Forms Of Repetitive Thinking Research Articles

Bi-factor model of repetitive thinking: Replication and extension

Repetitive negative thinking, including worry and rumination, is considered a transdiagnostic process that contributes to the development and persistence of psychopathology. Recently, Castro et al. (2022) investigated how both repetitive negative thinking and more adaptive repetitive thinking may be related each other. They found evidence for a bi-factor structure of repetitive thinking with both shared variance in repetitive thinking and unique variance specific to each form of repetitive thinking, specifically worry, rumination, and reflection. The present study replicated this bi-factor structure of repetitive thinking in a younger sample from the Netherlands (N = 3906). Additionally, biological sex did not alter bi-factor structure fit. The present findings provide additional evidence of a bi-factor structure of repetitive thinking, and future work should continue to explore the clinical relevance of repetitive thinking and its distinct forms.

Attentional scope, rumination, and processing of emotional information: An eye-tracking study.

Rumination is considered as a relatively maladaptive form of repetitive thinking that has a marked impact on mood. Individual differences in attentional scope have been proposed as an important mechanism rendering some individuals more prone to ruminate than others. The attentional scope model of rumination posits that rumination is related to a narrowed attentional scope, which may affect processing of neutral and emotional information. This study (n = 56) aimed to extend research on the relation between rumination and attentional scope while processing neutral, positive, and negative information. To assess attentional scope, a moving window task was applied which involved reading both neutral and emotional sentences. The result of reading rate indicated that individuals with higher levels of trait rumination showed a narrower attentional scope in general. In addition, the total reading time of individuals with higher levels of trait rumination was shorter when processing neutral and positive sentences through a constrained window frame, but this was not the case when processing negative sentences. These findings suggest that even though high trait ruminators use an overall constrained manner of processing, they may still process negative information differently compared to other types of information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Short-term affective consequences of specificity of rumination about unresolved personal goals

Background and objectivesRumination is a form of repetitive thinking that has been associated with both helpful and unhelpful consequences for mood and self-regulation. It has been suggested that the specificity of ruminative thought content may be one factor that determines whether state rumination about personal goals is adaptive. The present study tested the hypothesis that state rumination about unresolved personal goals is associated with unhelpful affective consequences only when rumination is low in specificity. MethodsWe measured the extent and specificity of uninstructed rumination following the cueing of resolved and unresolved personal goals using a 30-min go/no-go task with thought probes. Changes in state positive and negative affect from before to after cueing goals, and before to after rumination during the go/no-go task were assessed. ResultsCueing unresolved goals resulted in a significant increase in negative affect, and subsequent affective recovery during the go/no-go task. Cueing unresolved goals resulted in more goal-focused rumination than cueing resolved goals. When ruminative thoughts were low in specificity, rumination mediated the association between goal discrepancies and negative affect: greater rumination about unresolved goals significantly impaired affective recovery and perpetuated negative affect. LimitationsThe findings await replication in clinical populations, where rumination is more commonly associated with unhelpful outcomes. ConclusionsGreater levels of goal-focused rumination were associated with unhelpful affective consequences only when rumination was low in specificity. Specificity of thought content may be an important determinant of whether goal-focused rumination has helpful or unhelpful effects.

Response time as a proxy of ongoing mental state: A combined fMRI and pupillometry study in Generalized Anxiety Disorder

In Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), fluctuations in ongoing thoughts (i.e., mind-wandering) often take the form of rigid and intrusive perseverative cognition, such as worry. Here, we sought to characterise the neural correlates of mind-wandering and perseverative cognition, alongside autonomic nervous system indices of central arousal, notably pupil dilation. We implemented a protocol incorporating the dynamic delivery of thought-probes within a functional neuroimaging task. Sixteen individuals with GAD and sixteen matched healthy controls (HC) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging with concomitant pupillometry. Participants performed a series of low-demand tracking tasks, responding to occasional changes in a target stimulus. Such a task is typically accompanied by self-generated, off-task thinking. Thought-probes were triggered based on an individual's response time (RT) when responding to the change in the target. Subjective reports showed that long RT predicted off-task thinking/mind-wandering. Moreover, long RT and mind-wandering were also associated with larger pupil diameter. This effect was exaggerated in GAD patients during perseverative cognition. Within brain, during both pre-target periods and target events, there were distinct neural correlates for mind-wandering (e.g., anterior cingulate and paracingulate activation at target onset) and perseverative cognition (e.g., opposite patterns of activation in posterior cingulate and cerebellum at target onset in HC and GAD). Results suggest that not only attention systems but also sensory-motor cortices are important during off-task states. Interestingly, changes across the ‘default mode network’ also tracked fluctuations in pupillary size. Autonomic expression in pupillary changes mirrors brain activation patterns that occur during different forms of repetitive thinking.

