The effect of rumination on intrusive images and mood: An experimental investigation using the trauma film paradigm
Abstract
Rumination appears to predict and maintain posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but evidence for a causal effect is lacking. This experimental study investigated the impact of manipulating film-related and non-film-related rumination on the development of post-trauma intrusive memories and mood. Sixty healthy participants selected for being moderate ruminators were exposed to a trauma film and then allocated to three conditions: film related rumination; non-film related rumination; and no task. Rumination tasks were completed post-film and daily for one week. The two rumination conditions combined resulted in more intrusive memories of the film over one week than the control condition but there were no differences between rumination conditions. In contrast, the two rumination conditions combined, compared to the control group, did not increase negative mood either in the short or long term. These results extend previous findings to show a causal effect of general and trauma-related rumination on intrusive memories.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Rumination after a trauma film increased the experience of intrusions and intrusion-related distress.
“a number of experimental studies have found that rumination (versus, for example, distraction) after a trauma film increased the experience of intrusions and intrusion-related distress”
From Intrusive memories of trauma: A target for research bridging cognitive science and its clinical application (2019) · cites this paper as Ball & Brewin, 2012
Cites
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th ed.
Carter, M. J. (2014) · Therapeutic Recreation Journal · Cited by 15,154 · see citing works
Journal of personality and social psychology
Armstrong, J. (1988) · International Journal of Forecasting · doi:10.1016/0169-2070(88)90126-4 · Cited by 10,544 · see citing works
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey
Kessler, R. C. (1995) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1995.03950240066012 · Cited by 10,379 · see citing works
(1995) · Cited by 6,909 · see citing works
A cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder
Ehlers, A., & Clark, D. M. (2000) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(99)00123-0 · Cited by 6,147 · see citing works
Nolen-Hoeksema, S., Wisco, B. E., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2008) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1745-6924.2008.00088.x · Cited by 5,172 · see citing works
Responses to depression and their effects on the duration of depressive episodes
Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (1991) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-843x.100.4.569 · Cited by 4,529 · see citing works
Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Morrow, J. (1991) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.61.1.115 · Cited by 3,276 · see citing works
The role of rumination in depressive disorders and mixed anxiety/depressive symptoms.
Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2000) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037//0021-843x.109.3.504 · Cited by 2,998 · see citing works
Depression Anxiety Stress Scales
Lovibond, S. H., & Lovibond, P. F. (2011) · PsycTESTS Dataset · doi:10.1037/t01004-000 · Cited by 2,416 · see citing works
Brewin, C. R., Gregory, J. D., Lipton, M., & Burgess, N. (2010) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/a0018113 · Cited by 1,226 · see citing works
Self-citationEffects of self-focused rumination on negative thinking and interpersonal problem solving.
Lyubomirsky, S., & Nolen–Hoeksema, S. (1995) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.69.1.176 · Cited by 1,162 · see citing works
(2002) · Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing · doi:10.1046/m.1365-2850.2002.00006.x · Cited by 1,143 · see citing works
Psychological predictors of chronic posttraumatic stress disorder after motor vehicle accidents.
Ehlers, A., Mayou, R. A., & Bryant, B. (1998) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-843x.107.3.508 · Cited by 1,059 · see citing works
Depressive rumination : nature, theory and treatment
Papageorgiou, C., & Adrian Wells, A. (2004) · Wiley eBooks · Cited by 610 · see citing works
PTSD symptoms, response to intrusive memories and coping in ambulance service workers
Clohessy, S., & Ehlers, A. (1999) · British Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1348/014466599162836 · Cited by 598 · see citing works
Mediators of the Gender Difference in Rumination
Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Jackson, B. (2001) · Psychology of Women Quarterly · doi:10.1111/1471-6402.00005 · Cited by 538 · see citing works
Murray, J., Ehlers, A., & Mayou, R. A. (2002) · British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.180.4.363 · Cited by 505 · see citing works
Trauma films, information processing, and intrusive memory development
Holmes, E. A., Brewin, C. R., & Hennessy, R. G. (2004) · Journal of Experimental Psychology: General · doi:10.1037/0096-3445.133.1.3 · Cited by 457 · see citing works
Self-citationRumination in posttraumatic stress disorder
Michael, T., Halligan, S. L., Clark, D. M., & Ehlers, A. (2007) · Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.1002/da.20228 · Cited by 434 · see citing works
The Nature and Significance of Memory Disturbance in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Brewin, C. R. (2011) · Annual Review of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032210-104544 · Cited by 428 · see citing works
Self-citationOn Assessing Individual Differences in Rumination on Sadness
Conway, M., Csank, P. A. R., Holm, S. L., & Blake, C. K. (2000) · Journal of Personality Assessment · doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa7503_04 · Cited by 343 · see citing works
Unwanted memories of assault: what intrusion characteristics are associated with PTSD?
