Episodic repetitive thought: dimensions, correlates, and consequences.
Title | Episodic repetitive thought: dimensions, correlates, and consequences. |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2012 |
Authors | Segerstrom SC, Stanton AL, Flynn SMcQueary, Roach AR, Testa JJ, Hardy JK |
Journal | Anxiety Stress Coping |
Volume | 25 |
Issue | 1 |
Pagination | 3-21 |
Date Published | 2012 Jan |
ISSN | 1477-2205 |
Keywords | Adaptation, Psychological, Adolescent, Adult, Affect, Aged, Aging, Attention, Depressive Disorder, Emotions, Female, Humans, Male, Neuropsychological Tests, Stress, Psychological, Students, Surveys and Questionnaires, Thinking, Young Adult |
Abstract | 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 (Studies 1-4). 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 how the RT qualities that are not reflected in trait measures affect adjustment. |
DOI | 10.1080/10615806.2011.608126 |
Alternate Journal | Anxiety Stress Coping |
PubMed ID | 21861772 |
PubMed Central ID | PMC3237825 |
Grant List | AG026307-R01 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States AG028383-P30 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States MH61531-R01 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States P30 AG028383 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States P30 AG028383-03 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States R01 AG026307 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States R01 AG026307-05 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States R01 MH061531 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States R01 MH061531-05 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States |