Abstract
The present study sought to compare the cognitive characteristics of depressive rumination and trauma recall in participants with high trait rumination and/or high levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), as well as in participants with normative levels of these variables. Specifically, we sought to compare the degree to which periods of depressive rumination and trauma recall were characterized by verbal-linguistic versus imagery-based activity and abstract versus concrete thought. We also explored whether these characteristics differed between participants with high trait rumination and/or high levels of PTSS, as well as participants with normative levels of trait rumination and PTSS. We found that for all participants, depressive rumination was characterized by increased verbal-linguistic activity, whereas trauma recall was characterized by increased imagery-based activity. We also found that individuals with both high trait rumination and high levels of PTSS evidenced lower levels of imagery-based activity during all repetitive thinking periods, as well as lower levels of concreteness during depressive rumination. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.
Highlights
The present study sought to compare the cognitive characteristics of depressive rumination and trauma recall in participants with high trait rumination and/or high levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), as well as in participants with normative levels of these variables
Depressive rumination was characterized by greater verballinguistic activity than was either trauma recall or a baseline mention period
Our results support Ehring and Watkins’ (2008) view that trauma recall has unique characteristics that distinguish it from other forms of RNT such as worry and depressive rumination
Summary
The present study sought to compare the cognitive characteristics of depressive rumination and trauma recall in participants with high trait rumination and/or high levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), as well as in participants with normative levels of these variables. We sought to compare the degree to which periods of depressive rumination and trauma recall were characterized by verbal-linguistic versus imagery-based activity and abstract versus concrete thought. When comparing worry and trauma recall, worry is characterized by a predominance of verballinguistic activity, whereas trauma recall is characterized by a predominance of imagery-based activity; this pattern of results is found both in an unselected sample and in a sample of individuals selected on the basis of generalized anxiety disorder symptoms and past trauma status (Behar et al, 2005) Together, these findings provide evidence for the verbal-linguistic nature of worry and depressive rumination and the imagery-based nature of trauma recall in individuals with elevated psychiatric symptoms and in individuals with a greater tendency to engage in RNT. Because abstract thoughts are decontextualized and do not contain situation-specific details (Trope & Liberman, 2003), individuals may interpret a single negative event as stable or global
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