RESEARCH ARTICLE
Interpreting ambiguous emotional information: Convergence among interpretation bias measures and unique relations with depression severity
Cliodhna E. O'Connor,
Jonas Everaert,
Amanda Fitzgerald,
Corresponding Author
Cliodhna E. O'Connor
National Suicide Research Foundation, Cork, Ireland
Correspondence Cliodhna E. O'Connor, National Suicide Research Foundation, Western Gateway Building, University College Cork, Western Road, Cork, Ireland, T12XF62.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorJonas Everaert
Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Search for more papers by this authorAmanda Fitzgerald
School of Psychology, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Search for more papers by this authorCliodhna E. O'Connor,
Jonas Everaert,
Amanda Fitzgerald,
Corresponding Author
Cliodhna E. O'Connor
National Suicide Research Foundation, Cork, Ireland
Correspondence Cliodhna E. O'Connor, National Suicide Research Foundation, Western Gateway Building, University College Cork, Western Road, Cork, Ireland, T12XF62.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorJonas Everaert
Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Search for more papers by this authorAmanda Fitzgerald
School of Psychology, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Search for more papers by this authorCliodhna E. O'Connor and Jonas Everaert contributed equally to this manuscript.
Abstract
This study aimed to examine the convergence among interpretation bias measures and their associations with depressive symptom severity. Research into interpretation biases employs measures of interpretation bias interchangeably, however, little is known about the relationship between these measures. Participants (N = 82 unselected undergraduate students; 59 female) completed four computer-based interpretation bias tasks in a cross-sectional design study. Indirect measures, based on participants' reaction times, were not correlated with each other and had poor split-half reliability. Direct measures were more strongly correlated with depressive symptoms than indirect measures, but only the Scrambled Sentences Task explained a reliable unique portion of the variance in depressive symptoms. Interpretation bias tasks may not measure the same cognitive process and may differ in the extent to which they are a cognitive marker of depression-linked interpretation bias. These findings help to improve the measurement of and theory underlying interpretation bias and depressive symptoms.
CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
The authors declare they have no conflict of interests.
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