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ROMANIAN JOURNAL OF
EXPERIMENTAL APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
VOL. 7, ISSUE 4 – www.rjeap.ro
4 - THE IMPACT OF THE PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
TRAINING ON REDUCING THE PERCEIVED LEVEL OF
NEGATIVE EMOTIONS AND THE PERCEIVED LEVEL OF
DEPRESSION AND IMPROVING THE PERCEIVED LEVEL
OF THE POSITIVE EMOTIONS
TEODOR VASILE a
a University of Bucharest, Department of Psychology
Abstract
Besides being a very common phenomenon, both individually and socially,
depression affects the ability to perceive the surrounding world correctly, reduces
drastically the desire to live, reinforces negative feelings such as guilt, anger, lack
of trust, inability to believe in itself and its own power, breaks the individual from
the reality, affects individual daily activities, such as sleeping and eating, resulting
in the most dismal case, referring to major depression, to suicide. This study is
focused on how we can improve the perceived level of the positive emotions, and
how we can reduce the perceived negative emotions and the perceived level of
depression as a result of attenting a personal development training. Method: the
participants are a group of 15 people, aged between 23 and 46 years old
(Mean=35.066; S.D.=6.83), 11 female and 4 male participants. The instruments:
Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (Zung, 1965) and The Positive and Negative
Affect Schedule – PANAS (Watson et al., 1988). The third instrument is the
personal development training used, for a period of six months. This training
represents the independent variable. The dependent variables: the perceived level
of depression, positive emotions: attentive, interested, alert, enthusiastic, excited,
inspired, proud, determined, strong, and active; for negative emotions: distressed,
upset, hostile, irritable, scared, afraid, ashamed, guilty, nervous, and jittery. In
order to prevent depression is necessary to reinforce the protective factors and
decreasing risk factors (Marcus et. al, 2012), implementation of a positive way of
thinking and an attitude of confidence in its own forces and switching to a desire to
live and cope with the challenges of life. Everyone should love life, live every
moment to the fullest, regardless of the obstacles that tend to occur during one’s
life, representing a gift to each of us.
Corresponding author. Email address: dr.TeodorVasile@psihoterapia.ro
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Cuvinte cheie: depresie, stări emoționale, dezvoltare personală, psihoterapie,
încredere în viață.
Keywords: depression, emotional states, personal development,
psychotherapy, life confidence.
1. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK REGARDING DEPRESSION
In Dictionary of Psychology, Popescu-Neveanu (1978, p.187) defines
depression as: "morbid mental condition, characterized by a decrease in physical
activity and motor tone, accompanied by an asthenic provision of mind, of sadness,
of discouragement, excessive fatigue and anxiety."
According to the World Health Organisation reports (W.H.O.) cited by citată
de Silammy (2000, p.96), 5-10% of the world population would present depressive
disorders.
According to Boyd and Weissman (1981) cited by Robinson et al. al (1990) as
a result of epidemiological studies it has been found out that between 10% and
20% of the population is going through a major depressive episode throughout life.
Moreover, Murray & Lopez (1996) cited by Saluja et. al (2004) highlights in an
article that the topic is the prevalence and risk factors of depression, that in the
sphere of psychiatric disorder, major depressive syndrome covers the greatest
morbidity and mortality and involves the highest therapeutical costs.
According to Popescu-Neveanu (1978, p.187) depressive episodes may occur
especially during "adolescence and old age".
Initially, the depressing episode’s appearance was linked to a chemical
imbalance in the body, scientists making reference to a neurotransmitter called
norepinephrin, subsequently, in the mid-1960s was studied the relationship
between depression and serotonin (Leo & Lacasse, 2008).
Another important aspect presented by Downey & Coyne (1990) and
Hammen (1991) cited by Petersen et. al (1993) is that a depressed parent represents
a major risk factor for the occurrence of depression in childhood.
