Search

Background: Repetitive negative thinking is conceptualized to be a transdiagnostic process linked to the development and maintenance of psychopathology. Prior research distinguishes between disorder-specific exemplars (worry, rumination) and transdiagnostic measures of repetitive negative thinking with differences across disorders reported. However, establishing the measurement invariance of these measures is necessary to support meaningful comparisons across clinical groups. Method: Bayesian structural equation modelling was used to assess the approximate invariance of the Ruminative Response Scale, Penn State Worry Questionnaire, and the Repetitive Thinking Questionnaire across individuals with a principal diagnosis of either depressive disorder, social anxiety disorder, or generalized anxiety disorder. Results: All scales demonstrated approximate measurement invariance across the three disorder groups. The depressive disorder group reported a higher level of rumination than the generalized anxiety disorder group (Δµ = 0.25, 95% Credibility Interval [0.06, 0.45]), with no difference between the generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder groups. The depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder groups did not differ in their levels of trait repetitive negative thinking, but the social anxiety disorder group was markedly lower than the generalized anxiety disorder group (Δµ = −0.21 [−0.37, −0.05]). Similarly, levels of worry did not differ between the generalized anxiety disorder and depressive disorder group but were lower in the social anxiety disorder group than the generalized anxiety disorder group (Δµ = −0.23 [−0.41, −0.06]). Conclusions: The Ruminative Response Scale, Penn State Worry Questionnaire, and Repetitive Thinking Questionnaire are measuring trait repetitive negative thinking in a consistent manner across individuals with a principal diagnosis of depressive disorder, social anxiety disorder, or generalized anxiety disorder. This supports their use in transdiagnostic contexts and indicates that it is appropriate to directly compare the scores on these measures between diagnostic groups.

Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) and addictive Facebook use have been shown to be associated with suicide ideation and suicidal behavior. The present longitudinal study aimed to investigate whether the association between addictive Facebook use and suicide-related outcomes is mediated by RNT. Data of 191 German Facebook users (Mage = 26.17, SDage = 6.63) were assessed at two measurement time points over a one-year period (first measurement = T1, second measurement = T2) via online surveys. The significant positive association between addictive Facebook use (T1) and suicide-related outcomes (T2) was significantly mediated by RNT (T1). In contrast, a check test that included RNT (T1) as predictor and addictive Facebook use (T1) as mediator revealed no significant mediation effect. The current results demonstrate that if addictive Facebook use leads to RNT suicide ideation and attempts become likely. Therefore, RNT and addictive Facebook use should be taken into account when assessing individuals for risk of suicide.

Repetitive thinking (RT) has been defined as prolonged, recurrent thought about oneself and one’s experiences. Recent studies have shown that various measures of RT load onto a common factor and predict symptoms of depression and anxiety. The relationship with mania symptoms, however, remains underexplored. The current study examined the common versus unique variance across a wide range of measures of RT, and the relationship between measures of RT and symptoms of anxiety, depression, and mania. Participants (N = 2088) were recruited from the United States, Australia, and the Netherlands. Participants were administered various measures of RT and measures of depression, anxiety, and mania symptoms. Single and bifactor models were examined. A bifactor model—accounting for both a common factor and unique variance within each measure—explained the data well, indicating that disorder specific measures of RT can be combined to measure a higher order RT factor. The common factor also significantly correlated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and mania. Our findings indicate that combining measures of RT can help public health researchers predict not only depression and anxiety, but also symptoms of mania.

Research suggests that psychological stress is associated with insomnia, but there is limited research on vulnerabilities that might amplify this association, particularly in college students. Based on a sample of 507 undergraduates, the current study demonstrates that the observed positive correlation between self-perceived stress and insomnia severity is moderated by the tendency to engage in repetitive negative thinking (RNT) at bedtime. Additionally, separate analyses of those who scored below/above the threshold for insomnia (non-insomniacs vs. insomniacs) revealed that the interaction between stress and these negative bedtime cognitions differed qualitatively between the two groups. In insomniacs, the stress-insomnia relationship was dampened for those with lower levels of bedtime RNT, but amplified for those with higher levels. For non-insomniacs, the stress-insomnia relationship was stronger for those with minimal bedtime RNT, while higher levels of bedtime RNT appeared to overshadow this association. To develop a better understanding of the contribution of stress and RNT to clinically relevant levels of insomnia, future studies should take into account the dissimilar patterns of moderation seen in non-insomniacs and insomniacs, either through prospective screening or separate analyses. Findings from the current study suggest that insomnia treatments that can simultaneously reduce stress and address bedtime RNT may be optimal.

