Mechanisms of Repetitive Thinking: Introduction to the Special Series
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Repetitive thinking about negative experience, such as worry and rumination, is increasingly recognized as a transdiagnostic process underlying various forms of psychopathology including anxiety and depression. Recent theoretical models have emphasized the role of impaired attentional control and the habitual nature of negative biases in the development and maintenance of pathological repetitive thought. In this introduction, we provide a brief overview of these theories and of how the articles in the special series provide experimental evidence concerning these basic mechanisms underlying rumination and worry, and their relation to clinical dysfunction. Together the research summarized in these articles instantiates these theoretical frameworks and provides convergent evidence confirming the value of adopting a transdiagnostic approach that focuses directly on fundamental mechanisms of psychopathology, instead of on diagnostic criteria.
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Worry is the cardinal symptom in generalized anxiety, characterised by increased frequency and uncontrollability of distracting negative thoughts about current and future threat.
“The cardinal symptom in generalized anxiety—worry—is characterised by increased frequency and uncontrollability of distracting negative thoughts about current and future threat (see Hirsch et al., 2015, Raedt et al., 2015).”
From Testing the differential effects of acceptance and attention-based psychological interventions on intrusive thoughts and worry (2017) · cites this paper as Raedt et al., 2015
The Introduction to the Special Series (page unavailable) describes worry as relatively uncontrollable, typically future-oriented negative thinking, and reports associations between worry-related thought intrusions and distractibility. It does not identify worry as the cardinal symptom of generalized anxiety or establish that the distracting thoughts concern both current and future threats. (LLM, conf=0.84)
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- Authors
- De Raedt, R., Hertel, P. T., & Watkins, E. R.
- Affiliations
- Ghent University
- Trinity University (US)
- University of Exeter (GB)
- Venue
- Clinical Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2015-07
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 568-573
- ISSN
- 2167-7026 (ISSN-L)
- 2167-7034
- OpenAlex
- W2207433807
- Cited by
- 20
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 1.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- biblio.ugent.be
- Locations
- Clinical Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- Open Research Exeter (University of Exeter) (acceptedVersion)
- Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Digital Commons - Trinity University (Trinity University) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (BOF10/GOA/014)
- Universiteit Gent (BOF10/GOA/014)
- Vlaamse regering
- Bijzonder Onderzoeksfonds UGent
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Mind wandering and attention
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
- Keywords
- repetitive thinking, rumination, worry, transdiagnostic mechanisms, attentional control, anxiety, depression
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