Michael, T., Ehlers, A., Halligan, S. L., & Clark, D. M. (2004) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2004.04.006 · Cited by 337 · see citing works
Intrusive memories in depression and posttraumatic stress disorder
Reynolds, M., & Brewin, C. R. (1999) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(98)00132-6 · Cited by 329 · see citing works
Self-citationEhring, T., Ehlers, A., & Glucksman, E. (2008) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.76.2.219 · Cited by 313 · see citing works
Attention and emotion: a clinical perspective
Eysenck, M. W. (1995) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/0191-8869(95)90043-8 · Cited by 301 · see citing works
Ehring, T., Frank, S., & Ehlers, A. (2008) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/s10608-006-9089-7 · Cited by 230 · see citing works
Worry and the incubation of intrusive images following stress
Wells, A., & Papageorgiou, C. (1995) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(94)00087-z · Cited by 229 · see citing works
Early predictors of chronic post-traumatic stress disorder in assault survivors
KLEIM, B., EHLERS, A., & GLUCKSMAN, E. (2007) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291707001006 · Cited by 217 · see citing works
Understanding Post-Traumatic Stress: A Psychosocial Perspective on PTSD and Treatment
Joseph, S., Williams, R. M., & Yule, W. (1997) · Cited by 208 · see citing works
Differential effects of worry and imagery after exposure to a stressful stimulus: A pilot study
Butler, G., Wells, A., & Dewick, H. (1995) · Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1017/s1352465800017628 · Cited by 145 · see citing works
Speckens, A. E. M., Ehlers, A., Hackmann, A., Ruths, F. A., & Clark, D. M. (2007) · Memory · doi:10.1080/09658210701256449 · Cited by 144 · see citing works
The effect of dissociation at encoding on intrusive memories for a stressful film
Brewin, C. R., & Saunders, J. (2001) · British Journal of Medical Psychology · doi:10.1348/000711201161118 · Cited by 127 · see citing works
Self-citationNature, Functions, and Beliefs about Depressive Rumination
Papageorgiou, C., & Adrian Wells, A. (2003) · doi:10.1002/9780470713853.ch1 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Zetsche, U., Ehring, T. W., & Ehlers, A. (2009) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2009.07.001 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
The influence of a visuospatial grounding task on intrusive images of a traumatic film
Stuart, A. D. P., Holmes, E. A., & Brewin, C. R. (2006) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2005.04.004 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Self-citationPsychosocial perspectives on post-traumatic stress
Joseph, S. (1995) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/0272-7358(95)00029-o · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Intrusive images and intrusive thoughts as different phenomena: Two experimental studies
Hagenaars, M. A., Brewin, C. R., van Minnen, A., Holmes, E. A., & Hoogduin, K. A. L. (2010) · Memory · doi:10.1080/09658210903476522 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Self-citationEhring, T., Fuchs, N., & Kläsener, I. (2009) · Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.beth.2008.10.001 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
An experimental analogue study into the role of abstract thinking in trauma-related rumination
Ehring, T., Szeimies, A.-K., & Schaffrick, C. (2009) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2008.12.011 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Chronic PTSD Treated With Metacognitive Therapy: An Open Trial
Adrian Wells, A., Welford, M., Fraser, J., King, P., Mendel, E., Wisely, J. A., Knight, A., & Rees, D. (2008) · Cognitive and Behavioral Practice · doi:10.1016/j.cbpra.2006.11.005 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Thought Control Strategies, Thought Suppression, and Rumination in Depression
Watkins, E. R., & Moulds, M. L. (2009) · International Journal of Cognitive Therapy · doi:10.1521/ijct.2009.2.3.235 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Evans, C., Ehlers, A., Mezey, G., & Clark, D. M. (2007) · Journal of Traumatic Stress · doi:10.1002/jts.20204 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Rumination as a Function of Goal Progress, Stop Rules, and Cerebral Lateralization
Martin, L. L., Shrira, I., & Startup, H. M. (2003) · doi:10.1002/9780470713853.ch8 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Williams, A. D., & Moulds, M. L. (2010) · The Behavior Therapist · doi:10.1016/j.beth.2008.12.003 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Acute effects of alcohol on the development of intrusive memories
