Unsuccessful suppression is associated with increased neuroticism, intrusive thoughts, and rumination

Controlling intrusive thoughts of future fears under stress

Negative outlooks of our future may foster unwanted and intrusive thoughts. To some extent, individuals have control over their ability to suppress intrusions and downregulate their frequency. Acute stress impairs intentional suppression, leading to an increased frequency of intrusions. The aim of this study was to gain insight into the mechanism underlying stress-induced impairments in intentional suppression of intrusions by investigating the combined and independent roles of the two major stress hormones, noradrenaline and cortisol. Healthy participants (N = 181) were administered propranolol (to block the noradrenergic response), metyrapone (to block the cortisol response), or a placebo before being exposed to the Maastricht Acute Stress Test. Intrusive thoughts of autobiographical future fears were then measured via the Imagine/No-Imagine task. Results demonstrated that the stress response was successfully altered because of the drug and stress manipulations. In all groups, repeated suppression of future fears reduced intrusions. Across the sample, an enhanced decrease over time was associated with greater attenuation of anxiety towards the related fears. The groups did not differ in the total frequency of intrusions. Though, trait anxiety increased the total number of intrusions. Our findings show that stress hormones did not influence the ability to suppress intrusions. However, our results do add support to previous research linking anxiety to memory control deficits. When using autobiographical content, future research should focus on the quality and characteristics of the individual memories to explain more of the variation observed in intentional memory control.

The effectiveness of the training program on accepting and expressing emotions on the psychological resilience and depression levels of nurses: A two-year follow-up study

PURPOSE

This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of the training program which was based on cognitive behavioral theory on accepting and expressing emotions in terms of nurses' psychological resilience and depression levels.

DESIGN AND METHODS

The study is an intervention study with a control group conducted with pretest, posttest, and two-year follow-up test design in line with Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT). The participants in the intervention group attended an eight-week accepting and expressing emotions training program, while those in the control group did not. The Psychological Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA) and Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI) were applied to both groups as pre-test, post-test and 6-month follow-up (T2), 12-month follow-up (T3) and 24-month follow-up (T4).

RESULTS

It was determined that there was a significant change in RSA scale scores of the intervention group, and that the effect of group ∗ time interaction for all scores was significant. An increase in the total score was found for all follow-up periods with respect to T1. A significant decrease was determined in BDI scores of the intervention group, and the effect of group-time interaction for all scores was found to be significant. It was found that there was a decrease in the scores of the intervention group in all follow-up periods with respect to T1.

CONCLUSIONS

The results obtained from the study showed that the training program conducted with groups on accepting and expressing emotions was effective on the nurses' psychological resilience and depression scores.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Training programs that develop the skills of accepting and expression emotions can help nurses find their thoughts underlying their emotions. Thus, depression levels of nurses can decrease, and their psychological resilience can improve. This situation can help in terms of reducing workplace stress of nurses and can cause their working life to be more effective.

Superior frontal gyrus and middle temporal gyrus connectivity mediates the relationship between neuroticism and thought suppression

Thought suppression, which is defined as an effort "not to think about" a particular thought, is essential to maintain good mental health. Despite previous functional imaging studies on thought suppression and related functional activity, the neural basis of thought suppression in individual difference is still unclear. Many studies have focused on the relationship between neuroticism and thought suppression; however, the neural basis of this relationship is not well known. Thus, in the present study, we investigated the neural basis of thought suppression and further explored the neural mechanisms underlying the relationship between neuroticism and thought suppression. The first step was to use voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to investigate the neuroanatomical basis of thought suppression in healthy subjects. We found a significant positive correlation between thought suppression and the gray matter volume (GMV) of the right superior frontal gyrus (SFG). The second step was to use resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) to investigate the neural functional basis of thought suppression. The results showed that thought suppression was positively correlated with rsFC between the right SFG and the left middle temporal gyrus (MTG). Interestingly, the relationship between neuroticism and thought suppression was mediated by the strength of rsFC between the right SFG and the left MTG. The results suggest that better ability to suppress unwanted intrusive thoughts is supported by greater GMV of the right SFG and stronger functional connectivity between the SFG and MTG. They also indicate that weak rsFC between the SFG and MTG can partly explain the negative association between neuroticism and thought suppression.

