Self-critical Thoughts Research Articles

Self-compassion mediates the link between dependency and depressive symptomatology in college students

Depression is highly prevalent among college students and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Dependency is among the known personality traits that predict an elevated risk for depression. Prior research has focused on the depressogenic role of self-critical thoughts among destructive overdependent (DO) individuals but has not considered other internal processes (such as self-compassion) that might influence mental health. The current report examined whether self-compassion had either moderating or mediating effects on the links between dependency and depression in college students. In a cross-sectional study, 85 college students completed measures of dependency, self-compassion, and depressive symptoms. Analyses suggested that self-compassion mediated both the effect of DO on depressive symptoms and the effect of healthy dependency (HD) on lower depressive symptoms; self-compassion did not moderate links between dependency and depressive symptoms. Our exploratory findings suggest that positive self-schema (in the form of self-compassion) may contribute to the downstream mental health effects of both adaptive HD and maladaptive DO.

The Role of Metacognition in Self-Critical Rumination: An Investigation in Individuals Presenting with Low Self-Esteem

© 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York. No research, to date, has directly investigated the role of metacognition in self-critical rumination and low self-esteem. The aims of this study are: to investigate the presence of metacognitive beliefs about self-critical rumination; the goal of self-critical rumination and its stop signal; and the degree of detachment from intrusive self-critical thoughts. Ten individuals reporting both a self-acknowledged tendency to judge themselves critically and having low self-esteem were assessed using metacognitive profiling, a semi-structured interview. All participants endorsed both positive and negative metacognitive beliefs about self-critical rumination. Positive metacognitive beliefs concerned the usefulness of self-critical rumination as a means of improving cognitive performance and enhancing motivation. Negative metacognitive beliefs concerned the uncontrollability of self-critical rumination and its negative impact on mood, motivation and perception of self-worth. The primary goal of engaging in self-critical rumination was to achieve a better or clearer understanding of a given trigger situation or to feel more motivated to resolve it. However, only four participants were able to identify when this goal had been achieved, which was if the trigger situation were not to occur again. Participants unanimously stated that they were either unable to detach from their self-critical thoughts or could do so some of the time with varying degrees of success. More often than not, though, self-critical thoughts were viewed as facts, would rarely be seen as distorted or biased, and could take hours or days to dissipate. These findings provide preliminary evidence that specific facets of metacognition play a role in the escalation and perseveration of self-critical rumination.

Identifying Client Emotional Signatures: Development of a New Scale

This article describes the development and refinement of the Annandale Emotional Signature Scale; a measure that was subsequently employed as part of a battery of tests to explore the validity of the constructs of abandonment and annihilation. The Annandale Emotional Signature Scale (AESS) was first developed and administered to undergraduate psychology students, followed by a group of practitioners who were aware of the abandonment and annihilation dimensions. Based on the results with these sample populations, the AESS scale was modified and administered to a clinical population. From these studies with three different samples, two highly reliable factors emerged from the AESS. The Abandon factor comprises items describing feelings of inadequacy, self-critical thinking, and pleasing behaviours that indicate anxiety and worry about over-responsibility and rejection by others. The Annihilate factor comprises items describing adverse and traumatic events from the past, as opposed to currently anxious feelings and self-critical thoughts. Overall, the results of these studies indicate that, in line with our initial clinical observations, two different dimensions in client profiles may be identified, each with their own characteristic signature of feelings, thoughts and behaviours, and childhood memories.

Pain analgesia among adolescent self-injurers

Although non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) involves self-inflicted physical harm, many self-injurers report feeling little or no pain during the act. Here we test: (1) whether the pain analgesia effects observed among adult self-injurers are also present among adolescents, and (2) three potential explanatory models proposing that habituation, dissociation, and/or self-criticism help explain the association between NSSI and pain analgesia among adolescents. Participants were 79 adolescents (12–19 years) recruited from the community who took part in a laboratory-based pain study. Results revealed that adolescent self-injurers have a higher pain threshold and greater pain endurance than non-injurers. Statistical mediation models revealed that the habituation and dissociation models were not supported; however, a self-critical style does mediate the association between NSSI and pain analgesia. The present findings extend earlier work by highlighting that a self-critical style may help to explain why self-injurers exhibit pain analgesia. Specifically, the tendency to experience self-critical thoughts in response to stressful events may represent a third variable that increases the likelihood of both NSSI and pain analgesia. Prospective experimental studies are needed to replicate and tease apart the direction of these associations, and may provide valuable leads in the development of effective treatments for this dangerous behavior problem.

Through the looking glass: self-reassuring meta-cognitive capacity and its relationship with the thematic content of voices.