As a result of the study of literature, Petersen et. al (1993) presents a
classification of depression during adolescence through the following three
approaches: depressed mood, depressive syndromes and clinical depression.
Lorant et. al (2007) conducted a longitudinal study of the population, over a
seven-year period, studying the relationship between risk factors and socio-
economic depression. The socio-economical risk factors assessed in this study
were: material standard of living, education, employment status and social
relationships. The result of this study was that depression can be directly linked
25
with socio-economic factors, and their worsening can even lead to the occurrence
of a major depressive episode.
1.1. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEPRESSION AND EMOTIONS
As a result of research carried out by Gibb, Chelminski & Zimmerman (2007)
with regard to the relationship between the diagnosis of depression in adults and
physical, emotional and sexual abuse from the period of childhood, the authors
noted that major depressive episode facing an adult is strongly associated with
emotional abuse suffered in a childhood period. Thus, negative emotions felt by the
individual in childhood negatively marks one’s further life as an adult. Rottenberg
(2005) conducted a survey whose main subjects were the moods, emotions and
their interaction in major depression. The findings of this study were that a
depressive condition is associated with: pessimism, self-absorption, and loss of
interest in the environment. Also, studying emotions and depressive persons’
reactions to external stimuli, whether they are negative or positive, Rottenberg et.
al. (2005) think that a depressive state limits one persons’ emotional reactions, the
authors naming this pattern: emotion context insensitivity. In opposition to those
described above, Fredrickson (1998) cited by Kashdan (2010) is of the opinion that
living positive emotions offers a wide range of thoughts, behaviours and reactions
that are easily available to anyone. Moreover, positive emotions decrease the
tendency to perceive racial differences in faces (Johnson & Fredrickson, 2005 cited
by Kashdan, 2010), facilitates flexible thinking and behaviour and increases
openness towards acceptance of new perspectives and knowledge (Kashdan, 2010),
etc.
1.2. DEPRESSION AND SUICIDE RISKS
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) represents an increased risk factor for
suicide, according to Birmaher et. al. (1996) cited by Saluja et. al (2004), and the
suicide rate among teenagers has increased three times in the past 50 years,
concluded The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a report on Suicide in
the United States of America (Saluja et. al, 2004).
Studying the relationship between depression and suicide, Gibson (1989)
cited by Petersen et. al (1993) is of the opinion that gay and lesbian youth are more
exposed to depression and show a serious risk of suicide.
In 2015 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published the fact sheet
with regard to the understanding of suicide, in which, since the first paragraph is
underlined that suicide represents the main cause of death in the United States of
26
America. According to the same fact sheet, suicide represents a public health
problem with a high importance that can affect the health of others, but also to the
community due to the onset of depression and other mental health problems in
people who survive attempted suicide and the onset of emotional shock, anger,
feeling of guilt and depression among family and friends of those deceased by
suicide.
Suicide represents a path with no turning back, a fatal act of a person in a
period of major crisis in his/her life, from which they can find no other way out,
seemingly no resolution, no escape. Sometimes the human mind tells us to appeal
to desperate gestures, without giving us the time needed to find the inner resources
to understand, to overcome them and to solve them. Absolutely everyone has gone
through a stressful or difficult event at least once in a lifetime, such as the death of
a loved one, a sentimental or social failure, and coping mechanisms specific to
each individual represents the levers necessary for understanding, reasoning and
remediation of the negative impact that these events have, especially over mental
and emotional conditions of the individual.
In these situations it is necessary, over time and with expert help, to find
physical comfort and mental & physical balance to continue the evolution on this
invisible thread simply called, life.
1.3. DEPRESSION RELATED TO PSYCHOTHERAPY
In the framework of the research carried out by Robinson et. al (1990) with
regard to depression and its treatment, the results obtained by the authors were that
choosing between pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy, psychotherapy is a method
of therapy with actual results in cases of depression. Moreover, the authors
emphasise that the benefits of psychotherapy in depression can be seen in the long
term.
