Depressive Symptoms and the Anticipation and Experience of Uplifting Events in Everyday Life

ObjectiveDespite proliferation of laboratory-based studies examining reward functioning in depression, few studies have examined these processes in everyday life. We addressed this shortcoming by exploring experience and anticipation of uplifting experiences under ecologically valid conditions MethodOne hundred fifty-seven young adults, oversampled for depressive symptoms, completed a 14-day diary tracking mood in relation to recent and anticipated positive events ResultsConsistent with studies supporting mood-brightening effects in depression, participants with greater baseline dysphoria showed stronger associations between elevated daily uplifts and lower daily depressive symptoms, particularly when events were interpersonal in nature. Baseline dysphoria was associated with lower daily anticipation of positive next-day experiences; however, when dysphoric individuals did anticipate positive experiences, they experienced greater reductions in depressed mood ConclusionResults suggest that despite reward processing deficits found in laboratory studies, dysphoric individuals show improvements in mood in conjunction with anticipation and consumption of uplifting events in daily life.