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Looking on the bright side: Accessing benign meanings reduces worry
Abstract
This research investigated whether increasing access to benign outcomes of ambiguous events decreases excessive worry. Participants reporting high levels of worry were assigned either to practice in accessing benign meanings of threat-related homographs and emotionally ambiguous scenarios or to a control condition in which threatening or benign meanings were accessed with equal frequency. Results were assessed by use of a breathing focus task that involved categorizing the valence of thought intrusions before and after an instructed worry period and a test of working memory capacity available to participants while worrying. In comparison with the control group, the benign group reported fewer negative thought intrusions (as rated by both participants and an assessor) and less anxiety during the breathing focus task and showed greater residual working memory capacity while worrying. These findings suggest that enhancing access to benign outcomes is an effective method of reducing both the persistence of worry and its detrimental consequences.
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“This task has been widely used to examine thought intrusions and worry in non-clinical groups (Krebs, Hirsch, & Mathews, 2010), individuals with elevated worry, and generalized anxiety disorder (Hayes et al., 2010, Hirsch et al., 2009) and associated conditions (i.e. insomnia symptoms, Baker, Baldwin, & Garner, 2015).”
From Testing the differential effects of acceptance and attention-based psychological interventions on intrusive thoughts and worry (2017) · cites this paper as Hirsch et al., 2009
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“In keeping with Wilson et al. (2006) and Murphy et al. (2007), the lack of group differences in anxiety immediately following completion of both of the ambiguity tasks did not preclude significant group differences in anxiety reactivity during the breathing focus task.”
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“(Vasey & Borkovec, 1992).”
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MethodResultSelf-citationAn Anxiety-Related Bias in Semantic Activation When Processing Threat/Neutral Homographs
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Inducing a benign interpretational bias reduces trait anxiety
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“Although the current study did not assess interpretive bias directly, both Murphy et al. (2007) and Mathews et al. (2007) have already shown that use of essentially the same method and materials resulted in high anxious individuals adopting a more benign interpretive bias.”
MethodSelf-citationInterpretative inferences when reading about emotional events
Hirsch, C. R., & Mathews, A. (1997) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(97)80006-x · Cited by 167
The Cognitive Avoidance Theory of Worry
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Huppert, J. D., Pasupuleti, R. V., Foa, E. B., & Mathews, A. (2007) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2007.01.006 · Cited by 146
Effects of Training on Interpretation of Emotional Ambiguity
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On random generation and the central executive of working memory
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Inducing an interpretation bias changes self-imagery: A preliminary investigation
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Negative self-imagery blocks inferences
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Interpretation of homophones related to threat: Anxiety or response bias effects?
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Effects of priming and suppression of worry
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A Mood‐as‐Input Account of Perseverative Worrying
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A meta-analysis of the effect of cognitive bias modification on anxiety and depression
Hallion, L. S., & Ruscio, A. M. (2011) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0024355 · Cited by 891
Cognitive Bias Modification Approaches to Anxiety
MacLeod, C., & Mathews, A. (2012) · Annual Review of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032511-143052 · Cited by 664
A review of current evidence for the causal impact of attentional bias on fear and anxiety
Van Bockstaele, B., Verschuere, B., Tibboel, H., De Houwer, J., Crombez, G., & Koster, E. H. W. (2014) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0034834 · Cited by 485
A cognitive model of pathological worry
Hirsch, C. R., & Mathews, A. (2012) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2012.06.007 · Cited by 400
“As reviewed in the previous section, modifying negative interpretation bias reduces negative intrusive thoughts (Hirsch et al., 2009).”
BackgroundInfluentialResolving Ambiguity in Emotional Disorders: The Nature and Role of Interpretation Biases
Hirsch, C. R., Meeten, F., Krahé, C., & Reeder, C. (2016) · Annual Review of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-021815-093436 · Cited by 331
Metadata
- Authors
- Hirsch, C. R., Hayes, S., & Mathews, A.
- Affiliations
- King's College London (GB)
- University of California, Davis (US)
- ORCID
- Hirsch, Colette R.
- Venue
- Journal of Abnormal Psychology
- Published
- 2009-02
- Volume
- 118
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 44-54
- ISSN
- 0021-843X (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1846
- OpenAlex
- W2081847233
- Cited by
- 175
- References
- 53
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 17.74
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Abnormal Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Medical Research Council
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychological Treatments and Assessments
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Keywords
- worry, anxiety, homographs, working memory capacity, threat appraisal, cognitive reappraisal
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Affect, Attention, Depression, Female, Humans, Male, Memory, Short-Term, Surveys and Questionnaires, Semantics, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
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