A brain network study on the influence of a depressive tendency on self-focused reappraisal and situation-focused reappraisal

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2025.0232

Abstract

Abstract: Depression inclination is the state between normal depressed mood and depression that meets clinical diagnostic criteria. If a depressed mood is continuously induced and cannot be transferred, it increases the likelihood of the development of clinical depression. Cognitive reappraisal, which includes self-focused reappraisal and situation-focused reappraisal, is the most widely used and effective emotion regulation strategy. The regulatory effects of these two strategies and the changes in brain network characteristics in individuals with an inclination towards depression are still unclear.
In this study, complex networks were used to investigate the moderating effects and brain network characteristics of individuals inclined toward depression during self-focused reappraisal and situation-focused reappraisal tasks.
The results of the cognitive reappraisal task indicated that undergraduate students inclined toward depression had lower emotional valence scores overall compared to the control group, although there was no significant difference in arousal scores. The results of the brain network analysis for the cognitive reappraisal task revealed that clustering coefficients, local efficiency, and maximum mediated centrality were significantly different between the depression inclination group and the control group; local brain area differences between the two groups of subjects were mainly located in the limbic lobe, frontal lobe and parietal lobe.
These findings suggest that abnormal topological neural mechanisms may impair negative emotion regulation in individuals with an inclination towards depression and provide new insights into the prevention and improvement of depression symptoms.

Key words: depression inclination, cognitive reappraisal, self-focused reappraisal, situation-focused reappraisal, complex network

SUN Yan, WANG Yijin, HOU Peiyu, FENG Xue, LAN Fan. (2025). A brain network study on the influence of a depressive tendency on self-focused reappraisal and situation-focused reappraisal. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 57(2), 232-246.

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