Cognition & Affective Disorders Lab
 Image by Victor Hughes |  Image by Bill Oxford |  ferkauf |
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Our Current Projects:
Cognitive Control & Vulnerability to Depression
Patients with depression often experience difficulties with thinking, which can remain even following depression improvement. The purpose of this study is to evaluate thinking difficulties across those with current depression, those with past depression, and those who have never been depressed, to help identify how thinking difficulties and depression are linked. This project is funded by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and conducted in collaboration with researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health / University of Toronto, the University of Calgary, and the University of British Columbia.
Meta-Analysis
We are currently working with collaborators at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and the University of Toronto on a meta-analysis of previously published research on the effect of depression on cognitive control biases. The meta-analysis will allow us to determine the magnitude of the effect and clinical and methodological variables that may influence the effect.
Stigma of Gambling Disorder
Fear of stigma is one of the most common reasons that individuals with gambling disorder report for not seeking treatment. The purpose of this research is to better understand beliefs that the general public holds about gambling disorder and factors that might influence stigma, to inform stigma reduction efforts.
Recent Publications:
Student co-authors underlined.
Horne, S. J., & Quigley, L. (2026). Subjective cognitive effort mediates the relationship between affective expectations and experienced pleasure in dysphoric and non‐dysphoric individuals. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65(1), 104-118. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjc.70007
Townsend, C., Kulke, M., Perkovic, S., Dobson, K. S., Lam, R. W., Quilty, L. C., & Quigley, L. (2025). Losing oneself: Lack of self in depression and its recurrence. Journal of Affective Disorders, 120952. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.120952
Quigley, L., Kulke, M., & Levin, K. (2025). The Ability Versus the Tendency to Decenter: Measurement and Associations with Mindfulness and Depersonalization Symptoms. Mindfulness, 16(12), 3660-3673. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-025-02720-7
Fernandez, A., Quigley, L., Dobson, K. S, & Sears, C. R. (2025). Testing the cognitive vulnerability in previously depressed women: Effects on attention and memory biases. Journal of Experimental Psychopathology, 16(2), 20438087251347673. https://doi.org/10.1177/20438087251347673
Quigley, L., Russell, K., Yung, C., Dobson, K. S., & Sears, C. R. (2024). Associations between attentional biases for emotional images and rumination in depression. Cognition & Emotion. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2024.2434158
Horne, S.J., Quigley, L. (2024). The Effects of Affective Expectations on Willingness to Expend Cognitive Effort in Dysphoric and Non-Dysphoric Individuals. Cog Ther Res. doi: 10.1007/s10608-024-10503-y
Quigley, L., Dobson, K.S., Russell, K. & Sears, C. R. (2024). Negative affective priming: Reliability and associations with depression symptoms in three samples. Behav Res, 56, 5086–5102. doi: 10.3758/s13428-023-02248-5
Quigley, L., Warren, J., Townsend, C. Features of depersonalization: An examination and expansion of the cognitive-behavioral model. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice,11(2), 193. doi: 10.1037/cns0000336
Capute, C., Quigley, L., & Bate, J. (2024). The influence of attachment style on support and feedback seeking and depression severity among mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 63, 295–314. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjc.12458
Quigley, L. Gambling Disorder and Stigma: Opportunities for Treatment and Prevention. Curr Addict Rep 9, 410–419 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-022-00437-4
Laposa, J. M., Katz, D. E., Lisi, D. M., Hawley, L. L., Quigley, L., &Rector, N. A. (2022). Longitudinal changes in intolerance ofuncertainty and worry severity during CBT for generalizedanxiety disorder. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 91, Article102623. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2022.102623
Quigley, L., Thiruchselvam, T., & Quilty, L. C. (2022). Cognitive control biases in depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 148(9-10), 662–709. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000372
Fernandez, A., Quigley, L., Dobson, K., & Sears, C. (2022). Coherence of attention and memory biases in currently and previously depressed women. Cognition and Emotion, 36(7), 1239–1254. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2022.2099348
Nelson, A. L., Quigley, L., Carriere, J., Kalles, E., Smilek, D., & Purdon, C. (2022). Avoidance of mild threat observed in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) using eye tracking. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 88, 102577. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2022.102577
Quilty, L. C., Quigley, L., & Dobson, K. S. (2022). Canadian contributions to cognitive behavioural therapy for depression. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 54(2), 132-141. https://doi.org/10.1037/cbs0000293
Levin, K.K., Gornish, A. & Quigley, L. (2022) Mindfulness and Depersonalization: A nuanced relationship. Mindfulness, 13, 1479 – 1489. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-022-01890-y
Horne, S.J., Topp, T.E., & Quigley L. (2021) Depression and the willingness to expend cognitive and physical effort for rewards: A systematic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 88, 102065. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2021.102065
Wen, A., Quigley, L., Yoon, K. L., & Dobson, K. S. (2021). Emotion Regulation Diversity in Current and Remitted Depression. Clinical Psychological Science, 9(4), 563-578. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702620978616