Emotion regulation (ER) strategies (i.e., reappraisal, suppression) and repetitive negative thinking (RNT) tendencies (i.e., brooding rumination, worry) are transdiagnostic and contribute to the maintenance of internalizing psychopathologies. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are both effective in reducing symptom severity, however, their impact on ER and RNT is unclear. Therefore, the goal of the current study was to examine whether CBT and SSRIs improved ER and RNT in a transdiagnostic sample. The current sample comprised 91 patients with anxiety, depression, and/or posttraumatic stress disorder randomly assigned to receive either CBT (n = 45) or an SSRI (n = 46) and 49 healthy controls as a comparator group. Patients completed measures of clinical symptoms, reappraisal, suppression, brooding rumination, and worry before and after treatment. Controls completed the same measures at baseline. Compared to controls, patients reported greater symptom severity, suppression, brooding, and worry, and less reappraisal. Both treatments improved symptom severity, ER, and RNT. However, patients who completed CBT reported greater improvement in reappraisal than patients who completed treatment with an SSRI. Finally, change in RNT, but not ER, was associated with symptom improvement. Findings suggest treatment improves ER and RNT and provides preliminary evidence of a treatment modality effect on reappraisal.

Our thoughts impact our mental health and there is a distinction between thought content (what we think) and thought process (how we think). Habitual thinking has been proposed as one such process. Habits, which are cue-dependent automatic responses, have primarily been studied as behavioural responses. The current scoping review investigated the extent to which the thinking patterns important for mental health have been conceptualized as habits. Using systematic search criteria and nine explicit inclusion criteria, this review identified 20 articles and 24 empirical studies examining various mental habits, such as negative self-thinking, self-criticism, and worry. All of the included empirical studies examined maladaptive (negative) mental habits and no study investigated adaptive (positive) mental habits. We categorized the characteristics of each study along several dimensions including how mental habits were defined, measured, and which constructs were studied as habitual. Although mental habits appear to be relevant predictors of mental health, habitual thinking has not been well-integrated with psychological constructs related to mental health, such as automatic thoughts. We discuss the implications of mental habits for future research and clinical practice.

There is a well-established relationship between self-criticism and depression. This cross-sectional study investigated the roles that rumination, worry, and fears of compassion for self and from others play in this relationship. Undergraduate students and community participants (N = 417; 68% female; mean age 21.42 years [SD = 6.45]) completed online self-report questionnaires measuring self-criticism, depression, rumination, worry, and fears of self-compassion and receiving compassion from others. It was hypothesized that self-criticism would predict depression, partially mediated by rumination and worry, and moderated by fears of compassion for self and from others. The indirect effects of self-criticism on depression through rumination and worry were found to be conditional on levels of fears of compassion for self and from others. Fears of compassion for self and from others magnified the impact of self-criticism on rumination and rumination on depression; and fears of compassion from others magnified the impact of self-criticism on worry. These findings suggest that having high fears of compassion for self and from others potentiates the effect of self-criticism and repetitive negative thinking on depression. Fears of compassion from others and for oneself should be assessed and addressed alongside phenomena such as self-criticism and rumination when working with depression.

Life has a strange way to unfold. Anything that exists on this Earth comes out of action, but the action only derives its fruits if it’s aligned with your inner world. Adverse situations in life will happen despite all the precautions and safeguards we put in place, in an attempt to prevent or at best avoid their effects. In this, people must concentrate on how to react and control the emotions in this situation. How to overcome negative thinking with the positive one? Positive thinking just means that you approach unpleasantness in a more positive and productive way. Visual Art can be a refuge for intense emotions and illness in adverse situations. Visual art draws people’s attention to details and the environment, which creates a distraction from day-to-day thoughts. No matter whether people chose visual arts to create for ourselves or simply observe or enjoy it.

Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is a transdiagnostic feature of psychiatric disorders. Women report greater RNT than do men, yet the association between uniquely female characteristics, such as fluctuating sex hormones during the menstrual cycle, and RNT has not been established. Here we examined changes in RNT and anxiety symptoms across the menstrual cycle in women with ( n = 40) and without ( n = 41) generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Women with GAD reported an increase in RNT and negative affect from the follicular phase to the luteal phase; unexpectedly, this was not associated with changes in anxiety symptoms, estradiol, or progesterone. Nonanxious women reported no changes in RNT or anxiety symptoms over the menstrual cycle, but higher within-participants progesterone was associated with reduced RNT and negative affect. These results indicate that uniquely female biological processes may influence core cognitive processes that underlie anxiety disorders, but further investigations to determine the implications for symptom severity are required.

Objective: The study’s goal has been to know the feelings of women before the diagnosis of breast cancer and the need for mastectomy, identifying their support network in coping with the disease. Methods: It is a descriptive-exploratory study with a qualitative approach. A script with semi-structured questions was used for data collection and the data arrangement occurred through content analysis. Results: There were ten mastectomized women residing in Chapecó city, Santa Catarina State. The feelings about the cancer diagnosis ranged from despair and fear of death, up to the effort to overcome it. Regarding the feelings associated with experiencing the mastectomy, the shock came out, also negative thinking, understanding of the need to removing the breast and resilience. The support networks were described mainly as family, friends, and faith. Conclusion: When facing the diagnosis, women come up with many uncertainties; therefore, it is necessary stimulating health professionals to support women in the disease coping process.

