Intrusive Thoughts (intrusive + thought)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Intrusive cognitions and their appraisal in anxious cancer patients

PSYCHO-ONCOLOGY, Issue 11 2009
Katriina L. Whitaker
Abstract Objective: Previous research found that anxious cancer patients experience uncontrollable negative intrusive cognitions that have an impact on coping and are associated with significant psychological distress. This is the first study to examine the appraisal of intrusive cognitions in an anxious group of cancer patients. Methods: A sample of 139 anxious cancer patients was assessed for evidence of intrusive phenomena, including memories, images and thoughts. Patients completed the Response to Intrusions Questionnaire and the Impact of Event Scale in relation to intrusive cognitions. Results: Forty-eight percent (67/139) reported frequent, uncontrollable intrusive cognitions. Intrusive thoughts and images were equally as common and images were associated with increased distress and uncontrollability. A significant positive linear relationship was found between the number of intrusions and anxiety severity (P<0.05). Negative appraisal of intrusive cognitions was associated with anxiety (P<0.01) and depression severity (P<0.01), intrusion-specific distress (P<0.01), rumination (P<0.01) and cognitive avoidance (P<0.01), after controlling for intrusion frequency. Conclusion: Negative appraisal of intrusive cognitions plays a significant role in psychological distress and intrusion-specific distress in anxious cancer patients. Finding similarities in the types of intrusive cognitions reported by cancer patients and other anxious populations highlights the potential applicability of psychological therapies developed to reduce the frequency and impact of intrusive cognitions. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Cancer-specific worry interference in women attending a breast and ovarian cancer risk evaluation program: impact on emotional distress and health functioning

PSYCHO-ONCOLOGY, Issue 5 2001
Peter C. Trask
Intrusive thoughts about cancer, often identified as ,cancer-specific worries' or ,cancer-specific distress', have been postulated to be associated with dysfunction in women at increased risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer. The current study discusses the development and validation of a measure designed to assess women's perceptions of the interference such worries create in their daily functioning. Analyses revealed that approximately two-thirds of a high-risk breast cancer clinic sample perceived worries about breast cancer as interfering with their functioning across a variety of life domains. Multiple regression analyses indicated that worry interference scores predicted Profile of Mood States (POMS) Anxiety and Confusion, and Short Form-36 (SF-36) Role-Emotional and Mental Health scores after the effects of other variables such as frequency of worry about breast cancer, and having a family history of cancer had been considered. Women who perceived their worries as interfering with their functioning reported higher levels of anxiety and confusion, and diminished mental health and role functioning. The results add to the expanding area of anxiety/distress in at-risk populations by providing (1) a direct measure of the perceived interference associated with breast cancer-specific thoughts, (2) a validation of the measure via its associations with standard measures of emotional distress and health functioning, and (3) evidence of the measure's incremental predictive value in explaining distress and quality of life, after consideration of background variables, such as having a family history of cancer. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Intrusive thoughts in non-clinical subjects: the role of frequency and unpleasantness on appraisal ratings and control strategies

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY (AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THEORY & PRACTICE), Issue 2 2004
Amparo Belloch
This study explores the frequency of the appearance of intrusive thoughts in normal people, as well their association with cognitive appraisals and control strategies. A total of 336 subjects completed the Spanish adaptation of the Obsessional Intrusions Inventory-Revised (ROII), designed by Purdon and Clark (1993, 1994a, 1994b). Most of the subjects (99.4%) reported experiencing intrusive thoughts occasionally, but only 13% reported having them with some frequency. The intrusions were included in two factors: aggression, sexually and socially inappropriate behaviours, and doubts, checking, and cleanliness. The frequency of appearance of the most upsetting intrusive thought was associated with: the likelihood/probability bias, the need to control the thoughts, and neutralizing strategies. Nevertheless, the unpleasantness was associated with the morality bias and a broad range of control strategies. These results are discussed in relation to the different roles that the appraisal and the thought control responses play, both regarding the persistence as well as the unpleasantness associated with the most upsetting intrusions. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Stress, Breast Cancer Risk, and Breast Self-Examination: Chronic Effects of Risk and Worry,

JOURNAL OF APPLIED BIOBEHAVIORAL RESEARCH, Issue 2 2004
Donna M. Posluszny
Identifying the risk factors for breast cancer allows targeted prevention and surveillance of women with higher than average risk. Moreover, aggressive, regular surveillance is necessary if mortality is to be reduced by finding disease in its early, more treatable stages. However, learning that one is at risk may cause stress as women worry about developing breast cancer and the severity of its effects. This study examined the distress associated with breast cancer risk by measuring perceived stress, breast cancer worry, risk perception, and surveillance behavior in women with average and higher than average risk profiles. Women at higher risk reported more worry, intrusive thoughts, and emotional upset throughout the year of the study than did women with average risk. In addition, stress reduced adherence to regular breast self-examination. [source]


Does prior psychological health influence recall of military experiences? a prospective study

JOURNAL OF TRAUMATIC STRESS, Issue 4 2008
Jennifer Wilson
In a prospective study, we evaluated pre- and postdeployment psychological health on recall of risk factors to assess recall bias. Measures of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), PTSD Checklist (PCL), and symptom clusters from the PCL were obtained from 681 UK military personnel along with information on traumatic and protective risk factors. Postdeployment psychological health was more important in explaining recall of traumatic experiences than predeployment psychological health. Predeployment intrusive cluster scores were highly associated with traumatic exposures. Postdeployment, but not predeployment GHQ showed small effects for most risk factors. With the exception of intrusive thoughts, there is insufficient evidence to suggest predeployment psychological status would be useful in correcting for recall bias in subsequent cross-sectional studies. [source]


Measurement of coping and stress responses in women with breast cancer

PSYCHO-ONCOLOGY, Issue 12 2006
Bruce E. Compas
Abstract The development of the Responses to Stress Questionnaire-cancer version (RSQ-CV) to assess coping with and responses to the stress of breast cancer is described. The RSQ-CV was completed by 232 women with breast cancer near the time of their diagnosis. Confirmatory factor analyses verified a model that includes three voluntary coping factors (primary control engagement coping, secondary control engagement coping, disengagement coping) and two involuntary stress response factors (involuntary engagement, involuntary disengagement). Internal consistency reliability, and stability over 12 weeks for the five factors were adequate to excellent. Convergent and discriminant validity was examined through correlations with measures of intrusive thoughts, avoidance, and dimensions of perceived control. Significant correlations with symptoms of anxiety and depression are also reported. Applications of the RSQ-CV for research with breast cancer patients are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Social-cognitive correlates of adjustment to prostate cancer

PSYCHO-ONCOLOGY, Issue 3 2006
Katherine J. Roberts
Abstract This study examined whether social support might enhance health-related quality of life in men (n=89) treated for localized prostate cancer by improving their ability to cognitively process their cancer experience. Data were collected using two, structured in-person interviews and abstracting medical records. The baseline interview was within several months (T1) after treatment for cancer, and follow-up was 3 months later (T2). Most men (61.8%) were treated by radical prostatectomy. Results showed that T1 social support was positively related to T2 mental functioning, and this relation appeared to be mediated by T1 indicators of cognitively processing, intrusive thoughts and searching for meaning. These findings suggest that supportive social relations may improve mental functioning by helping men cognitively process their prostate cancer experience. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Decreased effectiveness of a focused,distraction strategy in dysphoric individuals

APPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2010
Yosuke Hattori
The purpose of the present study was to clarify the mechanism responsible for high frequency, negative intrusive thoughts in dysphoric individuals. Dysphoric and non-dysphoric participants were asked to suppress their negative thoughts by focusing on a memory task, to simply suppress their negative thoughts, or to think about something they of their own choice for 3,minutes. The results showed that dysphoric participants reported intrusive thoughts more frequently than did non-dysphoric participants, only in the focused,distraction condition. There was no significant difference in memory-task performance between dysphoric and non-dysphoric participants. Moreover, compared to the non-dypshoric participants, the dysphoric participants reported less reduction in suppression effort when using a focused,distraction strategy, and the maintained effort was correlated with the number of negative intrusions. These results indicate that negative intrusions enter dysphoric individuals' minds, regardless of whether they focus attention on distractors. The maintenance of suppression-effort may be causally related to these intrusions. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Are the dysfunctional beliefs that predict worry different from those that predict obsessions?

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY (AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THEORY & PRACTICE), Issue 6 2007
Amparo Belloch
Chronic worry present in Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and obsessions characteristic of the Obsessive,Compulsive Disorder (OCD) are cognitive phenomena that share some features, but they also differ on others. Based on current cognitive approaches, dysfunctional meta-cognitive beliefs underlie the development and/or maintenance of both GAD and OCD. However, to date, there has been little empirical evidence about the differences between the beliefs that predict the occurrence of obsessions and those that predict worry. This study focuses on the search for these differences and examines to what extent worry and obsessions are associated with a similar or different pattern of dysfunctional cognitive contents. One hundred and seventy-five community subjects completed measures of worry and obsessional intrusive thoughts, as well as questionnaires assessing obsession-related and worry-related meta-cognitive beliefs. Results showed that beliefs about uncontrollability and danger, as well as cognitive self-consciousness, play a central role in predicting worry, whereas the beliefs concerning the importance of thoughts and Thought,Action Fusion probability are relevant in accounting for the frequency of obsessive intrusive thoughts.,Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Intrusive thoughts in non-clinical subjects: the role of frequency and unpleasantness on appraisal ratings and control strategies

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY (AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THEORY & PRACTICE), Issue 2 2004
Amparo Belloch
This study explores the frequency of the appearance of intrusive thoughts in normal people, as well their association with cognitive appraisals and control strategies. A total of 336 subjects completed the Spanish adaptation of the Obsessional Intrusions Inventory-Revised (ROII), designed by Purdon and Clark (1993, 1994a, 1994b). Most of the subjects (99.4%) reported experiencing intrusive thoughts occasionally, but only 13% reported having them with some frequency. The intrusions were included in two factors: aggression, sexually and socially inappropriate behaviours, and doubts, checking, and cleanliness. The frequency of appearance of the most upsetting intrusive thought was associated with: the likelihood/probability bias, the need to control the thoughts, and neutralizing strategies. Nevertheless, the unpleasantness was associated with the morality bias and a broad range of control strategies. These results are discussed in relation to the different roles that the appraisal and the thought control responses play, both regarding the persistence as well as the unpleasantness associated with the most upsetting intrusions. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]