Association between the Behavioral Activation Mechanism and Depression Severity: Focusing on Avoidance Patterns of University Students.

Subthreshold depression is a risk factor for depression among university students. Positive environmental reinforcement is a significant mediator of avoidance and depression in healthy university students. However, this relationship is understudied in those with subthreshold depression or depression.

Validation of a Behavioral Activation Model Including Self-Compassion: A Longitudinal Study at Three Time Points.

Introduction: Depression is highly prevalent among university students. While behavioral activation has been shown to be an effective psychotherapy for depression, there is a lack of research regarding the behavioral activation mechanism. Furthermore, although self-compassion seems to be a factor in promoting behavioral activation, no studies have attempted to validate a behavioral activation model that includes positive self-compassion.

Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Depressive Symptoms, Including Clinical and Subthreshold Levels, and Eating Behaviors in First-Year University Students.

Introduction: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, university students experienced unusual environmental stresses, and the number of university students with depressive symptoms increased. The pandemic had a profoundly negative impact on the mental health of first-year students because they were not prepared to face academic and social stresses. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on depressive symptoms, eating behaviors, and stress-coping ability among first-year university students.

Relationship between Value-Based Behaviors and Scheduled Activities of University Students before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Cross-Lagged Model.

University students are in a phase during which they have various experiences typical in the academic environment and face situations that require adaptability and influence value formation. In the abnormal situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, university students' life rhythms, academic, interpersonal, and financial situations have changed drastically. In those situational cues, the value-based behavior of university students may have changed.

Factors Associated with University Students' Deterioration from Subthreshold Depression to Depression before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

COVID-19 has exposed university students to high-stress situations, and the percentage of individuals with depressive symptoms was high during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, subthreshold depression carries a risk for the subsequent development of major depressive disorder (MDD). During the COVID-19 pandemic, we examined whether differences exist between university students who deteriorated from subthreshold depression to MDD and those who remained stable or improved.

Day-to-day regularity and diurnal switching of physical activity reduce depression-related behaviors: a time-series analysis of wearable device data.

Background: Wearable devices have been widely used in research to understand the relationship between habitual physical activity and mental health in the real world. However, little attention has been paid to the temporal variability in continuous physical activity patterns measured by these devices. Therefore, we analyzed time-series patterns of physical activity intensity measured by a wearable device and investigated the relationship between its model parameters and depression-related behaviors.

Trace of depression: network structure of depressive symptoms in different clinical conditions.

Background: Psychopathological network model has received attention recently in the traditional debate about the continuity of depression. However, there is little evidence for comparing the network structure of depressive symptoms in several depressive states at different clinical stages. Through this study of a broad sample of patients with nonclinical to clinical depression, we examined differences in the network structure of depressive symptoms.

Decreased physical activity with subjective pleasure is associated with avoidance behaviors.

The main hypothesis for the relation between physical activity and mental health is that autonomous motivation, such as subjective pleasure for the activity, plays an important role. However, no report has described empirical research designed to examine the role of subjective pleasure in the relation between objectively measured physical activity and psychological indexes. We used accelerometers to collect data indicating participants' physical activity intensity during a week.

Do Self-Compassion Factors Affect Value-Based Behavior Promotion for Adolescents? The Context of Behavioral Activation.

Behavioral activation has been shown to engender improvement of depressive symptoms. Behavioral activation specifically addresses behavioral patterns that maintain depressive symptoms and increases activation of rewarding behaviors based on a person's own values. Nevertheless, behaving according to those values can be difficult.

Roles of Trait Mindfulness in Behavioral Activation Mechanism for Patients With Major Depressive Disorder.

Behavioral activation and mindfulness have both been shown to engender improvement of functional impairment in patients with major depressive disorder. In behavioral activation, the practice of engaging with the direct experience of the present moment is central, especially when targeting avoidance. Consequently, mindfulness affects changes of avoidance in behavioral activation.

Predicting Ventral Striatal Activation During Reward Anticipation From Functional Connectivity at Rest.

Reward anticipation is essential for directing behavior toward positively valenced stimuli, creating motivational salience. Task-related activation of the ventral striatum (VS) has long been used as a target for understanding reward function. However, some subjects may not be able to perform the respective tasks because of their complexity or subjects' physical or mental disabilities.

Role of coping with negative emotions in cognitive behavioral therapy for persistent somatoform pain disorder: Is it more important than pain catastrophizing?

