DOI: 10.5061/dryad.v6wwpzh2v
title: Data from: An experimental paradigm for triggering a depressive syndrome

description: Research investigating whether depression is an adaptation or a disorder
 has been hindered by the lack of an experimental paradigm that can test
 causal relationships. Moreover, studies attempting to induce the syndrome
 often fail to capture the suite of feelings, thoughts, and behaviours that
 characterize depression. An experimental paradigm for triggering
 depressive symptoms can improve our etiological understanding of the
 syndrome. The present study attempts to induce core symptoms of
 depression, particularly those related to rumination, in a healthy,
 non-clinical sample through a controlled social experiment. These symptoms
 are sad or depressed mood, anhedonia, feelings of worthlessness or guilt,
 and difficulty concentrating. 134 undergraduate students were randomly
 assigned to either an Exclusion (EX) or Inclusion (IN) group. Participants
 in the Exclusion group were exposed to a modified Cyberball paradigm,
 designed to make them feel socially excluded, followed by a
 dual-interference task to assess whether their exclusion interfered with
 their working memory. Excluded participants: (1) self-reported a
 significant increase in sadness and decrease in happiness, but not anxiety
 or calmness; (2) scored significantly higher in four of five variables
 related to depressive rumination; and (3) performed significantly worse on
 a dual-interference task, suggesting an impaired ability to concentrate.
description: Our datasets were collected through LimeSurvey, an open source
 on-line statistical survey web app. We first exported our data as excel
 files which contain participants' self-reported data. We also added
 the scores for each participants' writing task provided by our
 blind-raters. We have presented the data from our primary study and our
 pilot study in two seperate files.
description: # Data from: An experimental paradigm for triggering a depressive syndrome
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.v6wwpzh2v](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.v6wwpzh2v) ## Description of the data and file structure \# Title of Dataset: **PilotExperiment** This file is our overall dataset for the pilot study detailed in our manuscript and supplementary materials. \## Description of the Data and file structure The following is a description of each of the variables found in our data set, organized by column:  *Note*: any ‘.’ within the dataset refers to missing data.  \**Date: **The date the participant completed the study. \**ID: **The randomized ID given to each participant. \**Cond: **The condition that the participant was assigned to (1=Exclusion; 0=Inclusion). \**Mood Variables: **Scores for the following mood variables at time 1 are found in their respective columns. These same mood variables, at time 2, have the same names but have a ‘2’ afterwards. Variables over 7 characters were shortened (e.g. Depressed-&gt;Depress). The variables are as follows: content, happy, worry, calm, sad, low, tense, peace, uneasy, depress (depressed), joyful, satisfied, overjoy (overjoyed), down, anxious, nervous, content2, happy2, worry2, calm2, sad2, low2, tense2, peace2, uneasy2, depress2 (depressed2), joyful2, satisfied,2 overjoy (overjoyed2), down2, anxious2, nervous2.  *Note: *Mood is rated on a scale from 1-9, with 9=this adjective is very accurate as a self-description and 1=this adjective is very inaccurate as a self-description. \# Title of Dataset: **CyberMLCNF** This file is the dataset we used for the primary experiment detailed in our manuscript. \## Description of the Data and file structure The following is a description of each of the variables found in our data set:  *Note*: any ‘.’ within the dataset refers to missing data.  **Cond:** The condition the participant was randomly assigned to (1=Exclusion; 0=Inclusion). **WordCond:** The condition the participant was randomly assigned to for the words they were instructed to memorize during the dual-interference task (1=Primed; 0=Neutral). **ID:** The ID assigned to participants. **Psych:** Whether participants had ever been diagnosed with any psychiatric disorder **Mood Variables:** Scores for the following mood variables at time 1 are found in their respective columns with a ‘1’ placed afterwards. Variables over 7 characters were shortened (e.g. Depressed-&gt;Dep). The variables are as follows (with their full names written in brackets): sad1, low1, dep1 (depressed1), down1, wor1 (worry1), tense1, uneasy1, anx1 (anxiety1), nerv1(nervous1), peace1(peaceful1), calm1, cont1(content1), joy1, satis1(satisfied1), over1 (overjoyed1), happy1. **PHQ-9:** Calculated PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire 9) scores of each participant. Dwd: Difficulty with Depression: Participants response to the final question on the PHQ-9 which asks them the degree to which the experiences they have reported on the PHQ-9 have been difficult to manage. Mood Variables at Time 2 and 3: At time 2, the mood variables detailed above  have a ‘2’ afterwards, rather than a ‘1.’