Repetitive Negative Thought and Executive Dysfunction: An Interactive Pathway to Emotional Distress

The Influence of Emotional Regulation and Cognitive Flexibility on Sleep Habits in Spanish Children and Adolescents through the Lens of Parents

BACKGROUND

Previous research studies have suggested the importance of studying the relationship between emotional regulation and sleep habits. Some investigations have especially focused on how emotional regulation could impact sleep habits in children and adolescents. Therefore, these researchers have stated there exists a two-way direction in this relationship.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to analyze the influence of emotional regulation on sleep habits in Spanish children and adolescents and the mediating role of anxiety in this relationship.

METHOD

Participants were 953 Spanish parents who completed the assessment protocol according to their children and adolescents' information.

RESULTS

The results revealed moderate-strong correlations between emotional regulation problems and sleep habit disturbances (r = 0.375, p < 0.001), trait (r = 0.488, p < 0.001) anxiety, and state (r = 0.589, p < 0.001) anxiety. Additionally, emotional regulation showed a direct impact on sleep habits (β = 0.011, p = 0.005). Trait and state anxiety demonstrated a significant mediating role in the relationship between emotional regulation and sleep habits.

CONCLUSIONS

Emotional regulation may have an impact on sleep habits during childhood and adolescence, suggesting the importance of early intervention focused on the emotions management and the prevention of sleep habit disturbances.

Rumination burdens the updating of working memory

Working memory is a vital, but capacity-limited, cognitive instrument that requires frequent updating as our goals and environment change. Individuals diagnosed with depression have a reduced capacity compared with the general population, as they have a propensity to fixate on negative information, even when it is not relevant for the task at hand. Here we investigated how characteristics of psychiatric illnesses, such as rumination, affect a person's ability to efficiently update emotional information in mind. We used both neutral and negative pictures of scenes in a working memory updating task that required participants to occasionally replace items held in mind during a brief delay period. Participants were presented with a probe item at the end of each trial and asked to report whether that item was in their current memory set. Responses were slowest and least accurate for images that had been replaced (i.e., "lures"), indicating there was some difficulty in successfully updating working memory in this paradigm. Participants who have both a high propensity to ruminate and a low working memory capacity were significantly more likely to false alarm to these lures. While emotional valence did not impact accuracy for these participants, their false alarms were faster for negative stimuli compared with neutral stimuli, indicating that task-irrelevant emotional information was more difficult to remove from working memory. These results demonstrate how rumination impairs goal-directed behavior by obscuring the boundary between relevant and irrelevant information in working memory.

Dimensions of inattention: Cognitive, behavioral, and affective consequences

Inattention to one's on-going task leads to well-documented cognitive, behavioral, and physiological consequences. At the same time, the reliable association between mind-wandering and negative mood has suggested that there are affective consequences to task inattention as well. We examined this potential relationship between inattention and mood in the following study. Six hundred and fifty-five participants completed self-report questionnaires related to inattentive thinking (i.e., attentional lapses, daydreaming, mindfulness, rumination, reflection, worry, postevent processing, inattentiveness, and counterfactual thinking), a questionnaire about depressive symptoms, and a questionnaire about anxiety symptoms. First, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted to identify potential underlying constructs of types of inattentive thinking. Using ordinary least squares extraction and Oblimin rotation, a three-factor model demonstrated suitable fit, broadly representing mind-wandering/inattentive consequences, repetitive negative thinking, and reflective/introspective thinking. Second, after eliminating measures that did not strongly load on any factor, structural equation modeling was conducted and found that the relationship between mind-wandering and depression was partially explained by repetitive negative thinking, whereas the relationship between mind-wandering and anxiety was fully explained by repetitive negative thinking. The present findings suggest that understanding how inattentive thoughts are interrelated not only influences mood and affect but also reveals important considerations of intentionality, executive functioning, and qualitative styles of these thoughts.

Gray-Matter Morphometry of Internalizing-Symptom Dimensions During Adolescence

Understanding the neuroanatomical correlates of internalizing psychopathology during adolescence may shed light on to neurodevelopmental processes that make this a critical period for the trajectory of mental illness. However, few studies have simultaneously examined co-occurring and dissociable features of internalizing psychopathology during this formative developmental stage. In the current study we identify the neuroanatomical correlates of four dimensions of internalizing psychopathology symptoms in adolescents: a common internalizing dimension capturing covariance in symptoms across internalizing disorders, as well as low positive affect-, anxious arousal-, and anxious apprehension-specific residuals. Our results suggest that these dimensions are associated with neuroanatomy across much of the brain, including prefrontal and limbic regions implicated in case-control studies, but also regions supporting visual processing. Importantly, results differed between males and females in regions that are sexually dimorphic in adulthood and the direction of the effects were largely opposite to what has been observed in adults and children.

Predictive utility of symptom measures in classifying anxiety and depression: A machine-learning approach

Major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) are highly prevalent, co-occurring disorders with significant symptom overlap, posing challenges in accurately distinguishing and diagnosing these disorders. The tripartite model proposes that anxious arousal is specific to anxiety and anhedonia is specific to depression, though anxious apprehension may play a greater role in GAD than anxious arousal. The present study tested the efficacy of the Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire anhedonic depression (MASQ-AD) and anxious arousal (MASQ-AA) scales and the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) in identifying lifetime or current MDD, current major depressive episode (MDE), and GAD using binary support vector machine learning algorithms in an adult sample (n = 150). The PSWQ and MASQ-AD demonstrated predictive utility in screening for and identification of GAD and current MDE respectively, with the MASQ-AD eight-item subscale outperforming the MASQ-AD 14-item subscale. The MASQ-AA did not predict MDD, current MDE, or GAD, and the MASQ-AD did not predict current or lifetime MDD. The PSWQ and MASQ-AD are efficient and accurate screening tools for GAD and current MDE. Results support the tripartite model in that anhedonia is unique to depression, but inclusion of anxious apprehension as a separate dimension of anxiety is warranted.