Aim: Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is known to be effective for patients with persistent somatoform pain disorder (PSPD). Improvement of negative emotions in interpersonal stressful situations has been reported to reduce PSPD-related clinical pain. However, these associations in CBT remain unclear.

Enduring effects of a 5-week behavioral activation program for subthreshold depression among late adolescents: an exploratory randomized controlled trial.

Background: No significant effect of psychological treatment has been reported from meta-analysis of subthreshold depression patients and control subjects at 1-year follow-up. However, behavioral activation is a simpler and more cost-effective treatment than cognitive behavioral therapy. The primary purpose of this study was to assess by comparison to an assessment-only control group whether the effects of behavioral activation program for depressive symptoms can persist up to 1-year follow-up without the use of antidepressants or other psychotherapy.

Effects of behavioral activation on default mode network connectivity in subthreshold depression: A preliminary resting-state fMRI study.

Background: Subthreshold depression is a risk factor for major depressive disorder, and it is known to have a negative impact on quality of life (QOL). Although behavioral activation, which is one type of cognitive behavioral therapy, is an effective psychological intervention for subthreshold depression, neural mechanisms of behavioral activation are unclear. Enhanced functional connectivity between default mode network (DMN) and the other regions has been demonstrated in participants with subthreshold depression.

Association of perfectionistic and dependent dysfunctional attitudes with subthreshold depression.

Background: Dysfunctional attitudes are beliefs and attitudes that induce negative thoughts about the self, others, and the future, leading to depression. Perfectionistic dysfunctional attitudes are beliefs and attitudes about achievement and excessive fear of failure, while dependent dysfunctional attitudes are beliefs and attitudes about dependency on, and approval from, others. Subthreshold depression refers to a depressive state that does not meet the diagnostic criteria for a major depressive episode.

The neural correlates of the metacognitive function of other perspective: a multiple regression analysis study.

Perspective taking is defined as the social cognitive function of imagining the world or imagining oneself from another's viewpoint. Previously, we reported that behavioral activation increased the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) activation during other perspective self-referential processing for positive words in subthreshold depression, but did not report whether metacognitive function was related to the dmPFC activation. Therefore, we sought to test the relationship between the dmPFC activation during other perspective self-referential processing for positive words and an individual's metacognitive evaluation of other perspective.

Detailed course of depressive symptoms and risk for developing depression in late adolescents with subthreshold depression: a cohort study.

Purpose: Despite its clinical importance, adolescent subthreshold depression remains a largely neglected topic. The aims of this study were to accurately identify the natural course of depressive symptoms and the risk for developing major depressive episode (MDE) in late adolescents with subthreshold depression over 1 year.

Patients And Methods: One hundred and seventy-two participants <20 years of age (mean age: 18.

Behavioral activation for late adolescents with subthreshold depression: a randomized controlled trial.

The main behavioral characteristic of subthreshold depression that is observed in adolescents is the low frequency of exposure to environmental rewards. Therefore, it was considered that a simple intervention conducted in short sessions, focusing on increasing access to positively reinforcing activities, would be efficacious in increasing the availability of rewards. We conduct a randomized controlled trial to examine the efficacy of such a behavioral activation program that was conducted weekly for 5 weeks in 60-min sessions.

Mechanisms of behavioral activation for late adolescents: Positive reinforcement mediate the relationship between activation and depressive symptoms from pre-treatment to post-treatment.

Background: It is suggested that there is some support for notion that frequency of activity can lead to improved mood in behavioral activation, but this research is relatively imprecise. We investigated whether positive reinforcement mediates the relationship between activation and alleviation of depressive symptoms

Methods: Late adolescents with sub-threshold depressive symptoms participated in the study. We conducted an intervention using behavioral activation with the participants.

Direct and indirect influences of childhood abuse on depression symptoms in patients with major depressive disorder.

Background: It is known that the onset, progression, and prognosis of major depressive disorder are affected by interactions between a number of factors. This study investigated how childhood abuse, personality, and stress of life events were associated with symptoms of depression in depressed people.

Methods: Patients with major depressive disorder (N = 113, 58 women and 55 men) completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), the Neuroticism Extroversion Openness Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), the Child Abuse and Trauma Scale (CATS), and the Life Experiences Survey (LES), which are self-report scales.

Behavioral activation can normalize neural hypoactivation in subthreshold depression during a monetary incentive delay task.

Background: Late adolescents are under increased risk of developing depressive symptoms. Behavioral activation is an effective treatment for subthreshold depression, which can prevent the development of subthreshold depression into a major depressive disorder. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the efficacy of behavioral activation have not been clearly understood.