As a result of the study conducted by Robinson, Berman, & Neimeyer (1990)
cited by Cuijpers et. al (2008) on the efficacy of cognitive psychotherapy and
cognitive-behavioural psychotherapy compared with other types of verbal
therapies, the authors concluded that cognitive psychotherapy and cognitive-
behavioural psychotherapy had a better effect in the treatment of depression.
A comparative meta-analysis of high importance made by Cuijpers et. al
(2008) analysed the effectiveness of certain types of psychotherapy in cases of
depression: cognitive-behaviour therapy, nondirective supportive treatment,
behavioural activation treatment, psychodynamic treatment, problem-solving
therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, and social skills training. The authors’
27
conclusion was that they cannot observe significant differences between the
analysed types of psychotherapy and it is necessary for a more thorough study, to
determine if there is a type of psychotherapy better than others in the long run.
I consider that the most important aspect is represented by the individual's
confidence in the therapeutical process, and in its one’s own resources to face and
to understand this complex process on the basis of mental and physical needs of
each individual, as well as searching one’s personal evolution.
2. OBJECTIVE AND HYPOTHESES
2.1. OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the present study are focused on improving the perceived
level of the positive emotions, reducing the perceived level of negative emotions
and reducing the perceived level of depression. Also, the possible bivariate
correlations were verified using statistical tests.
2.2. THE HYPOTHESES
1. There are statistically significant improvements reducing the level of
perceived depression in the participants at the Personal Development
groups.
2. The Personal Development focused on increasing the level of positive
emotions leads to a statistically higher level of perceived positive
emotions in the participants at the Personal Development groups.
3. The Personal Development focused on reducing the level of negative
emotions leads to a statistically lower level of perceived negative
emotions in the participants at the Personal Development groups.
4. There are statistically significant positive correlations between the
perceived depression level and negative emotions.
3. METHOD
3.1. PARTICIPANTS
The participants are a group of 15 people, age between 23 and 46 years old
(Mean=35.066; S.D.=6.83), 11 female and 4 male participants. The histogram of
age representation for the 15 participants sample at the Personal Development
28
training focused on reducing the level of perceived depression can be seen in figure
1.
Figure 1. The histogram representation for the participants by age
3.2. THE INSTRUMENTS
1. The Personal Development training procedure was focused on the
following aspects: to reduce the level of perceived depression, to
increase the level of perceived positive emotions, to reduce the level
of perceived negative emotions.
2. Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (Zung, 1965) is a self-
administered survey to measure the perceived level of depression
status of a person. The scale is composed from 20 items on the scale
that rate four common characteristics of depression without being
pathological: the pervasive effect, the physiological equivalents, other
disturbances, and psychomotor activities. Furthermore, there are ten
29
positively issued items and ten negatively issued items. Each question
is scored on a scale from 1 (a little of the time) to 4 (most of the
time).
3. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule – PANAS (Watson et al.,
1988b) is composed from a number of 20 items, 10 positive emotions
and 10 negative emotions. The scale points are: 1 ‘very slightly or not
at all’, 2 ‘a little’, 3 ‘moderately’, 4 ‘quite a bit’ and 5 ‘very much’.
As Crawford and Henry (2004) mentioned in their paper, “the items
were derived from a principal components analysis of Zevon and
Tellegen’s (1982) mood checklist” (page 250).
Crawford and Henry (2004) present in their study the internal consistencies of
the PANAS PA and NA scales. Hence the internal consistency Alpha Cronbach’s
was .89 (95% CI = .88–.90) for the PA scale, and .85 (95% CI = .84–.87) for the
NA scale (page 257). The same authors highlighted that “for both measures the
correlation between PA and depression was significantly higher than that between
PA and anxiety (DASS: t (986) = 7.523, p < 001; HADS: t (737) = 7.667, p <
.001)” (Crawford & Henry, 2004, page 257).
3.3. PROCEDURE
The participants to the Personal Development sessions completed the consent
agreement for the present study. They completed at the moment t0 the instruments
as prettest: PANAS and Zung depression scale. After completing the instruments
they participated in a number of 24 Personal Development sessions focused on
reducing the perceived level of depression and negative emotions and increasing
the perceived level of positive emotions. Furthermore, at the moment t1 the
participants completed the same instruments as post-test.
3.4. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
The independent variable: the training with the Personal Development
focused on reducing the perceived level of depression and negative emotions and
increasing the perceived level of positive emotions.
The dependent variables: the perceived level of depression, positive emotions:
attentive, interested, alert, enthusiastic, excited, inspired, proud, determined,
strong, and active; for negative emotions: distressed, upset, hostile, irritable,
scared, afraid, ashamed, guilty, nervous, and jittery.
30
Figure 2 The design pre-test/post-test in order the test the hypotheses
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The collected data was computed using the program SPSS 15 for statistics.
Taking into consideration that the Personal Development group is composed from
a number of 15 participants applied nonparametric tests were in order to test the
hypotheses.
After reversing the 20 non depressive symptoms items, the reliability Alpha
Cronbach was calculated for the Zung Depression Scale at the moment T0 (Table
1). Table 1 Reliability Statistics (T0)
Cronbach's Alpha Cronbach's Alpha Based on Standardized Items N of Items
.843 .886 20
Applying the Wilcoxon nonparametric test the following hypotheses was
confirmed (p<0.05) for the Personal Development group (tables 2, 3, 4, 5):
1. There are statistically significant improvements reducing the level of
perceived depression in the participants at the Personal Development groups.
2. The Personal Development focused on increasing the level of positive
emotions leads to a statistically higher level of perceived positive emotions in the
participants at the Personal Development groups.
3. The Personal Development focused on reducing the level of negative
emotions leads to a statistically lower level of perceived negative emotions in the
participants at the Personal Development groups. Table 2 Test Statisticsc
interested2 - interested1 noninterested2 - noninterested1 excited2 - excited1 angry2 - angry1
Z -3.436a -3.201b -2.008a -3.108b Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .001 .001 .045 .002
In table 3 can be seen the statistically significant differences between the
pretest and posttest results at the following emotions: powerful, guilty, scared and
hostile.
T0 moment of Zung
Depression Scale and PANAS
application pretest
T1 moment of Zung
Depression Scale and
PANAS application posttest
Personal
Development
training sessions
31
Table 3 Test Statisticsc
powerful2 - powerful1 guilty2 - guilty1 scared2 - scared1 hostile2 - hostile1
Z -3.441a -3.219b -3.213b -2.298b Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .001 .001 .001 .022
In table 3 can be seen the statistically significant differences between the
pretest and posttest results at the following emotions: enthusiastic, proud, irritable,
alert. Table 4 Test Statisticsc
Enthusiastic2 - Enthusiastic 1 proud2 -proud1 irritable2 - irritable1 alert2 - alert1
Z -3.336a -3.332a -3.213b -2.277a Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .001 .001 .001 .023
In table 3 can be seen the statistically significant differences between the
pretest and posttest results at the following emotions: nervous, active, perceived
depression. Table 5 Test Statisticsc
nervous2 - nervous1 active2 - active1 perceiveddepression2 - perceiveddepression1
Z -3.443b -3.448a -3.408b Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .001 .001 .001
In table 6 can be seen the bivariate nonparamentric correlation between the
dependent variables at the moment T0: the perceived level of depression, positive
emotions: attentive, interested, alert, enthusiastic, excited, inspired, proud,
