"Hot" and "cold" executive functioning in currently, remitted and never depressed individuals.

Abstract

Cognitive models of depression implicate impaired executive control, particularly in emotional contexts. However, few studies have directly compared "cold" (non-emotional) and "hot" (emotional) contexts, and the persistence of impairments following remission remains unclear. Diathesis-stress models propose that cognitive vulnerability is latent in remitted depression and emerges under negative mood or stress. This study compared hot and cold executive functioning among currently, remitted, and never depressed individuals, to test whether currently depressed individuals show impairments in hot cognitive control, and whether remitted individuals show impairments following a negative mood induction. Participants were 260 adults who were currently depressed (CD; n = 86), previously depressed (PD; n = 92), or never depressed (ND; n = 82). The pre-registered study protocol, which most participants completed remotely, included computerized inhibition and working memory updating tasks using non-emotional and emotional stimuli and a neuropsychological test battery. PD and ND participants completed tasks at baseline and following a negative mood induction. Contrary to hypotheses, CD participants did not show impaired hot or cold cognitive control, and PD participants did not show impairments following mood induction. CD participants had worse performance on two of eight neuropsychological tasks. Exploratory correlations did not support associations of cold or hot cognitive control with emotion regulation and rumination. These findings suggest that executive functioning deficits may be less consistent and more heterogeneous in depression than previously theorized, even in emotional contexts. Continued research on the relationships between executive control, emotion regulation, and depression vulnerability is needed to refine theoretical models.