Bisby, J. A., Brewin, C. R., Leitz, J. R., & Valerie Curran, H. (2009) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-009-1496-5 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Self-citationFrequency and Nature of Rumination in Chronic Depression: A Preliminary Study
Pearson, M., Brewin, C. R., Rhodes, J., & McCarron, G. (2008) · Cognitive Behaviour Therapy · doi:10.1080/16506070801919224 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Self-citationPathways to intrusive memories in a trauma analogue paradigm: A structural equation model
Regambal, M. J., & Alden, L. E. (2009) · Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.1002/da.20483 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 4
- American Psychiatric Association, 1994, Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4thed.).
- Martin L.L., 1996, Unintended thought, 300
- Steil R.I., 1996, Posttraumatische intrusionen nach verkehrsunfallen [Posttraumatic intrusions after road traffic accidents].
- Wells A., 2000, Emotional disorders and metacognition: Innovative cognitive therapy.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
James, E. L., Lau-Zhu, A., Clark, I. A., Visser, R. M., Hagenaars, M. A., & Holmes, E. A. (2016) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2016.04.010 · Cited by 300 · see citing works
Iyadurai, L., Visser, R. M., Lau-Zhu, A., Porcheret, K., Horsch, A., Holmes, E. A., & James, E. L. (2019) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2018.08.005 · Cited by 255 · see citing works
The power of negative and positive episodic memories
Williams, S. E., Ford, J. H., & Kensinger, E. A. (2022) · Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3758/s13415-022-01013-z · Cited by 165 · see citing works
Marks, E. H., Franklin, A. R., & Zoellner, L. A. (2018) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/bul0000132 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Posttraumatic stress disorder and complex posttraumatic stress disorder in UK police officers
Brewin, C. R., Miller, J. K., Soffia, M., Peart, A., & Burchell, B. (2022) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291720003025 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
Self-citationSzabo, Y. Z., Warnecke, A. J., Newton, T. L., & Valentine, J. C. (2017) · Anxiety Stress & Coping · doi:10.1080/10615806.2017.1313835 · Cited by 102 · see citing works
Fawcett, J. M., Benoit, R. G., Gagnepain, P., Salman, A., Bartholdy, S., Bradley, C. E., Chan, D. K. Y., Roche, A., Brewin, C. R., & Anderson, M. C. (2014) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2014.10.009 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Self-citationA review on mental imagery in fear conditioning research 100 years since the ‘Little Albert’ study
Mertens, G., Krypotos, A.-M., & Engelhard, I. M. (2020) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2020.103556 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Schaich, A., Watkins, E. R., & Ehring, T. (2013) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2013.03.006 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Ponder, W. N., Walters, K. J., Simons, J. S., Simons, R. M., Jetelina, K. K., & Carbajal, J. (2022) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2022.09.097 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Hayes, A. M., Yasinski, C. W., Grasso, D. J., Ready, C. B., Alpert, E., McCauley, T. G., Webb, C. P. M., & Deblinger, E. (2016) · Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.beth.2016.06.004 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Kubota, R., Nixon, R. D. V., & Chen, J. (2014) · Australian Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1111/ajpy.12074 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Cortical midline structures associated with rumination in women with PTSD
Philippi, C. L., Pessin, S., Reyna, L., Floyd, T., & Bruce, S. E. (2020) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.09.001 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Ródenas‐Perea, G., Velasco‐Barbancho, E., Garcelán, S. P., Testal, J. F. R., Senín‐Calderón, C., Crespo‐Facorro, B., & Ruíz-Veguilla, M. (2022) · Scandinavian Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1111/sjop.12879 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Rumination on unwanted intrusive thoughts affects the urge to neutralize in nonclinical individuals
