Specific content increases acceptance of praise in young adults with depressive symptoms
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21559176 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mengdie Yan (University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China), Aolin Yin (University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China), Luni Zhou (University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China), Shan Gao (0000-0001-7424-476X, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 44 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 397-407 |
| Publication date | 2025-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0736-7236 • E-ISSN: 1943-2771 |
| Publisher | Guilford Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1521/jscp.2025.44.5.397 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 27 |
Introduction: Young adults are often faced with pressures of major life transitions, which may exacerbate the risk of developing depression, and depression features self-devaluation and distorts the perception of social praise. Methods: In this study we manipulated the specificity of social praise to investigate how it would interact with depressive symptoms and thus modulate the emotional and cognitive processing of the feedback in young adults. We engaged young adults with and without depressive symptoms in reading self-referential praise of specific and general content and asked them to rate how pleased they were by the praise and how truly the praise described their attributes. We also measured participants’ mood, self-esteem, social anxiety, and general anxiety. Results: Depressed participants perceived specific praise as more truly describing their attributes than general praise, showing no differences from healthy controls in truthfulness ratings for specific praise while they rated general praise as less pleasant and truthful than control participants. Higher self-esteem and more positive mood were associated with higher truthfulness of praise. Discussion: These findings suggest that specific content of praise may facilitate cognitive reappraisal in young adults with depressive symptoms, thereby highlighting the importance of tailoring praise strategies in psychological interventions for young adults with depressive symptoms
Target Article
Comparison of Beck Depression Inventories-IA and-II in Psychiatric Outpatients
Interpersonal Processes in Depression
Social Phobia
Depression in young people
G*Power 3
Anxiety- and Depression-Related Individual Differences in Affective and Cognitive Judgments of Self-Referential Praise and Criticism
The self and depression
Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect
Being Praised for Prosocial Behaviors Longitudinally Reduces Depressive Symptoms in Early Adolescents
Agreeable fancy or disagreeable truth? Reconciling self-enhancement and self-verification
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |