Differential effects of stress-related and stress-unrelated humor in remitted depression (original) (raw)
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An Investigation into the Effects of Humor and Laughter on Depressive Symptomology
2001
I would like to sincerely thank my mentor Dr. David Stein for his invaluable guidance on this project. His willingness to take time out of his busy schedule to provide support and help is greatly appreciated. Further, the contribution of his keen understanding of scientific methodology and his ability to effectively relay such understanding greatly enhanced the quality of the study. I would also like to thank Dr. Susan Crowley for her guidance throughout the study. Her support was manifested by her willingness to field questions in hallways, practicum supervision, unexpected office visits, or whatever other situation I may have found her. Moreover, her practical guidance was vital to the completion of this study. I am also thankful for the opportunity to work with Dr. Mary Doty. Her insightful feedback on drafts as well as her thoughtful consideration for the well-being of the study participants was a great benefit to the study. I would also like to thank my parents , Raymond and Debra Goodson , for their loving support and encouragement throughout this time of my life. Likewise, I would like to thank Lindsay Fuhriman for her patience and continual support. Finally, I would like to thank Derek Reinke , fellow graduate student and roommate, for his willingness to provide statistical consultations.
A Comprehensive Review on the Effects of Humor in Patients With Depression
Cureus
Depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide and a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease. Although there are known, effective treatments for depression, people in low-and middle-income areas experience multiple barriers which limit their ability to receive adequate treatment. Some known barriers to effective care include a lack of resources, lack of trained healthcare providers, and social stigma associated with mental disorders and this creates gaps in mental health care and the need for more treatment modalities and adjuvant therapies to address these gaps. This review article was conducted using the scale for the assessment of non-systematic review articles (SANRA). We searched three databases; EMBASE, PubMed (MEDLINE), and Google Scholar using specified search terms. We had a total of nine articles with sample sizes ranging from 37 to 1551, and the age of participants ranged from 23 to 93 years. Articles were diverse in race and geographical locations. The articles were derived from cross-sectional studies, randomized studies, and experimental studies, and they focused on the relationship between humor and depression, and the reduced risk of depression in the study population. The articles identified different aspects of the relationship between humor and depression. The willingness of patients with depression to recognize or participate in humor could be defective resulting in abnormal social interactions such as withdrawal. However, there was some significant influence of humor or its styles on patients with depression either mitigating depressive symptoms or having no impact at all.
Sense of humor as a moderator of the relation between stressors and moods
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1983
Previous research has indicated that one's sense of humor serves as a moderator of the deleterious effects of negative stressful life events. However, because this research has been only cross-sectional in nature, such conclusions remain tentative. The purpose of this study was to provide for a more rigorous test of the humor as a stress-buffer hypothesis by using a prospective design that also attempted to control for the variance attributable to prior level of distress. Additionally, two measures of humor were included to increase the construct validity of the findings. Results from a series of regression analyses indicated that humor served as a moderator of stress for depressive, but not anxiety, symptomatology, regardless of the measure of humor that was used in the analyses. Implications of these findings for future research are noted. We would like to extend our appreciation to two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this article.
Attitude toward humor in patients experiencing depressive symptoms
Innovations in clinical neuroscience, 2011
This study measures the correlation between disposition to humor and level of depression to investigate openness to humorous interventions for the treatment of depression.Design, Participants, and Measurement: Individuals (n=200) with depression received questionnaires to assess their sense of humor and attitude toward humor using the Svebak's Humor Questionnaire and a disposition toward humor questionnaire. The correlation between Svebak's Humor Questionnaire scores and Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Self Report scores was then measured. RESULTS were further analyzed by race, age, and gender to assess any emerging trends within those groups. Svebak's Humor Questionnaire mean scores remained high across gender, race, and age. However, there was not a statistically significant correlation between the level of depression and sense of humor (r=-0.22). The only significant relationship noted was between disposition toward humor and depression was for subjects a...