Worry and rumination, two forms of repetitive negative thinking (RNT), are prevalent in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and depression. Cognitive processing biases, especially the tendency to draw negative conclusions from ambiguous information (interpretation bias), may maintain worry and rumination. Yet the relationship between interpretation bias and both forms of RNT has not been explored in clinical versus nonclinical samples. In this cross-sectional study, participants with GAD ( n = 72), depression ( n = 79), or neither disorder ( n = 71) completed two tasks assessing interpretation bias, measures of worry and rumination, and reported negative thought intrusions during a behavioral task. Interpretation bias was associated with higher levels of worry, rumination, and negative thought intrusions. Both clinical groups generated significantly more negative interpretations than healthy comparison participants. These findings link interpretation bias to worry and rumination and establish the need for research investigating the causal role of interpretation bias in maintaining RNT.

Improving on previous measures, we developed a multidimensional measure of relationship evaluation processes (REPs). In Study 1 ( N = 523), we used exploratory factor analysis to identify the following eight dimensions: personal standards, social comparison, upward social comparison, past comparison, upward past comparison, feedback, negative behavior, and feared future. In Study 2 ( N = 469), we used a more diverse sample to confirm the factor structure. In both studies, bivariate correlations suggested that people who more frequently engage in REPs tend to have lower relationship satisfaction. Negative behavior and feared future were strong predictors of relationship dissatisfaction in both studies; Study 2 showed that these factors mediate the relationship between neuroticism and satisfaction. The present research moves the literature beyond its focus on personal standards and social comparison to consider the important roles of other REPs.

The metacognitive formulation of addictive behaviours considers repetitive negative thinking (RNT) and metacognitive beliefs as two important processes involved in the development and maintenance of addictive behaviours. To date, very limited research has investigated the implication of these processes in problematic cannabis use. The present study was aimed at exploring the association between RNT, metacognitive beliefs, and cannabis use in a sample of 157 problematic cannabis users. Participants were administered measures of cannabis use severity, RNT, metacognitive beliefs, anxiety, and depression. Multiple regression analysis showed that metacognitive beliefs (cognitive confidence, beliefs about the need to control thought, and cognitive self-consciousness) were independent predictors of problematic cannabis use and related problem severity when controlling for RNT and negative affect (anxiety and depression). Furthermore, RNT predicted problematic cannabis use severity only for users with low levels of negative beliefs about thoughts concerning uncontrollability and danger. These data suggest that metacognitive beliefs and RNT may be two relevant cognitive processes for understanding problematic cannabis use. More generally, it enables the consideration of cannabis use from the perspective of self-regulation theories, and more specifically cognitive regulation, thus offering several theoretical and clinical implications.

The present study examined the influence of several forms of repetitive negative thinking on antisocial and borderline symptoms to identify underlying mechanisms that may contribute to the presentation and cooccurrence of these symptoms. Participants (N = 403), completed the Personality Assessment Inventory, the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4, and several measures of rumination/worry. Path analyses were conducted in which different forms of rumination/worry predicted antisocial and borderline symptoms across two personality disorder measures. Across both models tested, anger rumination emerged as the strongest predictor of both antisocial and borderline symptoms while worry negatively predicted antisocial symptoms. Rumination and worry explained substantially more variance in borderline symptoms compared to antisocial symptoms. This study is the first study to examine antisocial symptoms in relation to forms of rumination/worry and highlights the differential relations of rumination/worry to antisocial and borderline symptoms using a multi-measure approach. Further, this study highlights the importance of examining types of repetitive negative thinking, specifically rumination, as potential transdiagnostic processes.

Habitual thinking may underpin a heightened disposition to engage in rumination in response to negative mood, a widely held notion that has rarely been directly tested. The purpose of the current study was to investigate whether rumination is associated with habitual attributes and whether it is related to an imbalance in habit relative to goal-directed behavior control. University students (N=115) completed self-report questionnaires, a rumination induction paradigm and an outcome devaluation task that measures habitual vs goal-directed behavior control. Greater habitual characteristics of negative thinking (e.g., automaticity, lack of conscious awareness, control, and intent) were associated with ruminative brooding but not ruminative reflection and predicted more persistent dysphoric mood following rumination induction. Rumination was not, however, consistently associated with an imbalance in habit versus goal-directed behavior control. These findings indicate that depression vulnerability may be in the form of rumination being habitually triggered (without awareness or intent) with deleterious effects on mood. Although habitual, rumination may not be related to an imbalance in habit relative to goal-directed behavior control. These findings provide support for current theoretical accounts of rumination and set important boundary conditions in the search for specific factors that contribute to rumination as a habit.

