Briefly Assessing Repetitive Thought Dimensions

Assessment, 2015

Discrete forms of repetitive thought (RT), such as worry and reflection, can be characterized along basic dimensions of valence (positive vs. negative) and purpose (searching vs. solving). In addition, people can be characterized as high or low in their tendency to engage in RT. This dimensional model has been demanding to assess, and a smaller number of items that could stand in for a large battery would make measurement more accessible. Using four samples (N = 1,588), eight items that assess RT valence, purpose, and total in a circumplex model were identified. Across these and other samples, the dimensions were adequately reliable and valid with regard to assessment via large RT battery, other measures of RT, and depressive symptoms. The accessibility of dimensional assessment of RT using this smaller number of items should facilitate work on questions about the qualities of RT that predict mental and physical health.

Although repetitive thought (RT) styles such as worry, rumination, and processing correlate positively, they have divergent effects on well-being, suggesting important dimensional variation. In Study 1, multidimensional scaling identified 2 dimensions—positive versus negative content valence and searching versus solving purpose—among students (N 978) who completed standard RT measures. In Study 2, students (N 100) sorted 25 descriptions of RT. Multidimensional scaling identified 4 dimensions, including valence and purpose. Content valence associated with valenced affect; solving associated with less aroused affect and less polarized appraisals of thought topics. In Study 3, valence and purpose of RT descriptions by women in a breast cancer prevention trial (N 62) predicted concurrent affect and psychological and physical well-being. The process of thinking attentively, repetitively, or frequently about oneself and one's world forms the core of a number of different models of adjustment and maladjustment. Some models propose that this process, repetitive thought (RT), interferes with problem solving and mood repair, disrupts physiology, and may lead to physical disease. However, others propose that RT produces insight, positive changes in appraisal and meaning, and reduction in physiological disruption and health problems. The present research represents an empirical integration of these two views. We begin by briefly reviewing several types of RT and then propose dimensions along which RT might vary. We then present three empirical studies that demonstrate multidimensionality of RT on a trait and a state level and relate RT dimensions to personality, affect, adjustment, and health. Maladaptive RT Worry, rumination, and depressive rumination are characteristic of RT that increases negative affect, interferes with cognitive function and problem solving, and disrupts physiology and health. Worry typically consists of an internal linguistic focus on potential future negative events that is difficult to dismiss and is uncontrollable (Borkovec, Shadick, & Hopkins, 1991). It may develop as a means by which people try to increase control, certainty, and safety with regard to potential negative events, and personality correlates of worry include perfectionism and intolerance of un

Psychology and aging, 2010

Repetitive thought (RT) involves frequent or prolonged thoughts about oneself and one's world, encompassing discrete forms such as trait worry, rumination, processing, and reminiscing. These forms of RT can be described using 3 basic, underlying qualities: total propensity for RT of all types, valence (positive vs. negative content), and purpose (searching or uncertainty vs. solving or certainty). The adaptiveness of discrete forms with regard to health is likely to be related to these qualities, particularly valence and total propensity. The present study confirmed the model and identified the relationship of these qualities of RT to subjective psychological, physical, and cognitive health in older adults aged 60-94 (N = 179). As predicted, more negatively valenced trait RT was associated with worse psychological, physical, and cognitive health. More total propensity for RT was associated only with worse psychological health. Searching purpose was associated only with worse cog...

Anxiety, Stress & Coping, 2012

Repetitive thought (RT) -attentive, prolonged, or frequent thought about oneself and one's world -plays an important role in many models of psychological and physical ill health (e.g., rumination and worry), as well as models of recovery and well-being (e.g., processing and reminiscing). In these models, repetitive thought is typically treated as stable or trait-like. In contrast, episodic RT reflects what people have "on their minds" at a particular point in time. In four studies, young women (N = 94), college students (N = 166), first-year law students (N = 73), and older adults (N = 174) described their episodic RT, which was then rated for qualities including valence, purpose, and theme. Episodic RT valence was associated with mood and depressive symptoms both between (Studies 1-4) and within people (Studies 3-4), and it mediated the effects of dispositional coping through emotional approach (Study 1). The effect of episodic RT valence in turn was moderated by other properties of episodic RT, including purpose, "trait" valence, and theme . The study of episodic RT complements that of trait RT and allows for observations of how RT and psychological adjustment change in concert and in context, as well as examining the RT qualities that are not reflected in trait measures affecting adjustment.

Psychological Bulletin, 2008

The author reviews research showing that repetitive thought (RT) can have constructive or unconstructive consequences. The main unconstructive consequences of RT are (a) depression, (b) anxiety, and (c) difficulties in physical health. The main constructive consequences of RT are (a) recovery from upsetting and traumatic events, (b) adaptive preparation and anticipatory planning, (c) recovery from depression, and (d) uptake of health-promoting behaviors. Several potential principles accounting for these distinct consequences of RT are identified within this review: (a) the valence of thought content, (b) the intrapersonal and situational context in which RT occurs, and (c) the level of construal (abstract vs. concrete processing) adopted during RT. Of the existing models of RT, it is proposed that an elaborated version of the control theory account provides the best theoretical framework to account for its distinct consequences.