Frontiers in Psychology, 2018
The present study investigates the feasibility of a humor training for a subclinical sample suffering from increased stress, depressiveness, or anxiety. Based on diagnostic interviews, 35 people were invited to participate in a 7-week humor training. Evaluation measures were filled in prior training, after training, and at a 1-month follow-up including humor related outcomes (coping humor and cheerfulness) and mental health-related outcomes (perceived stress, depressiveness, anxiety, and well-being). Outcomes were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVAs. Within-group comparisons of intentionto-treat analysis showed main effects of time with large effect sizes on all outcomes. Post hoc tests showed medium to large effect sizes on all outcomes from pre to post and results remained stable until follow-up. Satisfaction with the training was high, attrition rate low (17.1%), and participants would highly recommend the training. Summarizing the results, the pilot study showed promising effects for people suffering from subclinical symptoms. All outcomes were positively influenced and showed stability over time. Humor trainings could be integrated more into mental health care as an innovative program to reduce stress whilst promoting also positive emotions. However, as this study was a single-arm pilot study, further research (including also randomized controlled trials) is still needed to evaluate the effects more profoundly.
Does humor moderate the effects of experimentally-induced stress?
Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 1996
This study attempted to determine whether humor production moderates mood and physiological responses to stress of subjects high and low in trait humor. Forty subjects who were high and 40 subjects who were low in trait humor were selected. Half of each group was randomly assigned to one of two conditions. In one condition they generated a humorous monologue and in the other condition they generated a serious monologue to a silent stressful film. Heart rate, skin conductance level, and skin temperature were taken continuously for the fifteen minutes before, during, and fifteen minutes after the film. Pre-and post-stress mood and tension ratings were also recorded. Analyses of covariance were conducted with baseline mood and tension as covariates. Compared to the production of a serious narrative, humor production led to lower negative affect, lower tension, and reduced psychophysiological reactivity for both high and low trait-humor groups. These results suggest that humor production may be an effective coping strategy, even for individuals who do not typically use humor to cope with stress.
BMC Psychiatry
Background: Humor trainings have positive effects on mental health and well-being. However, studies investigating the effects of humor trainings in clinical samples are still rare. This study investigated the efficacy and feasibility of a humor training for people suffering from depression, anxiety and adjustment disorders. Methods: Based on a diagnostic interview (SCID I and II), 37 people were randomized into a training (n = 19) or wait list control group (n = 18) and completed questionnaires at pre, post, and 1 month follow-up. After the training group had completed its training and evaluation measures, the wait list control group received the training and the outcomes of the group were additionally evaluated (post2 and follow-up2). Results: After training, improvements in humor-related outcomes were observed for the training group, but these were relativized when compared to the wait list control group. Secondary outcomes remained unaffected by the training. In addition, the training group reported interpersonal difficulties. Within-group analyses of the wait list control group after completion of their training showed effects on almost all primary and secondary outcomes and feedback indicated a better atmosphere. Conclusions: In summary, the different outcomes of the two groups are surprising and can show potential moderators of efficacy, such as interpersonal and group-specific climate variables. Since moderators of humor trainings in clinical samples have not been investigated at all, future studies should consider integrating them into their design. Trial registration: The study was retrospectively registered in the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00012443) on May 16, 2017.
Humor as a protective factor against anxiety and depression
International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology
Background/Objectives: Even though humor its part of everyday life, only in the last 40 years has Psychology begun to discern its impact on mental health. The aim of this paper is to explore the role that humor styles may have as protectors against anxiety and depression and their relationship with optimism. Method: A sample of 804 participants (M = 39.28; SD = 14.71) was used to analyze the uses of humor, optimism and clinical symptoms of anxiety and depression. In addition, the influence of sociodemographic variables such as sex, geographic location, age and educational level on different uses of humor was studied. Through an analysis of structural equations, the variables that had a protective or facilitating role in depression and anxiety were analyzed. Results: Men and women differ in the use of a more aggressive humor style, and the use of affiliative humor styles decreases with age. The structural equation model indicated a good fit to the proposed theoretical model. Conclusions: Humor is a tool of everyday life and it can act for or against an individual's mental health.