Repetitive negative thinking following exposure to a natural stressor prospectively predicts altered stress responding and decision-making in the laboratory

Can an intervention designed to reduce repetitive negative thinking alter the response to a psychosocial stressor? A randomized controlled study

Prior research suggests that repetitive negative thinking (RNT) negatively impacts mental health by intensifying and prolonging emotional reactivity to stress. This study investigated whether an intervention designed to reduce RNT alters emotional reactivity. Young adults with high trait RNT (N = 79) were randomly allocated to an RNT-focused intervention (smartphone app-based, 10 days) or a waiting list before exposure to a standardized stressor. The pre-registered analysis did not reveal a significant condition * time interaction for negative affect. However, exploratory analyses showed that whilst initial increases in negative affect in response to the stressor did not differ between conditions, participants in the intervention condition reported less negative affect throughout the following recovery phase. Additionally, participants in the intervention condition appraised their ability to cope with the stressor as higher and reported less RNT in the recovery phase. In contrast, the intervention did not affect biological stress responses. The findings indicate that RNT-focused interventions might have positive effects on mental health by breaking the self-reinforcing cycle of RNT, negative affect and maladaptive appraisals in response to stress. However, as findings are partly based on exploratory analyses, further research is needed to confirm whether reduced subjective stress reactivity mediates the effects of RNT-focused interventions on psychopathological symptoms.

Negative interpretation bias connects to real-world daily affect: A multistudy approach

Negative interpretation bias, the tendency to appraise ambiguous stimuli as threatening, shapes our emotional lives. Various laboratory tasks, which differ in stimuli features and task procedures, can quantify negative interpretation bias. However, it is unknown whether these tasks globally predict individual differences in real-world negative (NA) and positive (PA) affect. Across two studies, we tested whether different lab-based negative interpretation bias tasks predict daily NA and PA, measured via mobile phone across months. To quantify negative interpretation bias, Study 1 (N = 69) used a verbal, self-referential task whereas Study 2 (N = 110) used a perceptual, emotional image task with faces and scenes. Across tasks, negative interpretation bias was linked to heightened daily NA. However, only negative interpretation bias in response to ambiguous faces was related to decreased daily PA. These results illustrate the ecological validity of negative interpretation bias tasks and highlight converging and unique relationships between distinct tasks and naturalistic emotion. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Repetitive negative thinking: transdiagnostic correlate and risk factor for mental disorders? A proof-of-concept study in German soldiers before and after deployment to Afghanistan

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Disorder-specific forms of Repetitive Negative Thinking (RNT) are associated with multiple diagnostic categories, indicating a transdiagnostic nature. Few studies examined content-independent RNT processes across groups of diagnosed mental disorders. Moreover, theory describes RNT processes as critically involved in the etiology of mental disorders, empirical evidence however is scarce. We first tested the transdiagnostic nature by examining levels of RNT across groups of internalizing and externalizing mental disorders compared to healthy individuals and explored RNT levels in a comorbid disorder-group. Second, we examined whether RNT predicts incident psychopathology.

METHODS

In a sample of German soldiers (n = 425) scheduled for deployment in Afghanistan, we compared RNT levels between diagnosed groups with alcohol use disorders, anxiety disorders and healthy individuals cross-sectionally. Exploratory analyses were conducted comparing a comorbid disorder-group to healthy individuals and to both single-disorder-groups. Longitudinally, we examined the predictive value of pre-deployment RNT levels for incident psychopathology after deployment (n = 167). RNT was measured using the Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire (PTQ), DSM-IV diagnoses were assessed using the standardized Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI).

RESULTS

Cross-sectional comparisons revealed that soldiers with alcohol use disorders and anxiety disorders showed significantly higher degrees of RNT compared to healthy soldiers. RNT levels in those with comorbid disorders were significantly higher compared to healthy soldiers but also compared to both single-disorder-groups. Longitudinal analyses revealed that higher levels of RNT prior to deployment were associated with a higher risk to have any incidental mental disorder after deployment. This however is only attributable to individuals with a PTQ score above a cut-off of 15.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings provide evidence for RNT as a transdiagnostic correlate and a vulnerability factor for the development of mental disorders.

Age Influences Loss Aversion Through Effects on Posterior Cingulate Cortical Thickness

Decision-making strategies shift during normal aging and can profoundly affect wellbeing. Although overweighing losses compared to gains, termed "loss aversion," plays an important role in choice selection, the age trajectory of this effect and how it may be influenced by associated changes in brain structure remain unclear. We therefore investigated the relationship between age and loss aversion, and tested for its mediation by cortical thinning in brain regions that are susceptible to age-related declines and are implicated in loss aversion - the insular, orbitofrontal, and anterior and posterior cingulate cortices. Healthy participants (n = 106, 17-54 years) performed the Loss Aversion Task. A subgroup (n = 78) provided structural magnetic resonance imaging scans. Loss aversion followed a curvilinear trajectory, declining in young adulthood and increasing in middle-age, and thinning of the posterior cingulate cortex mediated this trajectory. The findings suggest that beyond a threshold in middle adulthood, atrophy of the posterior cingulate cortex influences loss aversion.

Acute stress amplifies experienced and anticipated regret in counterfactual decision-making

Previous research has shown that stress can affect emotion processing in a variety of settings. However, little attention has been paid to the effects of stress on emotional decision-making. The present study addressed this question by exposing healthy young participants either to a stressor (n = 30)-socially evaluated cold pressor task- or a non-stressful control task (n = 30). Subsequently, participants completed a computerized decision-making task in which they could compare the obtained factual outcome with a non-obtained counterfactual outcome. Saliva samples were taken at four time points over the course of the experiment and used to analyze cortisol levels. Results revealed that acute stress induced reliable salivary cortisol increase over the experimental task. At the outcome delivery stage, acute stress amplified negative emotions induced by the counterfactual comparison. At the choice stage, under stress, participants were more likely to make regret-averse decisions. The findings that acute stress amplifies both experienced and anticipated regret is consistent with dual process frameworks such that stress tilts decision-making toward more emotional and intuitive processing.Lay summaryStress is thought to affect emotional processing. The present study investigated the effects of acute stress on emotional decision making using a typical counterfactual decision making task. Acute stress amplified both experience and anticipation of regret, consistent with the dual process frame that stress tilts decision-making toward more emotional and intuitive processing.

Using supervised machine learning on neuropsychological data to distinguish OCD patients with and without sensory phenomena from healthy controls

OBJECTIVES

While theoretical models link obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) with executive function deficits, empirical findings from the neuropsychological literature remain mixed. These inconsistencies are likely exacerbated by the challenge of high-dimensional data (i.e., many variables per subject), which is common across neuropsychological paradigms and necessitates analytical advances. More unique to OCD is the heterogeneity of symptom presentations, each of which may relate to distinct neuropsychological features. While researchers have traditionally attempted to account for this heterogeneity using a symptom-based approach, an alternative involves focusing on underlying symptom motivations. Although the most studied symptom motivation involves fear of harmful events, 60-70% of patients also experience sensory phenomena, consisting of uncomfortable sensations or perceptions that drive compulsions. Sensory phenomena have received limited attention in the neuropsychological literature, despite evidence that symptoms motivated by these experiences may relate to distinct cognitive processes.

METHODS

Here, we used a supervised machine learning approach to characterize neuropsychological processes in OCD, accounting for sensory phenomena.

RESULTS

Compared to logistic regression and other algorithms, random forest best differentiated healthy controls (n = 59; balanced accuracy = .70), patients with sensory phenomena (n = 29; balanced accuracy = .59), and patients without sensory phenomena (n = 46; balanced accuracy = .62). Decision-making best distinguished between groups based on sensory phenomena, and among the patient subsample, those without sensory phenomena uniquely displayed greater risk sensitivity compared to healthy controls (d = .07, p = .008).

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest that different cognitive profiles may characterize patients motivated by distinct drives. The superior performance and generalizability of the newer algorithms highlights the utility of considering multiple analytic approaches when faced with complex data.

PRACTITIONER POINTS

Practitioners should be aware that sensory phenomena are common experiences among patients with OCD. OCD patients with sensory phenomena may be distinguished from those without based on neuropsychological processes.