determined, strong, and active; for negative emotions: distressed, upset, hostile,
irritable, scared, afraid, ashamed, guilty, nervous, and jittery. Table 6 Correlations
nervous1 determinated1 atent1 agitat1 activ1 speriat11 perceiveddepression1
Sp
earm
an's
rho
intrested1
Correlation Coefficient
-,674** ,895** ,875** -,759** ,784** -,812** -,760**
Sig. (2-tailed) ,006 ,000 ,000 ,001 ,001 ,000 ,001
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
disintrested1
Correlation
Coefficient ,588* -,764**
-
,843** ,677**
-
,713** ,740** ,655**
Sig. (2-tailed) ,021 ,001 ,000 ,006 ,003 ,002 ,008 N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
impatient1
Correlation
Coefficient -,360 ,491 ,553* -,426 ,216 -,466 -,529*
Sig. (2-tailed) ,187 ,063 ,032 ,113 ,440 ,080 ,043
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
angry1
Correlation Coefficient
,771** -,808** -
,881** ,800** -,638* ,881** ,715**
Sig. (2-tailed) ,001 ,000 ,000 ,000 ,011 ,000 ,003
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
strong1
Correlation
Coefficient -,741** ,883** ,932** -,834** ,801** -,820** -,767**
Sig. (2-tailed) ,002 ,000 ,000 ,000 ,000 ,000 ,001 N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
guilty1
Correlation
Coefficient ,863** -,789**
-
,878** ,837** -,466 ,823** ,773**
Sig. (2-tailed) ,000 ,000 ,000 ,000 ,080 ,000 ,001
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
scared1 Correlation Coefficient
,753** -,772** -
,714** ,724** -,480 ,912** ,680**
32
Sig. (2-tailed) ,001 ,001 ,003 ,002 ,070 ,000 ,005
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
hostile1
Correlation
Coefficient ,496 -,641*
-
,682** ,781** -,559* ,573* ,470
Sig. (2-tailed) ,060 ,010 ,005 ,001 ,030 ,025 ,077 N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
enthuziastic1
Correlation
Coefficient -,683** ,894** ,893** -,795** ,757** -,859** -,820**
Sig. (2-tailed) ,005 ,000 ,000 ,000 ,001 ,000 ,000
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
proud1
Correlation Coefficient
-,756** ,876** ,881** -,830** ,771** -,854** -,712**
Sig. (2-tailed) ,001 ,000 ,000 ,000 ,001 ,000 ,003
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
iritable1
Correlation
Coefficient ,713** -,698**
-
,793** ,761** -,437 ,749** ,708**
Sig. (2-tailed) ,003 ,004 ,000 ,001 ,104 ,001 ,003 N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
alert1
Correlation
Coefficient -,473 ,780** ,779** -,577* ,689** -,615* -,668**
Sig. (2-tailed) ,075 ,001 ,001 ,024 ,004 ,015 ,007
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
shamed1
Correlation Coefficient
,816** -,862** -
,828** ,852** -,613* ,914** ,795**
Sig. (2-tailed) ,000 ,000 ,000 ,000 ,015 ,000 ,000
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
inspirated1
Correlation
Coefficient -,754** ,767** ,747** -,823** ,576* -,806** -,596*
Sig. (2-tailed) ,001 ,001 ,001 ,000 ,025 ,000 ,019 N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
nervous1
Correlation
Coefficient 1,000 -,742**
-
,791** ,834** -,395 ,819** ,788**
Sig. (2-tailed) . ,002 ,000 ,000 ,145 ,000 ,000
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
determined
Correlation Coefficient
-,742** 1,000 ,912** -,821** ,806** -,845** -,881**
Sig. (2-tailed) ,002 . ,000 ,000 ,000 ,000 ,000
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
carefully1
Correlation
Coefficient -,791** ,912** 1,000 -,877** ,739** -,806** -,880**
Sig. (2-tailed) ,000 ,000 . ,000 ,002 ,000 ,000
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
jittery1
Correlation Coefficient
,834** -,821** -
,877** 1,000 -,624* ,784** ,703**
Sig. (2-tailed) ,000 ,000 ,000 . ,013 ,001 ,003
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
active1
Correlation
Coefficient -,395 ,806** ,739** -,624* 1,000 -,631* -,583*
Sig. (2-tailed) ,145 ,000 ,002 ,013 . ,012 ,022 N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
scared11
Correlation
Coefficient ,819** -,845**
-
,806** ,784** -,631* 1,000 ,739**
Sig. (2-tailed) ,000 ,000 ,000 ,001 ,012 . ,002
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
perceiveddepression1
Correlation Coefficient
,788** -,881** -
,880** ,703** -,583* ,739** 1,000
Sig. (2-tailed) ,000 ,000 ,000 ,003 ,022 ,002 .
