Impact of repetitive negative thinking on reactivity and recovery from physiological stress in clinical and non-clinical individuals

Abstract

• PNR is a factor associated with physiological stress measures such as HRV. • The presence of PNR does not necessarily alter the physiological reaction to acute stress, but recovery from stress does. • In clinical individuals, the presence of PNR impacts baseline and post-event HRV indices, possibly increasing the individual's allostatic load. • In non-clinical individuals, the relationship of the presence of PNR impacting recovery rates after stress induction was identified. • The replication of these results in other forms of stress induction (experimental and ecological) may reinforce the evidence of PNR as a mediator of stress expansion. Background The present study aimed to explore the association of repetitive negative thinking (RNT) and the physiological measure of heart rate variability (HRV). For this, we sought to understand whether the presence of induced stress by suggested negative thinking would change the HRV and to identify the differences in the HRV between the clinical (with and without RNT) and non-clinical (with and without RNT) groups. Method Sixty individuals participated (76.7% women, age M = 28.53; SD = 5.85). These were divided into two groups: control ( n = 30), without self-reported diagnosis of mental disorder (80% women, age M = 28.26; SD = 4.80) and clinical ( n = 30), with self-reported of mental disorder (73.30% women, age M = 28.80; SD = 6.82). Subsequently, the groups were subdivided according to the presence of RNT indicators. A stress induction was performed by evaluating the RNT scores using self-report instruments. The measurement of HRV occurred through an experimental protocol. Results The HRV was influenced by stress induction via suggested negative thought regardless of the presence of psychopathology. The presence of RNT did not change the reactivity to acute stress, but its recovery, showing a reduction in the HRV. Conclusions These results corroborate the perspective of stress expansion, indicating that individuals with RNT tend to cognitively persevere on the stressful event, prolonging the physiological response to stress and leading to allostatic load. It was concluded that the RNT is a potential vulnerability factor for the maintenance of physiological stress and, consequently, for psychopathology.