Assessment, 2017

Worry, rumination, and obsessive thinking are theorized to differ on temporal orientation, positive perceived function, degree of intrusiveness, and discordance with one's self-concept. However, prior findings with respect to such differences may be due to method variance of the measures used and/or inclusion of items confounded by diagnostic symptoms. Accurately capturing differences between types of perseverative thought linked to psychopathology and understanding whether such aspects are common across disorders or specific to some may be important to designing effective treatments for them. Two studies are presented detailing the development and validation of the Perseverative Cognitions Questionnaire (PCQ). The PCQ is a 45-item self-report measure that assesses six dimensional characteristics of worry, rumination, and obsessive thinking previously found to discriminate these thought styles: Lack of Controllability, Preparing for the Future, Expecting the Worst, Searching for Causes/Meaning, Dwelling on the Past, and Thinking Discordant with Ideal Self. Factor structure of the PCQ was established using principal components, exploratory factor, and confirmatory factor analyses. PCQ scales exhibited differential convergence with measures of perseverative thought and psychopathology. The PCQ also demonstrated acceptable retest correlations across 1- and 2-week periods, and incremental validity when predicting symptoms of anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive​ disorder.

Assessment, 2017

Worry, rumination, and obsessive thinking are theorized to differ on temporal orientation, positive perceived function, degree of intrusiveness, and discordance with one’s self-concept. However, prior findings with respect to such differences may be due to method variance of the measures used and/or inclusion of items confounded by diagnostic symptoms. Accurately capturing differences between types of perseverative thought linked to psychopathology and understanding whether such aspects are common across disorders or specific to some may be important to designing effective treatments for them. Two studies are presented detailing the development and validation of the Perseverative Cognitions Questionnaire (PCQ). The PCQ is a 45-item self-report measure that assesses six dimensional characteristics of worry, rumination, and obsessive thinking previously found to discriminate these thought styles: Lack of Controllability, Preparing for the Future, Expecting the Worst, Searching for Cau...

Cognitive Therapy and …, 2000

Worry and depressive rumination have both been described as unproductive, repetitive thought which contributes to anxiety or depression, respectively. It was hypothesized that repetitive thought, rather than its specific forms, is a general concomitant of negative mood. Study 1 was a cross-sectional test of the hypothesis. Repetitive thought was positively correlated with anxiety and depression in students (n ϭ 110). In patients (n ϭ 40), repetitive thought was positively correlated with anxiety and depression, and rumination was also specifically correlated with depression. Study 2 was a prospective test of the hypothesis. In students (n ϭ 90), there were significant crosssectional relationships between repetitive thought and both anxiety and depression. In addition, repetitive thought at least partially predicted maintenance of anxious symptoms. Phenomena such as goal interruption, failures of emotional processing, and information processing may lead to repetitive thought which increases negative mood states, including both anxiety and depression.

Collabra: Psychology

Recent theoretical advances have emphasized the commonality between rumination and worry, often referred to as repetitive negative thinking. Although not studied extensively, repetitive negative thinking may not only account for a substantial overlap between depression and anxiety symptoms but also encapsulate other constructs including one's tendency to experience unwanted intrusive thoughts or have low levels of mindfulness. In this study, 643 college students completed self-report questionnaire measures of repetitive negative thinking (the Habit Index of Negative Thinking) and other relevant constructs including rumination, worry, depression and anxiety symptoms, intrusive thoughts, and mindfulness. To analyze the data, we conducted systematic commonality analyses, which algebraically decomposed shared variances among these measures into various unique components. Results in Study 1 indicated that individual differences in repetitive negative thinking were explained largely by the overlap between rumination and worry, but also by some rumination-specific and worry-specific variance. Moreover, the shared variation in rumination and worry explained the frequencies of depression and anxiety symptoms and their overlap. We also found in Study 2 that repetitive negative thinking was positively related to intrusive thoughts and negatively related to mindfulness. These associations were mostly explained by shared variance with rumination and worry, but there was also some mindfulness-specific variance. These results suggest that repetitive negative thinking may indeed lie at the core of the comorbidity between depression and anxiety symptoms, but that it is also a broader construct that encompasses intrusive thoughts and low levels of mindfulness.

2013

Prior long exposure to control deprivation defined as "an effective or perceived inability to master the environment" (Ric & Scharnitzky, 2003: p. 103), leads to performance impairment (motivational and cognitive deficits) and emotional deficits (e.g., Sędek & Kofta, 1990; McIntosh, Sędek, Fojas, Brzezicka-Rotkiewicz & Kofta, 2006). This phenomenon has been called learned helplessness and is widely considered a model of some aspects of depressive dysfunctions, in terms of emotional (Rosenhan & Seligman, 1989) and cognitive deficits (von Hecker & Sędek, 1999; McIntosh et al., 2006). Repetitive thought (RT) defined as "process of thinking attentively, repetitively, or frequently about oneself and one's world" (Segerstrom, Stanton, Alden & Shortridge, 2003; p. 909) is a mental process that is commonly engaged by all people (Watkins, 2008). Such way of thinking bridges many topics in psychology: motivation, emotion, selfregulation or psychopathology. One of this psychological phenomenon where RT plays relevant role is depression. Depressive dysfunctions are proven to be strongly associated with maladaptive type of repetitive thought-depressive rumination (Nolen-Hoeksema,Wisco & Lyubomirsky, 2008; Watkins, 2008). Moreover, depressive rumination in conjunction with dysphoric mood or depression leads to negative effects like further exacerbating negative mood or impaired concentration (for review see Nolen-Hoeksema et al., 2008). On the other hand, there is a growing body of evidence that for non-depressive/dysphoric individuals repetitive thought in reaction to distress leads to positive, constructive effects (e.g., Hunt, 1997; Rivkin & Taylor 1999; for review see Watkins, 2008). Such pattern of results leads many researchers to claim that there are both constructive and unconstructive types of repetitive thought (Segerstrom et al., 2003; Watkins, 2008). Since learned helplessness syndrome is considered a model of some aspects of depression, there is an interesting question-whether the analogies between depression and learned helplessness apply also to the adopted type