Investigating the effects of physical discomfort on laboratory-induced mood states

In order to investigate the effects of physical discomfort (i.e., pain) on the induction of mood, 139 participants were randomly assigned to one of fo ur conditions: sad, sad with physical discomfort, happy, and happy with phy sical discomfort. Consistent with our hypotheses, the addition of physical discomfort resulted in a significantly stronger induction of self-reported depression, with these findings showing temporal specificity and persisting even after statistically controlling for stable response biases. However, other self-reported affective states, as well as cognitive and behavioral m easures, were not significantly affected by physical discomfort. Findings a re discussed with regard to making the laboratory induction of sad affect m ore consistent with the multifaceted experience of depression. (C) 2001 Els evier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.