Publications by category
Journal articles
Thomas LR, Bessette KL, Westlund Schreiner M, Dillahunt AK, Frandsen SB, Pocius SL, Schubert BL, Farstead BW, Roberts H, Watkins ER, et al (2023). Early Emergence of Rumination has no Association with Performance on a Non-affective Inhibitory Control Task.
Child Psychiatry Hum Dev, 1-17.
Abstract:
Early Emergence of Rumination has no Association with Performance on a Non-affective Inhibitory Control Task.
Rumination is a vulnerability for depression and potentially linked to inhibitory control weaknesses. We aimed to replicate the association observed in adults between inhibitory control and rumination in adolescents, and to examine putative moderating roles of childhood maltreatment and perceived family cohesion in an adolescent sample at risk for depression due to familial/personal history. Ninety adolescents aged 11-17 (M = 14.6, SD = 1.8) completed self-report scales of rumination, maltreatment, and family cohesion, and performed a task assessing inhibitory control. Hierarchical regression models showed no significant relation between inhibitory control and moderator variables on rumination. However, adolescents who reported higher levels of maltreatment and who perceived lower family cohesion tended to indicate higher levels of rumination (BChilhood Maltreatment = 27.52, 95% CIs [5.63, 49.41], BFamily Cohesion = -0.40, 95% CIs [-0.65, -0.15]). These findings demonstrate an alternative understanding of factors that increase depression onset risk and recurrence in adolescents.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Westlund Schreiner M, Roberts H, Dillahunt AK, Farstead B, Feldman D, Thomas L, Jacobs RH, Bessette KL, Welsh RC, Watkins ER, et al (2023). Negative association between. <scp>non‐suicidal self‐injury</scp>. in adolescents and default mode network activation during the distraction blocks of a rumination task. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior
Roberts H, Ford TJ, Karl A, Reynolds S, Limond J, Adlam A-LR (2022). Mood Disorders in Young People with Acquired Brain Injury: an Integrated Model. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 16
Dillahunt A, Feldman D, Thomas L, Farstead B, Frandsen S, Lee S, Pazdera M, Galloway J, Bessette K, Roberts H, et al (2022). P266. The Balloon Analogue Risk Task and Adolescent Self-Injurious Behaviors. Biological Psychiatry, 91(9).
Dillahunt AK, Feldman DA, Thomas LR, Farstead BW, Frandsen SB, Lee S, Pazdera M, Galloway J, Bessette KL, Roberts H, et al (2022). Self-Injury in Adolescence is Associated with Greater Behavioral Risk Avoidance, Not Risk-Taking.
Journal of Clinical Medicine,
11(5).
Abstract:
Self-Injury in Adolescence is Associated with Greater Behavioral Risk Avoidance, Not Risk-Taking
Strategies to link impulsivity and self-injurious behaviors (SIBs) show highly variable results, and may differ depending on the impulsivity measure used. To better understand this lack of consistency, we investigated correlations between self-report and behavioral impulsivity, inhibitory control, SIBs, and rumination. We included participants aged 13–17 years with either current or remitted psychopathology who have (n = 31) and who do not have (n = 14) a history of SIBs. Participants completed self-report measures of impulsivity, the Rumination Responsiveness Scale (RRS), and two behavioral measures of impulsivity: the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) and Parametric Go/No-Go (PGNG). Lifetime SIBs were positively associated with self-reported impulsivity, specifically positive and negative urgency. However, individuals with greater lifetime SIBs demonstrated greater risk aversion (lower impulsivity) as measured by the BART, whereas there was no relation between lifetime SIBs and PGNG performance. There was no relation between rumination and behavioral impulsivity, although greater rumination was associated with higher negative urgency. Future research examining the role of SIBs in the context of active versus remitted psychopathology is warranted. Because most adolescents were remitted from major depressive disorder at the time of study, follow-up studies can determine if lower risk-taking may aid individuals with more prior SIBs to achieve and maintain a remitted state.
Abstract.
Roberts H, Jacobs RH, Bessette KL, Crowell SE, Westlund-Schreiner M, Thomas L, Easter RE, Pocius SL, Dillahunt A, Frandsen S, et al (2021). Mechanisms of rumination change in adolescent depression (RuMeChange): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial of rumination-focused cognitive behavioural therapy to reduce ruminative habit and risk of depressive relapse in high-ruminating adolescents.
