Changes in acceptance and suppression of negative and positive emotions in patients with depressive disorders : a longitudinal study

Background: Difficulties with emotion regulation are present in most mental disorders. However, we know little about changes in negative and positive emotions during the treatment process. The present longitudinal study, therefore, focuses on such changes and investigates acceptance and suppression, separately for negative and positive emotions during the treatment process. Aims: The goals were to investigate whether there is a measurable change of acceptance and suppression of negative and positive emotions during the course of treatment of depressive patients and to investigate how such patients compare at the end of their treatment with healthy controls. Method: The sample comprised 40 patients with a depressive disorder and 29 healthy controls. The Beck Depression Inventory and the State Trait Anxiety Inventory were used to assess symptoms. The Emotion Acceptance Questionnaire - assessing acceptance and suppression of negative and positive emotions - was used twice: once at the beginning and once at the end of treatment. Results: Depressive patients reported a reduced acceptance of positive and negative emotions compared with controls, but they suppressed emotions more intensively. Suppression of negative and positive emotions throughout the study was related to the level of depression and anxiety symptoms. Conclusions: Analysis showed a significant improvement in emotion regulation strategies towards the end of treatment. However, patients did not reach the same level of capability as healthy controls. For future research, we suggest extending the study by observing the specifics of emotion regulation changes over a longer period of time.