Anxiety severity and cognitive function in primary care patients with anxiety disorder: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Deficits in cognitive performance are reported in patients with anxiety disorders, but research is limited and inconsistent. We aimed to investigate cross-sectional associations between cognitive function, with focus on executive function, and anxiety severity in primary care patients diagnosed with anxiety disorders.

METHODS

189 Swedish patients aged 18-65 years (31% men) with anxiety disorders diagnosed according to Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview were included. Severity of anxiety was assessed using Beck Anxiety Inventory self-assessment scale. Digit span, block design and matrix reasoning tests from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale IV, and the design fluency test from the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System were used. Multivariable linear regression models were applied to investigate the relationship of anxiety severity and cognitive functioning. Comparisons were also performed to a normed non-clinical population, using the Wilcoxon signed rank test.

RESULTS

More severe anxiety was associated with lower digit span test scores (R² = 0.109, B = -0.040, p = 0.018), but not with block design, matrix reasoning or design fluency tests scores, after adjustment for comorbid major depression in a multivariable model. When compared to a normed population, patients with anxiety performed significantly lower on the block design, digit span forward, digit span sequencing and matrix reasoning tests.

CONCLUSIONS

Severity of anxiety among patients with anxiety disorder was associated with executive functions related to working memory, independently of comorbid major depression, but not with lower fluid intelligence. A further understanding of the executive behavioral control in patients with anxiety could allow for more tailored treatment strategies including medication, therapy and interventions targeted to improve specific cognitive domains.

Childhood maltreatment predicts poorer executive functioning in adulthood beyond symptoms of internalizing psychopathology

BACKGROUND

A history of childhood maltreatment predicts poorer functioning in several domains during childhood, including executive function (EF). While there is also evidence of poorer EF in adults with a history of childhood trauma, results are mixed. Notable limitations of previous research are (a) the use of single indicators of EF, and/or (b) not consistently assessing whether childhood maltreatment predicts poorer EF beyond internalizing psychopathology.

OBJECTIVE

We sought to overcome limitations of prior work by examining relationships between childhood maltreatment and EF in adulthood by using a latent factor of EF derived from multiple indicators and including psychopathology covariates in our analyses.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

The present study included a large sample of community adults (n = 489) who were oversampled for internalizing psychopathology symptoms.

METHODS

Primary analyses examined whether childhood maltreatment (cumulative and subtypes) predicted EF using a latent factor approach and linear mixed effects models. Follow-up analyses assessed the impact of childhood maltreatment on EF beyond internalizing psychopathology symptoms and assessed whether gender moderated relationships between EF and childhood maltreatment.

RESULTS

Greater cumulative maltreatment predicted poorer EF (B = -0.15), and emotional neglect emerged as a unique predictor of EF (B = -0.18). These results remained after controlling for psychopathology symptoms. Gender moderated the relationship between physical abuse and EF, with physical abuse predicting poorer EF among males (B = 0.30), but not females (B = -0.04).

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, results indicate that general EF deficits are related to a history of childhood maltreatment, which is not accounted for by internalizing psychopathology symptoms. Potential implications and future directions are discussed.

Factor Structure, Measurement Invariance, and Concurrent Validity of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire Across Development, Psychopathology, and Culture

The Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) is a widely used assessment of excessive worry. American undergraduate samples have predominately been used to evaluate its factor structure, which may not generalize to other developmental, cultural, and psychopathology populations. The present study tested the PSWQ's factor structure across three diverse samples: American undergraduate students (n = 3,243), Dutch high school students (n = 3,906), and American adults with psychopathology (n = 384). Exploratory, confirmatory, and multigroup confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. Measurement invariance and concurrent validity were also tested. Method-factor and two-factor models were largely equivalent and superior to a one-factor model. Invariance tests supported configural and metric invariance but only partial scalar invariance. Positively worded items but not negatively worded items demonstrated concurrent validity with anxiety and depression symptom measures and diagnoses. Overall, the PSWQ appears to measure a unitary construct. Present results warrant further testing of the PSWQ across diverse samples.

The Structure of Executive Dysfunction in Depression and Anxiety

BACKGROUND

Although research has demonstrated that depression and anxiety are associated with problematic executive function (EF), results are often inconsistent and underspecified. Delineating specific EF impairments in depression and anxiety has the potential to provide a mechanistic account of symptom presentation and course in these highly co-occurring disorders. The present study evaluated associations between components of EF and symptom dimensions of depression (depressed mood) and anxiety (anxious apprehension, anxious arousal) using factor analyses and structural equation modeling.

METHODS

Undergraduates (N = 1,123) completed self-report measures of EF in everyday life and of psychopathology. Based on a three-factor model (Miyake et al., 2000), item-level exploratory (n = 561) and confirmatory (n = 562) factor analyses were conducted on inhibition, shifting, and working memory scales chosen from the EF measure. Structural equation modeling tested the relationship of EF factors to dimensions of psychopathology using the total sample.

RESULTS

A three-factor model of EF best fit the data and was replicated via confirmatory factor analysis. Depressed mood and anxious arousal evidenced broad deficits across all EF domains, whereas anxious apprehension evidenced shifting disruptions.

LIMITATIONS

Perceived EF may not index the same constructs as performance-based EF tests. Further, the present study was restricted to college students, warranting replication in other samples.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest that depressed mood and anxious arousal are characterized by a general disruption in the ability to maintain task goals, whereas anxious apprehension is characterized by cognitive inflexibility. EF impairments are likely contributory factors in the maintenance of affective disorders.