Dependent Stress Generation Mediates the Relation Between Poor Cognitive Control and Repetitive Negative Thinking in Emerging Adults

2021 ◽  
pp. 216769682110549
Author(s):  
Morgan M. Taylor ◽  
Hannah R. Snyder
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Stress Generation ◽  
Repetitive Negative Thinking ◽  
Common Component ◽  
Negative Thinking ◽  
Maladaptive Thinking

Poor cognitive control has been associated with maladaptive thinking, like rumination and worry, that increase risk for internalizing psychopathology. However, little research has investigated how cognitive control is associated with commonalities between rumination and worry (i.e., repetitive negative thinking; RNT). The current study aimed to investigate how cognitive control predicts engagement in a common component of RNT over time via an indirect mechanism of dependent stress generation in a one-semester longitudinal study of emerging adult college students ( N = 224). Executive functioning task performance and self-reported attentional control (not working memory capacity task performance) prospectively predicted RNT, mediated by dependent stress, but did not predict change in stress or RNT from baseline. These findings suggest that aspects of cognitive control relevant for successful goal pursuit may be involved with maintaining levels of stressful life events and subsequent RNT.

Examining the roles of metacognitive beliefs and maladaptive aspects of perfectionism in depression and anxiety

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 442-453
Author(s):  
Lee Kannis-Dymand ◽  
Emily Hughes ◽  
Kate Mulgrew ◽  
Janet D. Carter ◽  
Steven Love
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation Modelling ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Repetitive Negative Thinking ◽  
Common Component ◽  
Negative Thinking ◽  
Equation Modelling ◽  
Metacognitive Beliefs ◽  
Partial Correlations

AbstractBackground:Metacognition and perfectionism are factors found to be associated with both anxiety and depression. A common component that underlies these factors is the influence of perseverance, or the tendency to continue a behaviour or thought even if it is no longer productive.Aims:This study aimed to investigate the relationships between metacognitive beliefs with maladaptive aspects of perfectionism (i.e. perseverance behaviours), and their relation to anxiety and depression.Method:Participants (n = 1033) completed six self-report questionnaires measuring metacognitive beliefs about rumination and worry, perseverance, anxiety and depression. Data were analysed using correlational testing, and structural equation modelling.Results:Results of structural equation modelling revealed that positive metacognitive beliefs about repetitive negative thinking increased the likelihood to perceive the thinking as uncontrollable, and that perseverance behaviours were predicted by all metacognitive beliefs. Furthermore, examination of partial correlations revealed that both negative metacognitive beliefs about repetitive negative thinking and perseverance behaviours predicted anxiety and depression; however, negative metacognitive beliefs were the strongest predictor, in both cases.Conclusions:The results provided support for current metacognitive models, in that the interpretation of cognitive perseveration sequentially influences psychopathology, but also provided insight into the inclusion of perseveration behaviours. Furthermore, the findings may also have value in a clinical setting, as targeting metacognitive beliefs in the presence of perseverance type behaviours may prove beneficial for treatment.

scholarly journals Shedding light on the association between repetitive negative thinking and deficits in cognitive control – a meta-analysis

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrike Zetsche ◽  
Paul - Christian Bürkner ◽  
Lars Schulze
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Control Function ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Repetitive Negative Thinking ◽  
Negative Thinking ◽  
Primary Sample ◽  
Negative Thoughts

This manuscript has been published in Clinical Psychology Review ( https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2018.06.001).Individuals who experience recurrent negative thoughts are at elevated risk for mood and anxiety disorders. It is thus essential to understand why some individuals get stuck in recurrent negative thinking (RNT), whereas others are able to disengage eventually. Theoretical models propose that individuals high in recurrent negative thinking suffer from deficits in controlling the contents of working memory. Empirical findings, however, are inconclusive.In this meta-analysis, we synthesize findings from 94 studies to examine the proposed association between RNT and deficits in cognitive control. We included numerous effect sizes not reported in the primary publications. Moderator analyses tested the influence of variables, such as stimuli valence, cognitive control function (e.g., shifting, discarding), or type of RNT (i.e., rumination or worry).Results demonstrated an association between repetitive negative thinking and deficits in only one specific cognitive control function, namely difficulty discarding no longer relevant material from working memory (r = -0.20). This association remained significant after controlling for level of psychopathology. There was no substantial association between RNT and deficits in any other cognitive control function. All other moderators were not significant. We discuss limitations (e.g., primary sample sizes, reliability of paradigms) and highlight implications for future research and clinical interventions.

Christian meditation for repetitive negative thinking: A multisite randomized trial examining the effects of a 4-week preventative program.

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-50
Author(s):  
Joshua J. Knabb ◽  
Veola E. Vazquez ◽  
Fernando L. Garzon ◽  
Kristy M. Ford ◽  
Kenneth T. Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Randomized Trial ◽  
Repetitive Negative Thinking ◽  
Negative Thinking ◽  
Christian Meditation

“Unknowing” in the 21st century: Humble detachment for Christians with repetitive negative thinking.

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 170-187
Author(s):  
Joshua J. Knabb ◽  
Veola E. Vazquez ◽  
Kenneth T. Wang ◽  
M. Todd Bates
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Repetitive Negative Thinking ◽  
Negative Thinking

Age-Related Differences in Motivational Integration and Cognitive Control

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Marianne Yee ◽  
Sarah L Adams ◽  
Asad Beck ◽  
Todd Samuel Braver
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Monetary Reward ◽  
Potential Candidate ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Cognitive Task Performance

Motivational incentives play an influential role in value-based decision-making and cognitive control. A compelling hypothesis in the literature suggests that the brain integrates the motivational value of diverse incentives (e.g., motivational integration) into a common currency value signal that influences decision-making and behavior. To investigate whether motivational integration processes change during healthy aging, we tested older (N=44) and younger (N=54) adults in an innovative incentive integration task paradigm that establishes dissociable and additive effects of liquid (e.g., juice, neutral, saltwater) and monetary incentives on cognitive task performance. The results reveal that motivational incentives improve cognitive task performance in both older and younger adults, providing novel evidence demonstrating that age-related cognitive control deficits can be ameliorated with sufficient incentive motivation. Additional analyses revealed clear age-related differences in motivational integration. Younger adult task performance was modulated by both monetary and liquid incentives, whereas monetary reward effects were more gradual in older adults and more strongly impacted by trial-by-trial performance feedback. A surprising discovery was that older adults shifted attention from liquid valence toward monetary reward throughout task performance, but younger adults shifted attention from monetary reward toward integrating both monetary reward and liquid valence by the end of the task, suggesting differential strategic utilization of incentives. Together these data suggest that older adults may have impairments in incentive integration, and employ different motivational strategies to improve cognitive task performance. The findings suggest potential candidate neural mechanisms that may serve as the locus of age-related change, providing targets for future cognitive neuroscience investigations.

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