Associated Factors of Psychological Symptoms Among Unemployed Turkish Adults: The Role of Personality Factors and Rumination

Unemployment has been associated with adverse mental health outcomes including depression and suicide. In the last decades, unemployment rates have increased substantially in Turkey; yet, factors and mechanisms that play a role in experiencing psychological symptoms among unemployed individuals are not well understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of personality characteristics on psychological symptoms among unemployed Turkish adults and to test the mediating role of rumination as a dysfunctional cognitive strategy. The sample consisted of 217 unemployed Turkish adults who completed self-report measures on neuroticism, external locus of control, rumination, and psychological symptoms. The results of the structural equation modeling indicated that rumination partially mediated the relationship between personality variables (i.e., neuroticism and external locus of control) and psychological symptoms, thus verifying the hypothesis of the study. The direct paths from trait neuroticism and external locus of control to psychological symptoms were also significant. Results revealed that a tendency to attribute future outcomes to external factors and an increased tendency to experience negative emotions are associated with engaging passively in rumination, which in turn predicts psychological symptoms. Interventions are suggested to focus on effective coping strategies along with increasing individuals' perceived control over life and future.

Anger Suppression and Rumination Sequentially Mediates the Effect of Emotional Labor in Korean Nurses

The degree of emotional labor in nurses has been associated with negative physical and psychological health indices. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between emotional labor and depressive and anxiety symptoms in nurses. Specifically, the study addressed the question of whether anger suppression and anger rumination sequentially mediated the relationship. A total of 99 nurses was recruited from a university hospital in Korea. The questionnaires included instruments assessing emotional labor, anger suppression, anger rumination, as well as depressive and anxiety symptoms. Consistent with our hypothesis, there was a significant indirect effect of anger suppression and anger rumination on the relationship between emotional labor and depressive symptoms, as well as on the relationship between emotional labor and anxiety symptoms. The nurses’ degree of emotional labor, anger suppression, and anger rumination was associated with psychological adjustment. Thus, the impact of nurses’ negative affect needs to be adequately addressed, as inadequate resolution of anger may increase their vulnerability to experience depressive and anxiety symptoms. These findings may contribute to developing a strategy for enhancing nurses’ psychological health.

Neuroticism and Somatic Complaints: Concomitant Effects of Rumination and Worry

Background: Neuroticism is associated with inflated somatic symptom reporting. Worry and rumination are a cognitive concomitant of neuroticism and potentially mediate the neuroticism–somatic complaint relationship. Aims: The present study examined the degree to which worry and rumination mediated the relationship between neuroticism and somatic complaints. Method: A sample of 170 volunteers, recruited via convenience sampling, took part. Participants completed a series of self-report measures: the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised-Short Form, Penn State Worry Questionnaire, the Ruminative Response Scale and the Somatic Symptom Scale-8. Results: Analysis revealed significant positive correlations between neuroticism, rumination and worry. Neuroticism, rumination and worry also correlated positively with somatic complaints. Using structural equation modelling, a mediational model indicated that rumination fully mediated the relationship between neuroticism and somatic complaints. Conclusions: Findings are consistent with the symptom perception hypothesis and have implications for healthcare in terms of managing individuals who present with multiple somatic complaints. Future research would benefit from adopting a longitudinal approach to test how rumination interacts with neuroticism and somatic complaints over time.

Forget about the future: effects of thought suppression on memory for imaginary emotional episodes

Whether intentional suppression of an unpleasant or unwanted memory reduces the ability to recall that memory subsequently is a contested issue in contemporary memory research. Building on findings that similar processes are recruited when individuals remember the past and imagine the future, we measured the effects of thought suppression on memory for imagined future scenarios. Thought suppression reduced the ability to recall emotionally negative scenarios, but not those that were emotionally positive. This finding suggests that intentionally avoiding thoughts about emotionally negative episodes may inhibit representations of those memories, progressively reducing their availability to recall.

Cognitive Load Undermines Thought Suppression in Acute Stress Disorder

Thought suppression studies demonstrate that attempts to suppress can be undermined by cognitive load. We report the first instance in which this has been tested experimentally in a sample of recently traumatized individuals. Individuals with and without acute stress disorder (ASD) were recruited following recent trauma and randomized to load or no load conditions (N=56). They monitored intrusive memories during baseline, suppression, and think anything phases. The impact of suppression and load on self-reported intrusions, attention bias (dot-probe), and memory priming (word-stem task) was assessed. The ASD load group were less able to suppress memories (d=0.32, CI95 [-0.15, 0.83], p=.088) than the ASD no load group (d=0.63, CI95 [0.08, 1.24], p<.001). In the think anything phase, the ASD load group reported more intrusions than the ASD no load or non-ASD groups (with and without load). No consistent findings were observed in relation to attentional bias. ASD load individuals exhibited stronger priming responses for motor vehicle accident and assault words than all other groups (ds between 0.35-0.73). Working memory did not moderate any outcomes of interest. The findings indicate that cognitive load interferes with suppression and may enhance access to trauma memories and associated material. The study extends previous research by demonstrating these effects for the first time in a clinical sample of recent survivors of trauma.