BMC Psychiatry,
21(1).
Abstract:
Mechanisms of rumination change in adolescent depression (RuMeChange): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial of rumination-focused cognitive behavioural therapy to reduce ruminative habit and risk of depressive relapse in high-ruminating adolescents.
BACKGROUND: Adolescent-onset depression often results in a chronic and recurrent course, and is associated with worse outcomes relative to adult-onset depression. Targeting habitual depressive rumination, a specific known risk factor for relapse, may improve clinical outcomes for adolescents who have experienced a depressive episode. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) thus far have demonstrated that rumination-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (RFCBT) reduces depressive symptoms and relapse rates in patients with residual depression and adolescents and young adults with elevated rumination. This was also observed in a pilot RCT of adolescents at risk for depressive relapse. Rumination can be measured at the self-report, behavioral, and neural levels- using patterns of connectivity between the Default Mode Network (DMN) and Cognitive Control Network (CCN). Disrupted connectivity is a putative important mechanism for understanding reduced rumination via RFCBT. A feasibility trial in adolescents found that reductions in connectivity between DMN and CCN regions following RFCBT were correlated with change in rumination and depressive symptoms. METHOD: This is a phase III two-arm, two-stage, RCT of depression prevention. The trial tests whether RFCBT reduces identified risk factors for depressive relapse (rumination, patterns of neural connectivity, and depressive symptoms) in adolescents with partially or fully remitted depression and elevated rumination. In the first stage, RFCBT is compared to treatment as usual within the community. In the second stage, the comparator condition is relaxation therapy. Primary outcomes will be (a) reductions in depressive rumination, assessed using the Rumination Response Scale, and (b) reductions in resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging connectivity of DMN (posterior cingulate cortex) to CCN (inferior frontal gyrus), at 16 weeks post-randomization. Secondary outcomes include change in symptoms of depression following treatment, recurrence of depression over 12 months post-intervention period, and whether engagement with therapy homework (as a dose measure) is related to changes in the primary outcomes. DISCUSSION: RFCBT will be evaluated as a putative preventive therapy to reduce the risk of depressive relapse in adolescents, and influence the identified self-report, behavioral, and neural mechanisms of change. Understanding mechanisms that underlie change in rumination is necessary to improve and further disseminate preventive interventions. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03859297 , registered 01 March 2019.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Roberts H, Mostazir M, Moberly NJ, Watkins ER, Adlam A-L (2021). Working memory updating training reduces state repetitive negative thinking: Proof-of-concept for a novel cognitive control training. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 142, 103871-103871.
Watkins ER, Roberts H (2020). Reflecting on rumination: Consequences, causes, mechanisms and treatment of rumination. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 127, 103573-103573.
Roberts H, Moberly NJ, Cull T, Gow H, Honeysett M, Dunn B (2019). Short-term affective consequences of specificity of rumination about unresolved personal goals. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry
Kirschner H, Kuyken W, Wright K, Roberts H, Brejcha C, Karl A (2019). Soothing Your Heart and Feeling Connected: a New Experimental Paradigm to Study the Benefits of Self-Compassion.
Clinical Psychological Science,
7(3), 545-565.
Abstract:
Soothing Your Heart and Feeling Connected: a New Experimental Paradigm to Study the Benefits of Self-Compassion
Self-compassion and its cultivation in psychological interventions are associated with improved mental health and well-being. However, the underlying processes for this are not well understood. We randomly assigned 135 participants to study the effect of two short-term self-compassion exercises on self-reported-state mood and psychophysiological responses compared to three control conditions of negative (rumination), neutral, and positive (excitement) valence. Increased self-reported-state self-compassion, affiliative affect, and decreased self-criticism were found after both self-compassion exercises and the positive-excitement condition. However, a psychophysiological response pattern of reduced arousal (reduced heart rate and skin conductance) and increased parasympathetic activation (increased heart rate variability) were unique to the self-compassion conditions. This pattern is associated with effective emotion regulation in times of adversity. As predicted, rumination triggered the opposite pattern across self-report and physiological responses. Furthermore, we found partial evidence that physiological arousal reduction and parasympathetic activation precede the experience of feeling safe and connected.
Abstract.
Roberts H, Watkins ER, Wills AJ (2016). Does Rumination Cause “Inhibitory” Deficits?.
Psychopathology Review,
a4(3), 341-376.
Abstract:
Does Rumination Cause “Inhibitory” Deficits?
Inhibitory processes have been implicated in depressive rumination. Inhibitory deficits may cause difficulties in disengaging from ruminative content (e.g. Joormann, 2005), or rumination may constitute a working memory load, causing deficits in inhibitory control (e.g. Hertel, 2004). These hypotheses have different implications for the treatment of depression. We conducted a systematic review of existing evidence, and conclude that most studies do not unambiguously measure inhibition. The majority of published evidence is correlational, and thus supports neither causal direction. No published experimental studies have investigated the inhibitory deficit -? rumination causal direction, and only six have investigated the rumination -? inhibitory deficit hypothesis. In two of these studies the dependent variable has low construct validity. One study reported no effect of rumination on interference, and three did not control for mood effects. There is need for carefully designed experimental research that has the potential to investigate these proposed causal mechanisms.
Abstract.
Roberts H, Watkins ER, Wills AJ (2013). Cueing an unresolved personal goal causes persistent ruminative self-focus: an experimental evaluation of control theories of rumination.
J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry,
44(4), 449-455.
Abstract:
Cueing an unresolved personal goal causes persistent ruminative self-focus: an experimental evaluation of control theories of rumination.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Control theory predicts that the detection of goal discrepancies initiates ruminative self-focus (Martin & Tesser, 1996). Despite the breadth of applications and interest in control theory, there is a lack of experimental evidence evaluating this prediction. The present study provided the first experimental test of this prediction. METHODS: We examined uninstructed state rumination in response to the cueing of resolved and unresolved goals in a non-clinical population using a novel measure of online rumination. RESULTS: Consistent with control theory, cueing an unresolved goal resulted in significantly greater recurrent intrusive ruminative thoughts than cueing a resolved goal. Individual differences in trait rumination moderated the impact of the goal cueing task on the extent of state rumination: individuals who had a stronger tendency to habitually ruminate were more susceptible to the effects of cueing goal discrepancies. LIMITATIONS: the findings await replication in a clinically depressed sample where there is greater variability and higher levels of trait rumination. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that control theories of goal pursuit provide a valuable framework for understanding the circumstances that trigger state rumination. Additionally, our measure of uninstructed online state rumination was found to be a valid and sensitive index of the extent and temporal course of state rumination, indicating its value for further investigating the proximal causes of state rumination.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Chapters
Dunn BD, Roberts H (2016). Improving the capacity to treat depression using talking therapies: Setting a positive clinical psychology agenda. In Wood A, Johnson J (Eds.) Handbook of Positive Clinical Psychology.
Conferences
Dillahunt A, Feldman D, Thomas L, Farstead B, Frandsen S, Lee S, Pazdera M, Galloway J, Bessette K, Roberts H, et al (2022). The Balloon Analogue Risk Task and Adolescent Self-Injurious Behaviors.
Author URL.
Schreiner MW, Dillahunt A, Bessette K, Frandsen S, Farstead B, Lee S, Feldman D, Thomas L, Pocius S, Roberts H, et al (2022). Variability of Rumination and Distraction-Related Brain Activation Associated with Lifetime Self-Injury in Adolescents.
Author URL.
Langenecker S, Roberts H, Jacobs R, Bessette K, Jago D, Thomas L, Pocius S, Dillahunt A, Frandsen S, Schubert B, et al (2021). Mechanisms of Rumination Change in Adolescent Depression (RuMeChange).
Author URL.
Publications by year
2023
Thomas LR, Bessette KL, Westlund Schreiner M, Dillahunt AK, Frandsen SB, Pocius SL, Schubert BL, Farstead BW, Roberts H, Watkins ER, et al (2023). Early Emergence of Rumination has no Association with Performance on a Non-affective Inhibitory Control Task.
Child Psychiatry Hum Dev, 1-17.
Abstract:
Early Emergence of Rumination has no Association with Performance on a Non-affective Inhibitory Control Task.
