Effects of induced mood on self-reported life events and perceived and received social support.

This study tested the relation between mood (depressed D, elated E, or neutral N), induced by the Velten (1968) procedure, and college students' responses on a subjectively scored life events questionnaire and measures of perceived and received social support. A manipulation check showed that the mood manipulation was successful. There was a significant mood effect on the number of self-reported negative life events, with E subjects reporting the fewest. However, mood had no significant effect on the number of self-reported positive life events or the rated intensity of negative and positive events. Mood had a significant effect on perceived social support, with D subjects scoring the lowest. Self-report of received social support, however, was not affected by the mood manipulation. The findings challenge the widespread use of life event and perceived social support questionnaires whose independence from a mood-related response bias has not been adequately demonstrated. The findings also challenge causal interpretation of significant effects for self-reported life stress and perceived social support obtained in cross-sectional prediction studies of concurrent psychological distress.