Wahl, K., van den Hout, M., & Lieb, R. (2018) · Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jocrd.2018.02.002 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
No more than discomfort: the trauma film paradigm meets definitions of minimal-risk research
Stirling, N. S. J., Nixon, R. D. V., & Takarangi, M. K. T. (2021) · Ethics & Behavior · doi:10.1080/10508422.2021.1997603 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Hagenaars, M. A., & Holmes, E. A. (2012) · Journal of Experimental Psychopathology · doi:10.1177/204380871200300201 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Baptie, G., Andrade, J., Bacon, A. M., & Norman, A. (2021) · Cyberpsychology Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace · doi:10.5817/cp2021-1-6 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Wisco, B. E., Vrshek‐Schallhorn, S., May, C. L., Campbell, A. A., Nomamiukor, F. O., & Pugach, C. P. (2023) · Journal of Traumatic Stress · doi:10.1002/jts.22905 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
The effect of mindfulness training on rumination and intrusions after analogue trauma
Kubota, R., & Nixon, R. D. V. (2019) · Australian Psychologist · doi:10.1111/ap.12410 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Using Virtual Reality to Examine Emotional Hotspots and Intrusions in the Trauma Film Paradigm
Nielsen, N. P., Salgado, S., & Berntsen, D. (2020) · Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.jarmac.2020.06.004 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Mihailova, S., & Jobson, L. (2019) · British Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjc.12232 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Kubota, R., & Nixon, R. D. V. (2017) · Journal of Experimental Psychopathology · doi:10.5127/jep.058516 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Arendt, I. T. P., Riisager, L. G., Larsen, J. E., Christiansen, T. B., & Møeller, S. B. (2021) · The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist · doi:10.1017/s1754470x2100012x · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Guzey, M., Funk, J., Kustermann, J., & Ehring, T. W. (2021) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2021.103970 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Exploring the ‘mood congruency’ hypothesis of attention allocation – An eye-tracking study
Hertz‐Palmor, N., Yosef, Y., Hallel, H., Bernat, I., & Lazarov, A. (2023) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2023.12.004 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Mihailova, S., & Jobson, L. (2020) · Memory · doi:10.1080/09658211.2020.1767143 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Sopp, M. R., Streb, M., Brueckner, A. H., Schäfer, S. K., Lass‐Hennemann, J., Mecklinger, A., & Michael, T. (2020) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2020.101611 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Peters, J., Freund, I. M., Kindt, M., Visser, R. M., & van Emmerik, A. (2024) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2024.101981 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Rumination and anxiety-related disorders
Borders, A. (2020) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-812545-8.00002-4 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Imagery rescripting: The value of an added positive emotion component
Geschwind, N., Keasberry, E., Voncken, M. J., Lobbestael, J., Peters, M. J. V., Rijkeboer, M. M., & der Kloet, D. V. H. (2024) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2024.101958 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Freund, I. M., Peters, J., van Emmerik, A., Kindt, M., & Visser, R. M. (2025) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2025.104783 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
- Authors
- Ball, S. C., & Brewin, C. R.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Ball, Sarah C.
- Venue
- Journal of Experimental Psychopathology
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2012-04
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 297-309
- ISSN
- 2043-8087 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2112256125
- Cited by
- 32
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 2 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 1.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Experimental Psychopathology (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- rumination, intrusive memories, post-traumatic stress disorder, trauma film paradigm, negative mood
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