Background: Schema Therapy mode formulations have recently been extended to a range of chronic, treatment-resistant psychological disorders. Aim: The aim of this study was to examine whether two forms of repetitive negative thinking (rumination and worry) can be conceptualised as a maladaptive coping mode, we term the “over-analysing” mode, consistent with Young's schema mode model, which serves to distance individuals from distressing emotional states. Methodology: Two online survey studies were conducted in community populations: study one (n = 109) investigated the relationship between schema modes, worry, and experiential avoidance. Study two (n = 129) extended the findings to include, in addition to schema modes and experiential avoidance, rumination and repetitive negative thinking. Results: Correlational analyses supported all hypothesised relationships across both studies. Mediation analyses across both studies identified a model in which the relationship between angry and vulnerable child modes, and worry, rumination, and repetitive negative thinking, respectively, was mediated by experiential avoidance. Conclusion: These findings conceptually support the addition of a new “over-analysing” coping mode, which serves an avoidant function through repetitive negative thinking (a central component of mood and anxiety disorders) to the schema mode model. Generalisability of results is limited through the use of a cross-sectional design and a heterogeneous, nonclinical sample. Further examination of the “over-analysing” mode may enhance Schema Therapy conceptualisations, particularly in the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders. Moreover, emotion-focused techniques found to be successful in Schema Therapy for personality disorders (e.g., imagery rescripting, chair-techniques) may be relevant to modifying maladaptive schemas thoughts to underlie repetitive negative thinking processes such as worry and rumination.

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) refers to purposely injuring one’s body without suicidal intent via methods such as cutting or hitting oneself, and is a serious health concern that has been linked to detrimental behavioral and physical health consequences. One of the primary reasons that people report engaging in NSSI is that it appears to help them cope with intense affective states and upsetting thoughts, both of which they perceive as unbearable at the time. However, empirical investigation into the affective and cognitive states preceding NSSI has been limited, especially during daily life. The current study utilized ecological momentary assessment to measure multiple daily recordings of negative affect, repetitive negative thinking (RNT), and NSSI thoughts and behaviors among a community sample of adolescents and young adults (N = 47). Findings indicated that anxiety and feeling overwhelmed predicted NSSI most strongly when RNT was elevated, suggesting that these three factors may interact in a process creating an aversive affective state that self-injurers attempt to “escape” by engaging in NSSI.

Extant research has found a significant overlap between various repetitive negative thinking (RNT) patterns, such as rumination and worry, across different affective disorders implicating that the process of repetitive negative thinking is likely trans-diagnostic. Furthermore, RNT patterns at the core of psychiatric disorders associated with suicide (e.g., rumination and worry) have been found to be associated with suicide even after accounting for the disorder. A synthesis of existing literature on repetitive negative thoughts suggest that following negative emotional experiences, RNTs may lead to a sense of entrapment and hopelessness that may contribute to the onset of suicidal ideation and then facilitate the transition from thinking about suicide to making a suicide attempt by increasing an individual's capability for suicide through repetitive exposure to violent thoughts and imagery associated with suicide.

Psychological reactions to pandemics and their constraints depend heavily on personality. Although perfectionism is consistently associated to depression, anxiety and stress, its role in the pandemics' psychological impact has not been yet empirically studied. Our aim was to analyze the role of perfectionism in psychological distress during the pandemic of COVID-19, testing whether it is mediated by fear of COVID-19 and repetitive negative thinking/RNT. Participants (N = 413 adults; 269.2% women) were recruited from September until December 2020, via social networks. They completed self-report validated questionnaires to evaluate perfectionism dimensions (self-critical, rigid and narcissistic perfectionism), fear of COVID-19, RNT and psychological distress (sum of anxiety, depression and stress symptoms). As women had significantly higher levels of self-critical perfectionism, RNT, fear of COVID-19 and psychological distress, gender was controlled in mediation analysis. The three perfectionism dimensions correlated with RNT, fear of COVID-19 and psychological distress. The effect of self-critical perfectionism on psychological distress was partially mediated by fear of COVID-19 and RNT whereas the effect of rigid and narcissistic perfectionism was fully mediated. Perfectionism influences emotional and cognitive responses to the COVID-19 and therefore should be considered both in the prevention and psychological consequences of the pandemic.