A latent profile analysis of repetitive negative thinking: Distinguishing ruminators from worriers

Rumination (negative thinking about the past) and worry (anxious apprehension) are two forms of repetitive thinking associated with psychopathology. Prior research indicates that rumination and worry have both distinct and overlapping features, but the extent to which there are separable groups of individuals who engage in rumination, worry, or both has yet to be examined. We used latent profile analysis, a person-centered statistical technique, to examine profiles of repetitive thinkers in two samples ( ns = 635 and 755). In both studies, profiles emerged of individuals who rarely ruminate or worry ( low repetitive thinkers), individuals who primarily ruminate ( ruminators), individuals who primarily worry ( worriers), and individuals who frequently ruminate and worry ( high repetitive thinkers). In Study 2, a fifth profile of average repetitive thinkers also emerged. Across both samples, high repetitive thinkers showed the highest levels of depression and anxiety symptoms, followed by worriers and ruminators, and then by low repetitive thinkers. In Study 2, the average repetitive thinkers fell below the ruminators and worriers but above the low repetitive thinkers. Thus, there are distinct groups of ruminators and worriers, but individuals who engage in both rumination and worry exhibit the worst outcomes. As such, these findings support adopting a person-centered approach to better understand repetitive thinking styles.

Prediction of pre-exam state anxiety from ruminative disposition: The mediating role of impaired attentional disengagement from negative information

Rumination is a maladaptive form of repetitive thinking that enhances stress responses, and heightened disposition to engage in rumination may contribute to the onset and persistence of stress-related symptoms. However, the cognitive mechanisms through which ruminative disposition influences stress reactivity are not yet fully understood. This study investigated the hypothesis that the impact of ruminative disposition on stress reactivity is carried by an attentional bias reflecting impaired attentional disengagement from negative information. We examined the capacity of a measure of ruminative disposition to predict both attentional biases to negative exam-related information, and state anxiety, in students approaching a mid-term exam. As expected, ruminative disposition predicted state anxiety, over and above the level predicted by trait anxiety. Ruminative disposition also predicted biased attentional disengagement from, but not biased attentional engagement with, negative information. Importantly, biased attentional disengagement from negative information mediated the relation between ruminative disposition and state anxiety. These findings confirm that dispositional rumination is associated with difficulty disengaging attention from negative information, and suggest that this attentional bias may be one of the mechanisms through which ruminative disposition influences stress reactivity.

Cognitive bias modification for interpretation with and without prior repetitive negative thinking to reduce worry and rumination in generalised anxiety disorder and depression: protocol for a multisession experimental study with an active control condition

IntroductionWorry and rumination are two forms of repetitive thinking characterised by their negative content and apparently uncontrollable nature. Although worry and rumination share common features and have been conceptualised as...

Hemodynamic Profiles of Functional and Dysfunctional Forms of Repetitive Thinking.

The ability of the human brain to escape the here and now (mind wandering) can take functional (problem solving) and dysfunctional (perseverative cognition) routes. Although it has been proposed that only the latter may act as a mediator of the relationship between stress and cardiovascular disease, both functional and dysfunctional forms of repetitive thinking have been associated with blood pressure (BP) reactivity of the same magnitude. However, a similar BP reactivity may be caused by different physiological determinants, which may differ in their risk for cardiovascular pathology. To examine the way (hemodynamic profile) and the extent (compensation deficit) to which total peripheral resistance and cardiac output compensate for each other in determining BP reactivity during functional and dysfunctional types of repetitive thinking. Fifty-six healthy participants randomly underwent a perseverative cognition, a mind wandering, and a problem solving induction, each followed by a 5-min recovery period while their cardiovascular parameters were continuously monitored. Perseverative cognition and problem solving (but not mind wandering) elicited BP increases of similar magnitude. However, perseverative cognition was characterized by a more vascular (versus myocardial) profile compared to mind wandering and problem solving. As a consequence, BP recovery was impaired after perseverative cognition compared to the other two conditions. Given that high vascular resistance and delayed recovery are the hallmarks of hypertension the results suggest a potential mechanism through which perseverative cognition may act as a mediator in the relationship between stress and risk for developing precursors to cardiovascular disease.

Development and Validation of a Measure of Self-Critical Rumination.

Self-criticism is a form of negative self-evaluation that has strong associations with many forms of psychopathology. Rumination is a maladaptive form of repetitive thinking that is associated with many psychological disorders. Although measures of several different types of rumination (e.g., general rumination, depressive rumination, anger rumination) have been developed, none focuses specifically on self-critical rumination. An initial pool of items addressing self-critical rumination was developed by adapting items from existing rumination measures and through a writing task administered to both student and clinical samples. Following an evaluation of content validity, 24 items were administered to a large sample of undergraduates along with measures of related constructs. The final 10-item version of the Self-Critical Rumination Scale showed excellent internal consistency, a clear single-factor structure, convergent relationships with related constructs, and incremental validity over other measures of self-criticism and rumination in predicting both general distress and features of borderline personality disorder.