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
33
The hypotheses „4. There are statistically significant positive correlations
between the perceived depression level and negative emotions.” has been
confirmed according the statistically significant positive correlations between the
variables: perceived depression1 and scared11 (rho=.739; p<0.01); perceived
depression1 and jittery1 (rho=.703; p<0.01); perceived depression1 and nervous
(rho=.788; p<0.01); perceived depression1 and shamed1 (rho=.795; p<0.01);
perceived depression1 and irritable1 (rho=.708; p<0.01); perceived depression1
and guilty1 (rho=.773; p<0.01); perceived depression1 and angry1 (rho=.715;
p<0.01).
5. CONCLUSIONS
As can be seen in tables 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 the hypotheses was confirmed for the
Personal Development group; focused on reducing the level of the perceived
depression and negative emotions and incresing the level of the perceived positive
emotions. Hence, positive emotions as proud, interested, enthusiastic, active, and
careful can be optimised and educated during Personal Development groups using
strategies and methods, such as role play, case studies, facing trauma and solving
with the help of cognitive and behavioural specific techniques, and many others.
Furthermore, reducing the perceived negative emotions also the level of perceived
depression may be reduced because according to Crowford and Henry (2004) there
are plenty of cited studies and also their study to support this findings.
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35
REZUMAT
Dincolo de a fi un fenomen atât individual, cât și social foarte des întâlnit,
depresia afectează capacitatea de a percepe corect lumea înconjurătoare,
diminuează major dorința de a trăi, întărește sentimente negative precum: vina,
furia, neputința, neîncrederea în sine și în propriile forțe, rupe individul de
realitate, afectează activitățile zilnice de rutină precum: somnul și masa, ducând în
cel mai sumbru caz, referindu-ne la depresia majoră, către suicid. Acest studiu
urmărește modul în care putem îmbunătății nivelul perceput de emoții pozitive și
modul în care putem reduce nivelul perceput de emoții negative și nivelul perceput
de depresie ca urmare a participării la un training de dezvoltare personală.
Metoda: participanții au fost un grup de 15 persoane, cu vârsta între 23 și 46 de
ani (Media=35.066; A.S.=6.83), 11 femei și 4 bărbați. Instrumente: Scala Zung de
evaluare a depresiei (Zung, 1965) și Chestionarul care măsoară emoțiile pozitive
și negative – PANAS (Watson et al., 1988). Al treilea instrument este reprezentat
de training-ul de dezvoltare personală folosit pe o perioadă de șase luni. Acest
training reprezintă variabila independentă. Variabile dependente: nivelul perceput
de depresie, emoții pozitive: atent, interesat, alert, entuziast, emoționat, inspirat,
mândru, determinat, puternic şi activ; pentru emoțiile negative: în dificultate,
supărat, ostil, iritabil, speriat, înfricoșat, ruşinat, vinovat, agitat şi nervos. Pentru
a putea preveni depresia este necesară consolidarea factorilor de protecţie şi
diminuarea factorilor de risc (Marcus et. al, 2012), implementarea unei gândiri
pozitive și a unei atitudini de încredere în propriile forțe și reorientarea către
dorința de trăi și de a face față provocărilor vieții. Orice om ar trebui să iubească
viața, să trăiască fiecare clipă la intensitate maximă, indiferent de obstacolele care
tind să apară pe parcursul acesteia, viața reprezentând un Dar pentru fiecare
dintre noi.
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