Carleton University Professor Explains The Connection Between Goal Progress And Depression

Researchers Isabelle Leduc-Cummings, Marina Milyavskaya, Andrea Howard and Martin Drapeau explain the surprising link between goal-setting and depression.

By Mark Travers, Ph.D. | October 28, 2024

A new study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology explains that while goal progress positively influences commitment, self-efficacy and perceived support, depressive symptoms did not significantly affect goal progress over short 2-week intervals.

Long-term tendencies seemed more important than short-term changes in the relationship between depressive symptoms and goal pursuit.

I recently spoke to co-author Marina Milyavskaya—an Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology at Carleton University—about how depressive symptoms affect goal-setting, confidence and goal-progress. Here is a summary of our conversation.

What did your study reveal about the connection between goal progress and depressive symptoms?

This study looked at concurrent and reciprocal effects of depressive symptoms on goal progress and goal progress on depressive symptoms across multiple 2-week intervals after accounting for overall (personal average) levels of depressive symptoms and goal progress.

Contrary to expectations, we did not find that increased depressive symptoms predicted subsequent lower goal progress, nor that goal progress predicted lower depressive symptoms two weeks later.

Instead, those who reported greater depressive symptoms at any given time were more likely to report lower goal progress at the same time. Those who reported more depressive symptoms on average over the 12 weeks of the study also reported lower goal progress over that period.

This raises some more questions about the timeframe(s) over which depressive symptoms can affect people's goals and also how successfully pursuing goals could help with reducing depressive symptoms. More research is needed to get a better understanding of how goal pursuit is intertwined with the experience of depressive symptoms.

In what ways does social support enhance goal progress for individuals with depressive symptoms, and how does it boost their confidence?

Social support is generally beneficial for everyone (whether they have depressive symptoms or not), and it helps make progress across many different types of goals. Some types of support are especially helpful—when the supportive person takes a genuine interest and listens to how the goal pursuer wants to pursue their goals (rather than making suggestions or cheerleading), it leads the person pursuing the goal to feel more confident in their own abilities to attain their goal.

Do individuals with depressive symptoms pursue goals differently? Do the characteristics of the goals they pursue matter?

We examined these questions in two other papers (one published, one under review; both were part of Isabelle Leduc-Cummings' doctoral thesis, along with the paper discussed above).

In one paper, we found that higher depressive symptoms were associated with goals that were more 'have-to' and were focused on avoiding negative outcomes (replicating prior research that found similar results), as well as experiencing lower confidence in attaining one's goals.

In the second paper, however, we found that these variations in goal characteristics influenced goal progress to the same extent whether individuals had higher or lower depressive symptoms.

That is, the kinds of goals our participants (who were all undergraduate students) pursued did not seem to matter very much in the context of depressive symptoms: all goals were more or less (similarly) affected by depressive symptoms.

What advice would you offer to individuals with depressive symptoms on setting realistic goals that promote long-term improvement in their well-being?

Oftentimes, individuals with depressive symptoms focus their goals on things they want to avoid (e.g., "Don't miss the deadline," "Don't fail the class"). Such goals can be counterproductive for everyone, not just those with elevated depressive symptoms.

This is because such goals don't offer a concrete path forward (there are many ways to not fail at something, and you end up needing to be vigilant for threats) and often make us feel worse.

Reframing goals as positive things you want to attain is a good first step (e.g., rather than a goal of 'I want to feel less depressed,' you could set a goal of improving your mental health).

Even though they seem like they would be similar, the focus on approaching a positive outcome (rather than avoiding a negative one) provides an opportunity for a more concrete path forward, since it's easier to then figure out what steps need to be taken for goal progress to occur.

Another suggestion is breaking the goal into small steps and then making specific plans for when/where you will complete each step (e.g., every day after my morning coffee, I will go for a 20-minute walk). This automatizes goal pursuit and makes it more likely that the goal will be attained.