Rumination is a vulnerability for depression and potentially linked to inhibitory control weaknesses. We aimed to replicate the association observed in adults between inhibitory control and rumination in adolescents, and to examine putative moderating roles of childhood maltreatment and perceived family cohesion in an adolescent sample at risk for depression due to familial/personal history. Ninety adolescents aged 11-17 (M = 14.6, SD = 1.8) completed self-report scales of rumination, maltreatment, and family cohesion, and performed a task assessing inhibitory control. Hierarchical regression models showed no significant relation between inhibitory control and moderator variables on rumination. However, adolescents who reported higher levels of maltreatment and who perceived lower family cohesion tended to indicate higher levels of rumination (BChilhood Maltreatment = 27.52, 95% CIs [5.63, 49.41], BFamily Cohesion = -0.40, 95% CIs [-0.65, -0.15]). These findings demonstrate an alternative understanding of factors that increase depression onset risk and recurrence in adolescents.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Westlund Schreiner M, Roberts H, Dillahunt AK, Farstead B, Feldman D, Thomas L, Jacobs RH, Bessette KL, Welsh RC, Watkins ER, et al (2023). Negative association between. <scp>non‐suicidal self‐injury</scp>. in adolescents and default mode network activation during the distraction blocks of a rumination task. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior
2022
Roberts H, Ford TJ, Karl A, Reynolds S, Limond J, Adlam A-LR (2022). Mood Disorders in Young People with Acquired Brain Injury: an Integrated Model. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 16
Dillahunt A, Feldman D, Thomas L, Farstead B, Frandsen S, Lee S, Pazdera M, Galloway J, Bessette K, Roberts H, et al (2022). P266. The Balloon Analogue Risk Task and Adolescent Self-Injurious Behaviors. Biological Psychiatry, 91(9).
Dillahunt AK, Feldman DA, Thomas LR, Farstead BW, Frandsen SB, Lee S, Pazdera M, Galloway J, Bessette KL, Roberts H, et al (2022). Self-Injury in Adolescence is Associated with Greater Behavioral Risk Avoidance, Not Risk-Taking.
Journal of Clinical Medicine,
11(5).
Abstract:
Self-Injury in Adolescence is Associated with Greater Behavioral Risk Avoidance, Not Risk-Taking
Strategies to link impulsivity and self-injurious behaviors (SIBs) show highly variable results, and may differ depending on the impulsivity measure used. To better understand this lack of consistency, we investigated correlations between self-report and behavioral impulsivity, inhibitory control, SIBs, and rumination. We included participants aged 13–17 years with either current or remitted psychopathology who have (n = 31) and who do not have (n = 14) a history of SIBs. Participants completed self-report measures of impulsivity, the Rumination Responsiveness Scale (RRS), and two behavioral measures of impulsivity: the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) and Parametric Go/No-Go (PGNG). Lifetime SIBs were positively associated with self-reported impulsivity, specifically positive and negative urgency. However, individuals with greater lifetime SIBs demonstrated greater risk aversion (lower impulsivity) as measured by the BART, whereas there was no relation between lifetime SIBs and PGNG performance. There was no relation between rumination and behavioral impulsivity, although greater rumination was associated with higher negative urgency. Future research examining the role of SIBs in the context of active versus remitted psychopathology is warranted. Because most adolescents were remitted from major depressive disorder at the time of study, follow-up studies can determine if lower risk-taking may aid individuals with more prior SIBs to achieve and maintain a remitted state.
Abstract.
Dillahunt A, Feldman D, Thomas L, Farstead B, Frandsen S, Lee S, Pazdera M, Galloway J, Bessette K, Roberts H, et al (2022). The Balloon Analogue Risk Task and Adolescent Self-Injurious Behaviors.
Author URL.
Schreiner MW, Dillahunt A, Bessette K, Frandsen S, Farstead B, Lee S, Feldman D, Thomas L, Pocius S, Roberts H, et al (2022). Variability of Rumination and Distraction-Related Brain Activation Associated with Lifetime Self-Injury in Adolescents.
Author URL.
2021
Langenecker S, Roberts H, Jacobs R, Bessette K, Jago D, Thomas L, Pocius S, Dillahunt A, Frandsen S, Schubert B, et al (2021). Mechanisms of Rumination Change in Adolescent Depression (RuMeChange).
Author URL.
Roberts H, Jacobs RH, Bessette KL, Crowell SE, Westlund-Schreiner M, Thomas L, Easter RE, Pocius SL, Dillahunt A, Frandsen S, et al (2021). Mechanisms of rumination change in adolescent depression (RuMeChange): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial of rumination-focused cognitive behavioural therapy to reduce ruminative habit and risk of depressive relapse in high-ruminating adolescents.
BMC Psychiatry,
21(1).