BACKGROUND: loneliness is a common experience for adolescents, yet the voices of adolescents are missing from current conceptualisations of loneliness. That means, measures that have been created based on current conceptualisations may miss important contexts of adolescence, such as the roles of friendships, that determine the way loneliness is experienced. The current study aims to centre adolescent voices to identify how they conceptualise loneliness and what strategies they consider to be useful for adolescents to cope with loneliness. METHOD: thematic framework analysis (TFA) was conducted on qualitative interviews with young people aged 8-14 years in Belgium and Italy to identify salient themes in their conceptualisations of loneliness. RESULTS: Loneliness was conceptualised as a negative emotional state involving negative thinking patterns that occurs when an individual perceives they are missing out on a desired aspect in their social relationships. Coping strategies related to alleviating negative affect, and aiding social reconnection. CONCLUSIONS: friendships with peers were understood to be central to adolescent loneliness experiences. In line with that, loneliness was seen to be experienced at school. Age-related differences in friendship expectations were identified, highlighting how developmental needs relate to the loneliness experience. ispartof: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH vol:18 issue:22 ispartof: location:Switzerland status: published

It is not clear if treatments for anxiety specifically targeting repetitive negative thinking (RNT: rumination, worry, and content-independent perseverative thinking) have a specific effect on RNT resulting in better outcomes than other psychological and nonpsychological treatments. We conducted a systematic search of randomized controlled trials comparing RNT-focused and non-RNT-focused psychological treatments, as well as nonpsychological treatments for anxiety with control groups and reporting outcomes on RNT. Inclusion criteria were met by 46 studies with a total of 3,194 participants. RNT-focused and non-RNT-focused psychological treatments had comparable effects on RNT, and level of anxiety and changes in RNT and anxiety were highly associated across treatments. Further mediation and mechanistic studies to test whether reductions in RNT during RNT-focused cognitive behavioral therapy predict subsequent reductions in anxiety are called for.

Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is a transdiagnostic process associated with numerous emotional disorders. Most measures of RNT are disorder-specific, limiting utility in comorbid populations. Transdiagnostic measures of RNT have been developed in adults and are associated with anxiety and depression. However, a transdiagnostic measure is needed to assess RNT in adolescents as a potential vulnerability factor for emotional disorders. This study validates a transdiagnostic measure of RNT—Repetitive Thinking Questionnaire–10 (RTQ-10)—in adolescents ( N = 840, Mage = 15.7 years). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a unidimensional structure. The RTQ-10 manifested good internal consistency and measurement invariance across genders and age. RNT was equally associated with anxiety and depression symptoms irrespective of gender or age. Convergent validity was demonstrated by correlations with disorder-specific measures of RNT. These findings support the RTQ-10 as a reliable and valid transdiagnostic measure of RNT in adolescents.

This article applies psychological-sociological accounts of the ‘apophatic’, a form of negative thinking, to examples of gaming practices to conceptualise a new theory of videogame consumption. It challenges the prevailing notion that the games consumer is always a ‘cataphatic’ thinker – that is, an activistic, rational-pleasure seeker – and looks to the ‘sorrows’ of gaming to find evidence of its more undesirable nature. The term ‘apophatic’ is characterised as an attempt to de-value the rational value purportedly placed on gaming practices. ‘Griefing’ other players is a good example of this apophatic ethic, where players derive value from the subversion of serious play through the disruption and destruction of other players’ game worlds. The struggle with ‘failure’ is another. As such, the article concludes with a reflection on the almost unsayable nature of videogame consumption, and suggests that consumer value may be derived from its more negative, spiritual-like aspects.

Background: In China, parents whose only-child dies and who have no living or adopted child are called Shidu parents. Negative thinking is assumed to contribute to the development of emotional problems in bereavement. Because grief cognitions are likely influenced by the concepts of Chinese traditional culture (e.g., family continuation), Shidu parents may hold specific culture-related grief beliefs about themselves or the world, which, in turn, could impede their recovery. Objective: This study developed a questionnaire assessing the culture-related grief beliefs of Shidu parents and examined its psychometric properties. Methods: This newly developed questionnaire was administered to the combined sample of 313 Shidu parents. Exploratory (n = 164) and confirmatory factor analysis (n = 149) were conducted. Psychometric properties of the questionnaire were evaluated. Results: Exploratory factor analysis revealed three distinct factors (filial piety belief, destiny belief and perceived stigma), generating a nine-item culture-related grief beliefs of Shidu parents questionnaire (CBSQ). Confirmatory factor analysis verified the three-factor structure (χ2(24) = 39.103, p = 0.027, χ2/df = 1.630, CFI = .980, TLI = .970, RMSEA = .065, SRMR = .052). Internal consistency and temporal stability were adequate. Convergent, discriminant and concurrent validity were supported. Conclusions: This study highlights the importance of extending the concept of grief cognitions to include culture-specific beliefs, and provides a first measurement tool to assess culture-related grief beliefs after only-child loss, which can be used in future research with Shidu parents. • In China, parents whose only-child dies are called Shidu parents. Negative cognitions are assumed to contribute to the development of emotional problems in bereavement. This study highlights the importance of extending the concept of grief cognitions to include culture-specific beliefs. If cognitive grief theories are correct in assuming a contribution of grief cognitions to the development of maladaptive grief response, modification of culture-related grief beliefs should promote adjustment to loss in Shidu parents.• This study provides a first measurement tool to assess culture-related grief beliefs after only-child loss, which comprises the three dimensions filial piety belief, destiny belief and perceived stigma. These subscales reflect common culture-related beliefs experienced by Shidu after the loss of their only-child.• The culture-related grief beliefs of Shidu parents questionnaire (CBSQ) has good reliability and validity in China and can be used for future Shidu research.

