Anxiety and depressive disorders are characterized by high rates of recurrence, substantially contributing to the high burden associated with these disorders. It is therefore crucial to identify... Show moreAnxiety and depressive disorders are characterized by high rates of recurrence, substantially contributing to the high burden associated with these disorders. It is therefore crucial to identify factors related to recurrence, as they may provide viable targets for preventative intervention. Previous studies have observed a link between low self-esteem and subsequent symptoms of depression and anxiety, and low levels of self-esteem in those recovered from a depression or an anxiety disorder. Research also suggests that it is crucial to differentiate more explicit self-esteem (ESE) from more implicit self-esteem (ISE). The current study is the first to test whether ISE and ESE predict recurrence of depression and recurrence of anxiety during a 3-year follow-up as determined with clinical interviews. The sample included those with a history of a depressive disorder (n = 559) and/or a history of an anxiety disorder (n = 458) who had been depression- and anxiety-free for at least six months at baseline. During the 3-year follow-up, 119 (21%) and 104 (23%) had a depression and anxiety recurrence, respectively. ISE predicted recurrence of both depression and anxiety, even when statistically controlling for residual symptoms and neuroticism at baseline. ESE also showed predictive value, although this was not over and above residual symptoms. Explorative analyses suggest that ESE and ISE improved little, or not at all, from currently having a depression or anxiety disorder to recovery. These results therefore suggest that ISE may be an important target for interventions to prevent the recurrence of both depression and anxiety disorders. Show less
BackgroundInterpersonal difficulties in borderline personality disorder (BPD) could be related to the disturbed self-views of BPD patients. This study investigates affective and neural responses to... Show moreBackgroundInterpersonal difficulties in borderline personality disorder (BPD) could be related to the disturbed self-views of BPD patients. This study investigates affective and neural responses to positive and negative social feedback (SF) of BPD patients compared with healthy (HC) and low self-esteem (LSE) controls and how this relates to individual self-views.MethodsBPD (N = 26), HC (N = 32), and LSE (N = 22) performed a SF task in a magnetic resonance imaging scanner. Participants received 15 negative, intermediate and positive evaluative feedback words putatively given by another participant and rated their mood and applicability of the words to the self.ResultsBPD had more negative self-views than HC and felt worse after negative feedback. Applicability of feedback was a less strong determinant of mood in BPD than HC. Increased precuneus activation was observed in HC to negative compared with positive feedback, whereas in BPD, this was similarly low for both valences. HC showed increased temporoparietal junction (TPJ) activation to positive v. negative feedback, while BPD showed more TPJ activation to negative feedback. The LSE group showed a different pattern of results suggesting that LSE cannot explain these findings in BPD.ConclusionsThe negative self-views that BPD have, may obstruct critically examining negative feedback, resulting in lower mood. Moreover, where HC focus on the positive feedback (based on TPJ activation), BPD seem to focus more on negative feedback, potentially maintaining negative self-views. Better balanced self-views may make BPD better equipped to deal with potential negative feedback and more open to positive interactions. Show less
Self-esteem moderates the relationship between stress and (cardiovascular) health, with low self-esteem potentially exacerbating the impact of stressors. Boosting self-esteem may therefore help to... Show moreSelf-esteem moderates the relationship between stress and (cardiovascular) health, with low self-esteem potentially exacerbating the impact of stressors. Boosting self-esteem may therefore help to buffer against stress. Subliminal evaluative conditioning (SEC), which subliminally couples self-words with positive words, has previously been successfully used to boost self-esteem, but the existing studies are in need of replication. In this article, we aimed to replicate and extend previous SEC studies. The first 2 experiments simultaneously examined whether SEC increased self-esteem (Experiment 1, n=84) and reduced cardiovascular reactivity to a stressor in high worriers (Experiment 2, n=77). On the basis of these results, the 3rd experiment was set up to examine whether an adjusted personalized SEC task increased self-esteem and reduced cardiac activity in high worriers (n=81). Across the 3 experiments, no effects were found of SEC on implicit or explicit self-esteem or affect or on cardiovascular (re)activity compared to a control condition in which the self was coupled with neutral words. The results do not support the use of the subliminal intervention in its current format. As stress is highly prevalent, future studies should focus on developing other cost-effective and evidence-based interventions. Show less