Abstract:
Mechanisms of rumination change in adolescent depression (RuMeChange): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial of rumination-focused cognitive behavioural therapy to reduce ruminative habit and risk of depressive relapse in high-ruminating adolescents.
BACKGROUND: Adolescent-onset depression often results in a chronic and recurrent course, and is associated with worse outcomes relative to adult-onset depression. Targeting habitual depressive rumination, a specific known risk factor for relapse, may improve clinical outcomes for adolescents who have experienced a depressive episode. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) thus far have demonstrated that rumination-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (RFCBT) reduces depressive symptoms and relapse rates in patients with residual depression and adolescents and young adults with elevated rumination. This was also observed in a pilot RCT of adolescents at risk for depressive relapse. Rumination can be measured at the self-report, behavioral, and neural levels- using patterns of connectivity between the Default Mode Network (DMN) and Cognitive Control Network (CCN). Disrupted connectivity is a putative important mechanism for understanding reduced rumination via RFCBT. A feasibility trial in adolescents found that reductions in connectivity between DMN and CCN regions following RFCBT were correlated with change in rumination and depressive symptoms. METHOD: This is a phase III two-arm, two-stage, RCT of depression prevention. The trial tests whether RFCBT reduces identified risk factors for depressive relapse (rumination, patterns of neural connectivity, and depressive symptoms) in adolescents with partially or fully remitted depression and elevated rumination. In the first stage, RFCBT is compared to treatment as usual within the community. In the second stage, the comparator condition is relaxation therapy. Primary outcomes will be (a) reductions in depressive rumination, assessed using the Rumination Response Scale, and (b) reductions in resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging connectivity of DMN (posterior cingulate cortex) to CCN (inferior frontal gyrus), at 16 weeks post-randomization. Secondary outcomes include change in symptoms of depression following treatment, recurrence of depression over 12 months post-intervention period, and whether engagement with therapy homework (as a dose measure) is related to changes in the primary outcomes. DISCUSSION: RFCBT will be evaluated as a putative preventive therapy to reduce the risk of depressive relapse in adolescents, and influence the identified self-report, behavioral, and neural mechanisms of change. Understanding mechanisms that underlie change in rumination is necessary to improve and further disseminate preventive interventions. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03859297 , registered 01 March 2019.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Roberts H (2021). Working memory updating training reduce state repetitive negative thinking: proof of concept for a novel cognitive control training (dataset).
Roberts H, Mostazir M, Moberly NJ, Watkins ER, Adlam A-L (2021). Working memory updating training reduces state repetitive negative thinking: Proof-of-concept for a novel cognitive control training. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 142, 103871-103871.
2020
Watkins ER, Roberts H (2020). Reflecting on rumination: Consequences, causes, mechanisms and treatment of rumination. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 127, 103573-103573.
2019
Adlam A-LR, Roberts H, Telling AL, Morris K, Taylor J, Bell M, Wisniewski SR, Fabio A, Kurowski BG (2019). Genetic and environmental influences on recovery of severe paediatric brain injury: the UK study protocol.
Abstract:
Genetic and environmental influences on recovery of severe paediatric brain injury: the UK study protocol
Background and aims: There is substantial variation in recovery after pediatric traumatic brain injury (pTBI). Understanding the genetic and environmental factors influencing this variation, would allow optimization of treatments to reduce the profound negative societal and economic impact of pTBI. This study will examine the associations between genetic and environmental factors on global functioning and neurocognitive and behavioural functioning following severe pTBI.
Method: We will collect salivary DNA samples and measures of parenting and home environment from approximately 85 children in the U.K. who have participated in the international Approaches and Decisions in Acute Pediatric TBI Trial (ADAPT). The primary outcome will be global functioning assessed by the pediatric Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (GOSE) at 3-, 6-, and 12-months post-injury. Secondary outcomes will include an assessment of cognitive and behavioral functioning 12-months post-injury.
Results: an analytic approach that seeks to identify genes and variants associated with recovery that are over-represented (gene-enrichment) across response to injury and neurocognitive and behavioral reserve biologic processes will be used. Mixed model analyses will evaluate the association of genotypes with recovery after severe pTBI and to elucidate the association of environmental factors with recovery. How genetic and environmental factors and genetic and early clinical factors interact to influence recovery after severe pTBI will also be evaluated.
Conclusions: the study findings will help us to better understand what determines variation in recovery following pTBI, supporting the ability to provide accurate prognosis and develop novel precision treatments.
