New directions in behavioral activation : Using findings from basic science and translational neuroscience to inform the exploration of potential mechanisms of change

Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved..

Interest in behavioral activation treatments for depression has increased over the past two decades. Behavioral activation treatments have been shown to be effective in treating depression across a variety of populations and settings. However, little is known about the mechanisms of change that may bring about symptom improvement in behavioral activation treatments. Recent developments in the theoretical and empirical literature on behavioral activation treatments have coincided with advances in basic science and translational neuroscience regarding the mechanisms underlying individual differences in responsiveness to reward. Attenuated reward responsiveness has been associated with depression and related clinical outcomes at the self-report, behavioral, and neural levels of analysis. Given that behavioral activation treatments are focused on increasing individuals' contact and engagement with sustainable sources of reward in their environment, it is plausible that behavioral activation treatments bring about improvements in depression symptoms by targeting (low) reward responsiveness directly. This paper integrates findings from the clinical research literature on behavioral activation treatments with insights drawn from basic science and translational neuroscience in order to propose hypotheses about potential mechanisms of change in behavioral activation. Conceptual issues and recommendations for future research on behavioral activation treatments are discussed.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2020

Erschienen:

2020

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:79

Enthalten in:

Clinical psychology review - 79(2020) vom: 15. Juli, Seite 101860

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Forbes, Courtney N [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Behavioral activation
Depression
Journal Article
Mechanisms of change
Review
Reward responsiveness
Translational neuroscience

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 12.08.2021

Date Revised 04.12.2021

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1016/j.cpr.2020.101860

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM309964156