Are attentional control resources reduced by worry in generalized anxiety disorder?

This is the first study to examine attentional control capacities in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). GAD is characterized by uncontrollable worry. Individuals diagnosed with GAD and healthy participants (HPs) performed a random key-pressing task while thinking about a worrisome or a positive future event, to assess the extent to which attentional control resources are used by worry. Attentional control was also assessed when participants were not instructed to think about a specific topic using the N-back task, which varies in task difficulty, and therefore is sensitive to subtle differences in ability to handle increasing demands on attentional control within the same paradigm. GAD participants (but not HPs) were less random while worrying than thinking about a positive event during the key-pressing task, suggesting that worry consumed more attentional control resources in this population. During the N-Back task, GAD participants performed worse than HPs during the high load conditions only, indicating greater difficulty in sustaining focus on conditions requiring a higher degree of attentional control, even without concurrent task activity. Poor attentional control might underpin the difficulty of GAD individuals to stop worrying and switch to thinking more benign information. Further research could investigate whether worry consumes attentional control resources in other psychological disorders with high rates of worry (e.g., panic disorder, psychosis), as well as the extent to which attentional control is used by other forms of repetitive thinking, such as depressive rumination.

Pensées répétitives constructives et non constructives chez les perfectionnistes inadaptés

Les perfectionnistes inadaptes (PI) rapportent plus de symptomatologie depressive que les non perfectionnistes. La rumination pourrait etre un mediateur de cette relation. Par ailleurs, des etudes recentes suggerent d’elargir les recherches a d’autres formes de pensees repetitives et d’en distinguer deux formes, l’une constructive et l’autre non constructive, en fonction des processus qui les sous-tendent et de leurs consequences. La presente etude evalue la symptomatologie depressive et les pensees repetitives constructives et non constructives chez 25 perfectionnistes inadaptes et 24 non perfectionnistes. En accord avec nos hypotheses, les perfectionnistes inadaptes rapportent plus de symptomatologie depressive, plus de pensees repetitives non constructives et moins de pensees repetitives constructives. La structure de covariation des donnees est compatible avec l’hypothese selon laquelle les pensees repetitives non constructives sont un mediateur de la relation entre perfectionnisme et symptomatologie depressive. En revanche, les pensees repetitives constructives ne semblent pas etre un mediateur potentiel. Ces resultats soulignent l’importance de developper des interventions psychologiques qui ciblent les pensees repetitives dans la prise en charge du perfectionnisme.

Effects of rumination on intrusive memories: Does processing mode matter?

Background and objectivesExcessive rumination following traumatic or highly distressing experiences has been proposed to be an important maintaining factor of posttraumatic stress symptoms. However, not all forms of repetitive thinking about a negative event appear to be dysfunctional. It has been suggested that the abstractness of thinking is critical for its symptom-maintaining effects. The present study tested this hypothesis using an experimental analogue design with participants who had experienced a recent negative life event. MethodsAfter a short symptom provocation task, participants (N=57) wrote about their negative experience in either an abstract-evaluative or a concrete-experiential way. Intrusive memories were assessed during the session and in the first 36h after the session. ResultsIn line with the expectations, participants in the abstract-evaluative condition showed less reduction of intrusive memories during the experimental session than those in the concrete-experiential condition, and showed a slower recovery in the 36h following the session. LimitationsAn analogue design was used. Therefore, results need to be replicated with survivors of traumatic events following DSM-IV. ConclusionsTaken together, the results support the idea that abstractness of thinking is responsible for the dysfunctional effects of rumination about a highly distressing or traumatic event.

Dimensions of Negative Thinking and the Relations with Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety in Children and Adolescents

The current study sought to examine three forms of negative, repetitive thinking in non-clinical children and adolescents aged between 10 and 18. More specifically, this study addressed the degree to which stress-reactive rumination can be differentiated from other forms of repetitive thinking, such as emotion-focused rumination and worry, and the associations between the various indices of repetitive thinking and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Participants completed a battery of self-report questionnaires including measures of stress-reactive rumination, emotion-focused rumination, worry, and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Results showed that stress-reactive rumination, emotion-focused rumination and worry are related but distinct forms of repetitive negative thinking. Positive associations were found between all indices of repetitive thinking and symptoms of depression and anxiety, but the effects of emotion-focused rumination disappeared when controlling for the other forms of repetitive thinking. The findings are discussed in the light of current theories and previous research, and directions for future research are provided.