how do adolescents define depression? - cIRcle - University of ...

Chapter II: Literature Review
an affective state with objects; emotion involves simultaneous representations of appraisals in
multiple systems (e.g., cognitive, physiological, experiential, expressive) that often include
feelings, physiology, facial expressions, thoughts. Emotion represents appraisal or perception of
something as good or bad: emotion is not just a state of feeling but a feeling about something.
Emotions can act like moods, when their objects are not focalized. In other words, a prerequisite
for emotion is that a situation should be perceived as positive or negative (Clore, 1994).
Development of Emotions
LeDoux (1994) suggests that emotions are conscious states, produced by unconscious
processes. For example, emotional experiences, such as fear or anger, reflect the representation
in conscious awareness of the information processes and behavioral responses characteristic of
each emotion. Emotion is not a subset of cognitive theories; emotion should rather be
distinguished on its own (LeDoux, 1994). Individual's emotions deliver information to other
people through distinctive facial and vocal expressions. Within the individual, the information
delivery happens through distinctive thoughts and feelings (Clore, 1994). The mechanisms
underlying the diverse changes associated with the lack of regulation and expression of emotions
are largely unknown. The relationship of these mechanisms to depressive symptomatology is just
beginning to be explored.
Recent research supports the notion that there are three levels of emotion: awareness of
emotion, social emotion, and regulation of emotion (Penza-Clyve & Zeman, 2002; Terwogt &
Stegge, 2001; Zeman, Cassano, Perry-Parrish, & Stegall, 2006). Although awareness of emotion
seems to occur early in childhood, the first level, awareness of emotion, appears around the age
of 11, when adolescents begin to understand that emotional reactions can be influenced by
previous emotional states (Harris & Olthof, 1982). This level of understanding emotion includes
an inner mental state (Harris & Olthof, 1982); however, each person may develop and function at
different rates. Piaget's formal-operational stage of cognitive development, from age 11 to
adulthood, is influenced by prior cognitive states. A coordinated social perspective also assumes
similar stages that define the way individuals think about social relations. This age range of
cognitive development and social-cognitive development reflects developmental timing related
to emotion development. Hence, in adolescence as opposed to childhood, young people become
aware of the broad variety of emotions available to help them function in a complex world
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