Differential effects of stress-related and stress-unrelated humor in remitted depression

Abstract

Enhancing emotion regulation among previously depressed people is crucial for improving their resilience and reducing relapse. Therefore, emphasis is placed on determining effective regulation strategies, particularly those that, besides down-regulating negative emotions, also up-regulate positive emotions. One promising strategy, with great potential in both these respects, is humor. It is unclear, however, what type of humor is most adaptive in remitted depression. This study compared two distinct humor-based strategies: stress-related humor and stress-unrelated humor. Outpatients with remitted depression (N = 94) participated in a randomized experiment evoking personal stress and the subsequent application of stress-related humor, stress-unrelated humor, or a non-humorous regulation. They repeatedly reported positive and negative emotions (at four time points) and experienced distress (at three time points). There were also assessments of selective attention, subsequent performance, effort, and intrusive thoughts. Unlike non-humorous regulation, humor-based strategies had adaptive consequences, both immediately and after a delay; however, stress-unrelated humor was most beneficial and was the only effective strategy when attention deficits were present. Humor, especially if unrelated to stressors, might broaden the repertoire of powerful emotion regulation strategies in remitted depression. Humorous focusing on distress can be detrimental for patients with attention impairment.Clinical trial registration: The study was registered under the number ISRCTN86314628 (20/09/2021).

The use of multilevel emotion regulation strategies in the context of critical public events: the more the better?

“…The study also found that humorous-meme-saving behavior was reciprocally positively related to positive emotions, suggesting that it is a protective factor for mental health. This finding is consistent with research on humor strategy, which indicates that humor strategy can effectively upregulate positive emotions and has a good intervention effect in depressed people and elderly people ( Braniecka et al, 2022 ). Meanwhile, humor, also serves as a frequent and highly valued element of online communication, thus flourishing on social media ( Laineste and Voolaid, 2017 ).…”

Resilience to depression: Implication for psychological vaccination

“…Similarly, higher levels of extraversion predicted resilient status in Isaacs’s investigation of U.S. military veterans ( 61 ). In addition, humor-based strategies had adaptive consequences in remitted depression ( 68 ). Referring to self-related personality trait , latest review concluded the strongest support of resilience as higher self-esteem ( 58 ).…”