Abstract.
Roberts H, Moberly NJ, Cull T, Gow H, Honeysett M, Dunn B (2019). Short-term affective consequences of specificity of rumination about unresolved personal goals. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry
Kirschner H, Kuyken W, Wright K, Roberts H, Brejcha C, Karl A (2019). Soothing Your Heart and Feeling Connected: a New Experimental Paradigm to Study the Benefits of Self-Compassion.
Clinical Psychological Science,
7(3), 545-565.
Abstract:
Soothing Your Heart and Feeling Connected: a New Experimental Paradigm to Study the Benefits of Self-Compassion
Self-compassion and its cultivation in psychological interventions are associated with improved mental health and well-being. However, the underlying processes for this are not well understood. We randomly assigned 135 participants to study the effect of two short-term self-compassion exercises on self-reported-state mood and psychophysiological responses compared to three control conditions of negative (rumination), neutral, and positive (excitement) valence. Increased self-reported-state self-compassion, affiliative affect, and decreased self-criticism were found after both self-compassion exercises and the positive-excitement condition. However, a psychophysiological response pattern of reduced arousal (reduced heart rate and skin conductance) and increased parasympathetic activation (increased heart rate variability) were unique to the self-compassion conditions. This pattern is associated with effective emotion regulation in times of adversity. As predicted, rumination triggered the opposite pattern across self-report and physiological responses. Furthermore, we found partial evidence that physiological arousal reduction and parasympathetic activation precede the experience of feeling safe and connected.
Abstract.
2016
Roberts H, Watkins ER, Wills AJ (2016). Does Rumination Cause “Inhibitory” Deficits?.
Psychopathology Review,
a4(3), 341-376.
Abstract:
Does Rumination Cause “Inhibitory” Deficits?
Inhibitory processes have been implicated in depressive rumination. Inhibitory deficits may cause difficulties in disengaging from ruminative content (e.g. Joormann, 2005), or rumination may constitute a working memory load, causing deficits in inhibitory control (e.g. Hertel, 2004). These hypotheses have different implications for the treatment of depression. We conducted a systematic review of existing evidence, and conclude that most studies do not unambiguously measure inhibition. The majority of published evidence is correlational, and thus supports neither causal direction. No published experimental studies have investigated the inhibitory deficit -? rumination causal direction, and only six have investigated the rumination -? inhibitory deficit hypothesis. In two of these studies the dependent variable has low construct validity. One study reported no effect of rumination on interference, and three did not control for mood effects. There is need for carefully designed experimental research that has the potential to investigate these proposed causal mechanisms.
Abstract.
Dunn BD, Roberts H (2016). Improving the capacity to treat depression using talking therapies: Setting a positive clinical psychology agenda. In Wood A, Johnson J (Eds.) Handbook of Positive Clinical Psychology.
2013
Roberts H, Watkins ER, Wills AJ (2013). Cueing an unresolved personal goal causes persistent ruminative self-focus: an experimental evaluation of control theories of rumination.
J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry,
44(4), 449-455.
Abstract:
Cueing an unresolved personal goal causes persistent ruminative self-focus: an experimental evaluation of control theories of rumination.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Control theory predicts that the detection of goal discrepancies initiates ruminative self-focus (Martin & Tesser, 1996). Despite the breadth of applications and interest in control theory, there is a lack of experimental evidence evaluating this prediction. The present study provided the first experimental test of this prediction. METHODS: We examined uninstructed state rumination in response to the cueing of resolved and unresolved goals in a non-clinical population using a novel measure of online rumination. RESULTS: Consistent with control theory, cueing an unresolved goal resulted in significantly greater recurrent intrusive ruminative thoughts than cueing a resolved goal. Individual differences in trait rumination moderated the impact of the goal cueing task on the extent of state rumination: individuals who had a stronger tendency to habitually ruminate were more susceptible to the effects of cueing goal discrepancies. LIMITATIONS: the findings await replication in a clinically depressed sample where there is greater variability and higher levels of trait rumination. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that control theories of goal pursuit provide a valuable framework for understanding the circumstances that trigger state rumination. Additionally, our measure of uninstructed online state rumination was found to be a valid and sensitive index of the extent and temporal course of state rumination, indicating its value for further investigating the proximal causes of state rumination.
Abstract.
Author URL.