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.

There are many reasons why we think negatively. We may have low self-worth, low self-confidence or low self-esteem; we might be self-critical or self-blaming; we could have depression or a mental or physical health condition; or it might be a learned behaviour habit or life script.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The transdiagnostic view of repetitive negative thinking (RNT) claims that different forms of RNT are characterized by identical processes that are applied to disorder-specific content. The purpose of the study was to test whether the processes of RNT differ across major depression disorder (MDD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).; METHODS: Forty-two individuals diagnosed with MDD, 35 individuals with GAD, 41 individuals with OCD, and 35 community controls were asked to think of a typical RNT episode and to rate its processes (core processes; use of mental capacity, unproductivity, abstractness, verbal quality, duration). Ratings were compared across groups using planned contrasts and analysis of variance.; RESULTS: All individuals with a clinical diagnosis rated the key processes of RNT and avoidance function of RNT as higher than healthy controls. There were no differences between individuals diagnosed with MDD, GAD or OCD on key processes and avoidance function of RNT.; LIMITATIONS: Results are based on retrospective self-reports, which might restrict validity of the measurements.; CONCLUSIONS: Data support the transdiagnostic hypothesis of RNT. Transdiagnostic prevention and intervention techniques seem highly recommendable given these findings. Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Background: The positive emotions are important to the science of well-being simply because positive emotions are markers of optimal well-being. The positive emotions produce optimal functioning, not just within the present but over the long term as well and also as a means to achieving psychological growth and improved psychological and physical well-being over time. Methods: It was a cross sectional study conducted in a tertiary hospital of New Delhi. The aim was to study the satisfaction with life and positive/negative emotions. A total of 170 subjects were enrolled randomly from out-patient department (OPD) patients (85 patients and 85 who were apparently healthy and did not have any complaint related to health). They were assessed with pre- tested questionnaire. Comparisons between patients and controls were done using chi-square test and p

This study is intended to look for implications through longitudinal exploratory research on the change of children's problem behaviors for their temperament and parenting behaviors. The results are as follows. The factors influencing children's problem behaviors rose to 62 factors between 1990 and 2000, and 93 factors between 2000 and 2010 from total 41 factors between 1970 and 1990, which they were more than doubled after the 2000s compared with the earlier studies, subdividing children's problem behaviors. The proportion of the factors influencing children's problem behaviors showed that parents' moral thinking had the highest, and their negative thinking or emotion for children were higher than their moral thinking, which their problem behaviors were more greatly affected by parenting attitudes toward them than their own temperament or attitudes. The earlier studies were more likely to find the cause of children's problem behaviors for looking into the factors and causes influencing children's problem behaviors in terms of children's personal mental health, but there was more proportion of social environment, peer and teacher relationship while soaring family, relationship, home environment and child care center environment factors as well as children's personal factors after the 2000s. Consequently, the alternative resources or the environments of the times should be applied in other ways.

An example of training Counseling Psychology graduate students in integrating science and practice is detailed through the presentation of the development, implementation, and evaluation of a Cognitive Information Processing approach-based career counseling group. Pilot data on initial group outcomes is presented and involves a sample of 59 undergraduate students that participated in the five-session intervention developed by faculty and students. Following the intervention, participants reported significant decreases in negative thinking and significant increases in career decision-making self-efficacy. The continued development of this collaboration and benefits of involving students in their training as scientist-practitioners is discussed.

Background Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a common and highly comorbid anxiety disorder characterized by repetitive negative thinking (RNT). Treatment trials tend to exclude individuals with non-primary GAD, despite this being a common presentation in real world clinics. RNT is also associated with multiple emotional disorders, suggesting that it should be targeted regardless of the primary disorder. This study evaluated the acceptability and effectiveness of brief group metacognitive therapy (MCT) for primary or non-primary GAD within a community clinic. Methods Patients referred to a specialist community clinic attended six, two-hour weekly sessions plus a one-month follow-up (N=52). Measures of metacognitive beliefs, RNT, symptoms, positive and negative affect, and quality of life were completed at the first, last, and follow-up sessions. Results Attrition was low and large intent-to-treat effects were observed on most outcomes, particularly for negative metacognitive beliefs and RNT. Treatment gains increased further to follow-up. Benchmarking comparisons demonstrated that outcomes compared favorably to longer disorder-specific protocols for primary GAD. Limitations No control group or independent assessment of protocol adherence. Conclusions Brief metacognitive therapy is an acceptable and powerful treatment for patients with primary or non-primary GAD.

Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is a transdiagnostic process involved in the onset and maintenance of many psychological disorders. The Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire (Ehring et al., 2011) is a content-independent scale composed of 15 items that assesses RNT from a transdiagnostic perspective in both clinical and general populations. The aim of the current research was to translate and validate the French version of the PTQ through two studies (totalN= 1016) following the steps for the trans-cultural validation of psychometric instruments (Hambleton et al., 2006). An exploratory factor analysis conducted on a first community sample revealed a latent structure composed of 10 items distributed on one common factor, labeled RNT, and three subfactors that evaluated the repetitive characteristic of RNT, the intrusiveness of RNT and the effect of RNT on mental resources. This factorial structure was confirmed in two confirmatory factor analyses in community and clinical samples. Scale score reliability indices were good and confirmed the validity of the instrument. The French version of the PTQ is a good content-independent instrument to assess RNT in general and clinical populations of French speakers. 8

In adolescence adolescents are facing a big transformation both in psychology and physiology, they need time to adapt during the course of transformation, and they are prone to generate negative thinking disposition if not well adapted, thereby affecting subsequent life. Based on the above critical reason, this study aims at describing and explaining effects of present situation and characteristics of design group students’ positive, negative thinking style on team collaboration disposition. This study adopted questionnaire method to collect data from design group students of a senior vocational school in central region, and a total of 157 valid student questionnaires were collected; used SPSS 18.0 to conduct Pearson correlation analysis and multiple regression empirical analysis, and carried out estimation and verification for structural relationships between each group of variables. The study results show that: (1) design group students’ positive thinking and negative thinking have a significant negative correlation, (2) design group students’ positive thinking and negative thinking respectively has a significant relationship with team collaboration disposition; (3) positive, negative thinking style has a significant predictability for team collaboration disposition.

This study explores the mediating effects of repetitive negative thinking in the relationship between perfectionism and adolescent sleep quality. A sample of 1664 Chinese adolescents with a mean age of 15.0 years was recruited, and they completed four measures relating to perfectionism, sleep quality, worry, and rumination. The results showed that maladaptive perfectionism was positively correlated with poor sleep quality in adolescents, which was mediated by both worry and rumination. However, adaptive perfectionism was not significantly associated with adolescent sleep quality, and this relationship was suppressed by rumination (but not worry). The implications of these results are also discussed.

Higher levels of repetitive negative thinking (RNT; a perseverative and abstract focus on negative aspects of one’s experience) are associated with reduced sleep duration. This information is already informing theory and clinical practice. However, we are not aware of any studies examining the relation between RNT and the timing of sleep. We examined both disorder specific measures of RNT and a transdiagnostic measure of the RNT process in relation to sleep duration and timing in a sample of 100 unselected undergraduates. Replicating prior findings, shorter sleep duration was cross-sectionally associated with more rumination and delayed sleep timing was associated with more obsessive–compulsive symptoms. Further, extending this prior work, the transdiagnostic measure of RNT was associated with shorter sleep duration and delayed sleep timing. Individuals who endorsed a preference for later sleep and activity times also reported more RNT. These findings suggest that RNT may be uniquely related to both sleep duration and timing.

Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is an established transdiagnostic process associated with multiple emotional disorders. Brief transdiagnostic measures of RNT uncontaminated with diagnosis-specific symptoms, terminology, and instructions are required for (a) research investigating the process of RNT and (b) clinical practice to guide case formulations, treatment plans, and to assess change. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of a 10-item trait version of the Repetitive Thinking Questionnaire (RTQ-10) in undergraduate (N = 386) and clinical (N = 400) samples. The undergraduate sample completed the RTQ-10, and the clinical sample completed the RTQ-10 as well as measures of worry, rumination, anxiety- and depression-related cognitions, and positive and negative affect. Results demonstrated that the RTQ-10 has a unitary structure, high internal reliability, distinguishes between clinical and non-clinical cases, assesses RNT similarly in men and in women, and accurately assesses RNT along its full continuum. RTQ-10 scores were positively associated with worry and rumination, anxiety and depression symptoms and cognitions, and with the higher order vulnerability factor of negative affect, adding to its transdiagnostic credentials. The RTQ-10 was negatively but weakly associated with positive affect, providing some divergent validity. The RTQ-10 appears to be a brief and clinically useful transdiagnostic measure of RNT.

Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) has been shown to be an important vulnerability factor for a variety of emotional problems. Recently, the Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire (PTQ) was developed as a content-independent measure of RNT in adults, which allows research into this process from a transdiagnostic perspective. The current study describes the construction of a child-appropriate version of the instrument and provides initial evidence for its reliability and validity. Both a one-factor model and a three-factor higher-order model were found to adequately fit with the data but the more parsimonious one-factor model was retained for further analyses. The unidimensional PTQ-C scale showed excellent internal consistency and its validity was supported by substantial correlations with other measures of repetitive thinking as well as with symptom levels of depression and anxiety. Finally, as expected, regression analyses suggested that the PTQ-C scale captures the general repetitive negative thinking associated with anxiety and depression, whereas measures of worry and brooding tap additional content-related aspects of these symptom dimensions.

Recent research studies found that ruminative self-focus was maladaptive to depression while experiential self-focus was associated with better psychological outcomes. However, the underlying mechanism for the differential effect has been under-investigated. Decentering, representing the capacity to take a present-focus and nonjudgmental stance to observe thoughts and feelings as temporary and objective events in the mind, was hypothesized to be an important construct that accounts for the differential effect of self-focus processing in depression. The present study investigated experimentally the potential mediating effect of decentering on the frequency of negative thinking in groups of depressed patients and dysphoric college students. A total of seventy-five participants were randomly allocated into two experimental conditions, in which the mode of self-focus was manipulated. Two identical sets of questionnaires measuring decentering and negative thinking were administered before and after the experiment. The results supported the differential effect of ruminative and experiential self-focus on decentering and negative thinking, and more importantly, decentering was found to mediate the relationship between the mode of self-focus and negative thinking in depression.

Worry and rumination are two types of Repetitive Negative Thinking (RNT) that have been shown to be related to the development and maintenance of emotional problems. Whereas these two forms of RNT have traditionally been regarded as distinct and differentially related to psychopathology, researchers have recently argued that worry and rumination share the same process and show a very similar relationship to different forms of psychopathology. In a series of three studies, we employed a structural equation modelling approach to compare these competing hypotheses. Results showed that a bi-factor model (representing RNT by one latent factor with two uncorrelated method factors) provided a better fit to the data than a two-factor model (with worry and rumination represented by separate factors). In addition, the shared variance within the bi-factor model fully accounted for changes in symptom levels of depression and anxiety in two prospective studies. These findings support a transdiagnostic account of RNT. Implications for theory, measurement and clinical practice are discussed.

Pain catastrophizing is a well-known concept in the pain literature and has been recognized as one of the most powerful psychological determinants of negative outcomes for pain problems. However, relatively little effort has been put into developing its theoretical underpinnings. More specifically, the intrinsic function of catastrophizing is not explicitly dealt with in contemporary theoretical models. The aim of this article is to add to existing models by proposing a development of the conceptualization of catastrophizing that stresses its function as an emotion regulator. We argue that catastrophizing can be conceptualized as a form of negative repetitive thinking, which is abstract, intrusive, and difficult to disengage from. It has been argued that repetitive negative thinking is a form of ineffective problem solving that functions to downregulate negative affect and that it can be regarded as an avoidant coping strategy because it impedes processing of emotional and somatic responses. Thus, in our conceptualization, catastrophizing is proposed to be a form of problem-solving behavior that functions to reduce negative emotion triggered by pain, and other related stimuli. Furthermore, we argue that catastrophizing is preferably regarded as a process where cognitions, emotions, and overt behavior are intertwined and not viewed as separate entities. To underscore the latter, we suggest the term catastrophic worry. Our intention with this development of the conceptualization is to give rise to new ideas for research and clinical practice and to revitalize discussions about the theoretical framework around pain-related catastrophizing.

This chapter is dedicated to those athletes or performers who get side tracked by negative thinking or suffer from such performance dukkha. While teaching MMTS 2.0, it has become abundantly clear to us that many twenty-first century athletes suffer with such distress. It can be invaluable to learn a bit about how to tolerate such distress so if you too are faced with such debilitating thoughts and emotions. We offer you a clear pathway to contend with such difficulty. You will be equipped to not let the thoughts and feeling get in the way of your performance. Though we do not promise that such thoughts and feelings will dissolve, completely. We start with a few athletes whom we have worked with who have dealt with such mental distractions and distress.

If we take the term ‘imperfection’ to mean the state of ‘incompleteness’ (OED), this perspective may contribute to a further understanding of the more unbecoming traits or defects of Irishness. To illustrate this ‘incompleteness’ of Irish national identity, this essay uses examples from John McGahern’s first and last novels: The Barracks (1963) and That They May Face the Rising Sun (2002). The former will be used as a backdrop to explore the roots of, and reasons for, this incompleteness and the resulting development of what Irish psychologist Tony Humpreys terms ‘protective thinking and behaviour patterns as opposed to negative thinking’1 (12). The stifling, unhealthy vision of the society reflected in The Barracks will then be contrasted with a more healthy, complete and open view of community as portrayed in That They May Face the Rising Sun (2002).