. Likewise, at time 3, these variables have the same names but have a ‘3’ afterwards. The variables are as follows (with their full names written in brackets): sad2, low2, dep2 (depressed2), down2, happy2, joy2, satis2(satisfied2), over2 (overjoyed2),  wor2 (worry2), tense2, uneasy2, anx2 (anxiety2), nerv2(nervous2), peace2(peaceful2), cont2(content2), calm2. joy3, satis3(satisfied3), over3 (overjoyed3), happy3, sad3, low3, dep3 (depressed 3), down3, calm3, cont3(content3), peace3(peaceful3), tense3, wor3 (worry3),  uneasy3, anx3 (anxiety3), nerv3(nervous3). *Note: *Mood is rated on a scale from 1-9, with 9=this adjective is very accurate as a self-description and 1=this adjective is very inaccurate as a self-description. **ARQ:** Participants’ total scores for the Analytical Rumination Questionnaire (out of a possible 96). **CT:** Participants’ rated scores for counterfactual thoughts. **CR:** Participants’ rated scores for causal reconstruction. **SelfB:** Participants’ rated scores for self blame. **PofaP:** Participants’ rated scores for causal presence of a problem. **LSE:** Participants’ rated scores for low self-esteem. *Note*: The five rated variables above were rated on a scale from 0-3, with 0=no presence of the construct and 3=clear communication of the construct. **Score:** The score the participant achieved (out of 12) on the Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices. ***Note:*** As per Dryad’s policy on disclosing personal health information, we have removed our columns that detail participants’ self-reported psychiatric diagnoses and medication use. \# Title of Dataset: **RFactorScore** This file is a long form version of our data set for use in R to conduct a multilevel model. \## Description of the Data and file structure The following is a description of each of the variables found in our data set, organized by column. The data contained within this dataset reflects CyberMLCNF and Overall Data, but is in long form. All variables are repeated across time, except for mood which differs at each time point. Additionally, the uploaded R script uses this dataset to create RFactorScores for the four latent mood variables which are called: TotalSadness, TotalHappiness, TotalAnxiety and TotalCalmness. *Note*: any ‘NA’ within the dataset refers to missing data.  **ID:** The ID assigned to participants. **Cond:** The condition the participant was randomly assigned to (1=Exclusion; 0=Inclusion). **Time:** The time point that the data was collected from, ranging from 1-3. **Med:** Whether participants had been prescribed any psychiatric medication **Psych:** Whether participants had ever been diagnosed with any psychiatric disorder **Mood Variables:** Scores for the following mood variables. Variables over 7 characters were shortened (e.g. Depressed-&gt;Dep). The variables are as follows (with their full names written in brackets): sad, low, dep (depressed), down, wor (worry), tense, uneasy, anx (anxiety), nerv(nervous), peace(peaceful), calm, cont(content), joy, satis(satisfied), over (overjoyed), happy. *Note:* Mood is rated on a scale from 1-9, with 9=this adjective is very accurate as a self-description and 1=this adjective is very inaccurate as a self-description. **PHQ-9:** Calculated PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire 9) scores of each participant. **Difficulty with Depression:** Participants response to the final question on the PHQ-9 which asks them the degree to which the experiences they have reported on the PHQ-9 have been difficult to manage. **ARQ:** Participants’ total scores for the Analytical Rumination Questionnaire (out of a possible 96). **CT:** Participants’ rated scores for counterfactual thoughts. **CR:** Participants’ rated scores for causal reconstruction. **SelfB:** Participants’ rated scores for self blame. **PofaP:** Participants’ rated scores for causal presence of a problem. **LSE:** Participants’ rated scores for low self-esteem. *Note*: The five rated variables above were rated on a scale from 0-3, with 0=no presence of the construct and 3=clear communication of the construct.