Aims: To examine the self-critical thoughts and self-reassuring meta-cognitive capacity of those who hear voices and explore whether they are associated with the theme of voice content and appraisals of voice power and voice expressed emotion.Method: A cross-sectional design was used, combining semi-structured interviews and self-report measures. Data on symptomatology, self-critical thoughts and self-reassuring meta-cognitive capacity, thematic voice content, and appraisals of voice power and expressed emotion were collected from 74 voice-hearers in Birmingham, UK.Results: Common themes of voice content reflected issues of shame, control, and affiliation. Controlling content was the most prevalent theme, however, no significant predictor of this theme was found; shaming thematic voice content linked with reduced capacity to self-reassure following self-critical thoughts. Voice-hearers with the greatest level of self-critical thoughts appraised their voices as powerful and high in voice expressed emotion.Conclusions: Findings suggest that voice-hearers self-critical thoughts are reflected in the type of relationship they have with their voice. However, access to self-reassuring meta-cognitive capacity may serve as a protective factor for those who hear voices, resulting in more benign voice content. These findings highlight the importance of this specific meta-cognitive capacity and will inform future therapeutic interventions for the management of voices in this vulnerable group.

Nonsuicidal Self-Injury as a Predictor of Suicidal Behavior in Depressed Adolescents

Nonsuicidal Self-Injury as a Predictor of Suicidal Behavior in Depressed Adolescents

Self‐harm in a mixed clinical population: The roles of self‐criticism, shame, and social rank

This study explored the relationship of forms and functions of self-criticism, shame, and social rank variables to self-harm, depression, and anxiety. The study used a questionnaire design. In-patients and day-patients (N=73) completed a series of questionnaires measuring self-harm, mood, self-criticism, shame, and social comparison. Self-harm was significantly associated with forms and functions of self-criticism, shame, and feelings of inferiority (low social rank). The self-persecuting function of self-criticism was especially linked to self-harm, depression, and anxiety. This study adds to a growing literature on the importance of recognizing the pathogenic effects of negative self-critical thoughts and feelings about the self and the value of distinguishing different types of self-criticism.

Design and Development of a Telephone-Linked Care (TLC) System to Reduce Impulsivity among Violent Forensic Outpatients and Probationers

Forensic services face the challenge of reducing relapse among clients with a history of violent crime. An automated interactive voice response (IVR) service of the complex Telephone-Linked Care (TLC) type, with a focus on reducing impulsivity, could improve the adequacy of service responses to client needs. Theoretically based in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Motivational Interviewing (MI), the forensic TLC system offers interactive conversations on coping with the emotions of anger, shame and loneliness; activities of daily life such as getting out of bed, asking for help, visiting social services and taking medication; and other areas such as hearing voices, drinking alcohol and self-critical thoughts. We describe the user's flow through the system, with an in-depth synopsis of the hearing voices intervention. Issues regarding voluntary versus mandatory use of the system are addressed in connection with prospective introduction of the system in forensic settings.

The Patient Experience of Depression and Remission

Few depression measures were developed with the patient perspective. To obtain patient views on depression and early symptom resolution, 4 focus groups (N=31) were conducted. Patients also completed the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomology (Self-Report), SF-36, and a rating of the bothersomeness and significance of 12 symptoms of depression. Transcripts were reviewed for major themes. Irritability was a key symptom and it remitted earlier than others. Important to participants were low mood, low energy, lack of motivation, lack of focus/concentration, feelings of guilt, self-critical thoughts, feeling overwhelmed, lack of enjoyment, hypersomnia, restlessness, anger, and irritability. Gender differences emerged; most men reported irritability as one of the first symptoms to remit; for women, motivation level and energy commonly remitted first. Results suggest that new measures of treatment outcome should encompass irritability, anger, and ability to cope with life stressors.

Cognitive behavior therapy for menopausal hot flashes: Two case reports

Two case reports of women treated with an individual cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) for menopausal hot flashes are presented. Both women reported substantial improvements in the number of hot flashes experienced as well as in their quality of life as measured by the Menopause Quality of Life Scale (MENQOL), the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D), and the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (HAM-A). Improvements in hot flashes and quality of life were maintained 6 months after treatment ended. It is hypothesized that CBT reduces hot flashes by reducing central sympathetic activation, perceptions of stress, and self-critical thoughts. The long-term efficacy of CBT for hot flashes should be examined in large controlled clinical trials.

Self-focused attention in the treatment of social phobia

For those with social phobia, self-focused attention has been linked with impairment in social performance, increased social anxiety, and a higher frequency of self-critical thoughts during social situations. The purpose of this investigation was to assess correlates of changes in situational self-focus over the course of cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT). Focus of attention was assessed after in-session role-plays and after in vivo homework assignments during group CBT for social phobia. Analyses revealed a significant decrease in self-focused attention over time; focus on events and stimuli outside of the self remained unchanged. Treatment gains on anxiety during dyadic interactions, on negative self-judgments, and on personalized social fears were related to reduction in self-focused attention. Those with public speaking phobias showed a strong relationship between decreased self-focus and speech anxiety. These findings suggest that changes in self-focused attention during the course of CBT are related to important therapeutic gains. Specific interventions aimed at decreasing self-focus may be a useful treatment strategy.