Effect of worrisome and relaxing thinking on fearful emotional processing

Abstract

This study replicated and extended previous data suggesting that worry inhibits emotional processing of fearful imagery. Female participants categorized as either victimization-fearful (N = 24) or victimization and speech-fearful (N = 27) completed trials of worrisome or relaxing thinking and tone-cued imagery. For each trial, participants engaged in 30 s of relaxing or worrisome (speech or victimization) thinking and then imagined speech or victimization fear scenes for 15 s. Heart rate and facial electromyography activity at the corrugator supercilii region were measured during the think and imagery periods to estimate degree of emotional processing of the fear imagery. Consistent with earlier findings, there was greater heart rate suppression during fearful imagery after a period of worry as opposed to relaxation. This finding, however, may have been the result of physiological differences between worrisome and relaxation thinking. Corrugator activation during thinking showed a similar pattern as the heart rate data while corrugator activation during fearful imagery was dependent on the baseline employed. These data, in combination with the imagery ratings data, suggest that worry may be an unsuccessful strategy for avoiding the physiological activation associated with emotional processing.