%-12.5%] in 2016-2019), whereas the slope increased during the COVID-19 pandemic (sadness: from 25.0% [95% CI, 24.5%-25.6%] in 2020 to 26.6% [95% CI, 26.1%-27.1%] in 2021; trend difference in β, 0.249 [95% CI, 0.236-0.262]; suicidality: from 10.7% [95% CI, 10.3%-11.1%] in 2020 to 12.5% [95% CI, 12.1%-12.9%] in 2021; trend difference in β, 0.328 [95% CI, 0.312-0.344]). The trends presented a similar tendency in the subgroups according to sex, school grade, residential area, smoking status, and current alcohol use. Compared with the prepandemic period, the risk factors associated with sadness during the pandemic were younger age (wOR, 0.907; 95% CI, 0.881-0.933), female sex (wOR, 1.031; 95% CI, 1.001-1.062), urban residence (wOR, 1.120; 95% CI, 1.087-1.153), current smoking status (wOR, 1.134; 95% CI, 1.059-1.216), and current alcohol use (wOR, 1.051; 95% CI, 1.002-1.102). Female sex (wOR, 1.064; 95% CI, 1.021-1.109), urban residence (wOR, 1.117; 95% CI, 1.074-1.162), and low economic status (wOR, 1.286; 95% CI, 1.180-1.403) were the risk factors significantly associated with suicidality after the COVID-19 pandemic began.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
In this nationwide serial cross-sectional survey study of South Korean adolescents, the slope of the prevalence of sadness and suicidality increased during the COVID-19 pandemic after a decrease prior to the pandemic. The findings suggest that public health measures are needed to recognize vulnerable groups with risk factors and to prevent an increase in sadness and suicidality among adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Topics: Humans; Adolescent; Female; Male; COVID-19; Pandemics; Cross-Sectional Studies; Sadness; Suicide; Risk Factors; Republic of Korea
PubMed: 37223902
DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.14838 -
General Psychiatry 2024The co-occurrence of depression and anxiety among adolescents is typically associated with suicide ideation.
BACKGROUND
The co-occurrence of depression and anxiety among adolescents is typically associated with suicide ideation.
AIMS
The study aimed to investigate the symptom-level relationship between suicide ideation and the comorbidity of depression and anxiety.
METHODS
1501 adolescents aged 12-19 years were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, and 716 adolescents who scored ≥5 on both scales were selected as participants. Network analysis was used to identify the network structure of depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms. Participants were categorised into either the suicide ideation or non-suicide ideation groups based on their scoring on the suicide-related item in PHQ-9. A comparison was made between the depression-anxiety symptom networks of the two groups.
RESULTS
'Restlessness', 'sad mood' and 'trouble relaxing' were the most prominent central symptoms in the depression-anxiety symptom network, and 'restlessness', 'nervousness' and 'reduced movement' were the bridge symptoms in this network. 'Sad mood' was found to be directly related to 'suicide ideation' with the highest variance. The network structure was significantly different in properties between the suicide ideation group and the non-suicide ideation group, with 'restlessness' and 'sad mood' exhibiting significantly higher influence in the network of the suicide ideation group than that in the non-suicide ideation group.
CONCLUSION
Restlessness and sad mood could be targeted for the intervention of depression-anxiety symptoms among adolescents with suicide ideation.
PubMed: 38562407
DOI: 10.1136/gpsych-2023-101225 -
Emotion (Washington, D.C.) Jun 2020One of the cardinal symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD) is persistent sadness. Do people with MDD actually prefer sad stimuli, potentially perpetuating their...
One of the cardinal symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD) is persistent sadness. Do people with MDD actually prefer sad stimuli, potentially perpetuating their depression? Millgram, Joormann, Huppert, and Tamir (2015) observed such preferences and interpreted them as reflecting a maladaptive emotion regulatory goal to upregulate sad feelings. We assessed emotional music choice among both those with MDD and healthy controls (HC), and assessed the reasons for music preferences in these two groups. Seventy-six female participants (38 per group) completed two tasks: (1) Millgram et al.'s (2015) music task wherein participants listened to happy, neutral, and sad music excerpts and chose the one they wanted to listen to most, and (2) a novel Emotional Music Selection Task (EMST) wherein participants chose preferred music clips, varying in emotion and energy level, in paired-choice trials. In the replication music task, MDD people were more likely to choose sad music. However, inconsistent with any motivation to upregulate sadness, people with MDD reported that they chose sad music because it was low in energy levels (e.g., relaxing). EMST results revealed that MDD people had a stronger preference for both low energy and sad music, relative to HC. The strong appeal of sad music to people with MDD may be related to its calming effects rather than any desire to increase or maintain sad feelings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Adult; Depressive Disorder, Major; Emotions; Female; Humans; Music; Sadness; Young Adult
PubMed: 30816742
DOI: 10.1037/emo0000573 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2021Previous research has shown that drawing improves short-term mood in children when used to distract from rather than express negative thoughts and feelings. The current...
Previous research has shown that drawing improves short-term mood in children when used to distract from rather than express negative thoughts and feelings. The current study sought to examine (a) drawing might elevate mood in children ages 6-12 by examining the role played by absorption, enjoyment, and perceived competence as well as entering an imaginary world; and (b) whether children spontaneously use drawing to distract from a sad mood. Across three studies, children were asked to think of a disappointing event. After a sad mood induction, they drew for 5 min. Mood was measured before and after the mood induction and after drawing. Three main findings emerged. First, drawing to distract led to greater absorption and enjoyment than did drawing to express. Second, children's mood improved equally when drawing imaginary and real scenes showing that the key ingredient is that the content of the drawings be distracting in nature. Third, drawing improved mood even when children were given no instructions on the content of their drawings and children were more likely to use drawing as a way to distract themselves from a sad mood. These studies help to define the characteristics of drawing activities that foster mood improvement in children and highlight the important role of the arts in emotion regulation.
PubMed: 33603704
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.622927 -
Neuropsychology, Development, and... May 2019Older adults perceive less intense negative emotion in facial expressions compared to younger counterparts. Prior research has also demonstrated that mood alters facial...
Older adults perceive less intense negative emotion in facial expressions compared to younger counterparts. Prior research has also demonstrated that mood alters facial emotion perception. Nevertheless, there is little evidence which evaluates the interactive effects of age and mood on emotion perception. This study investigated the effects of sad mood on younger and older adults' perception of emotional and neutral faces. Participants rated the intensity of stimuli while listening to sad music and in silence. Measures of mood were administered. Younger and older participants' rated sad faces as displaying stronger sadness when they experienced sad mood. While younger participants showed no influence of sad mood on happiness ratings of happy faces, older adults rated happy faces as conveying less happiness when they experienced sad mood. This study demonstrates how emotion perception can change when a controlled mood induction procedure is applied to alter mood in young and older participants.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Affect; Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Emotions; Facial Expression; Female; Happiness; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Sadness; Social Perception; Young Adult
PubMed: 29447561
DOI: 10.1080/13825585.2018.1438584