Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T15:17:58.185Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Attention Training in the Reduction and Reappraisal of Intrusive Thoughts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 June 2007

Chris Watson  and
Christine Purdon
Chris Watson*
Affiliation:
University of Waterloo, Canada
Christine Purdon
Affiliation:
University of Waterloo, Canada
*
Reprint requests to Chris Watson, Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, CanadaN2L 3G1. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Attention Training (ATT) is an auditory attention-focusing technique that attempts to reduce the perseverative self-focused processing characteristic of anxiety and mood disorders. The present study investigated the effects of one session of ATT in the reduction and reappraisal of intrusive thoughts in a university sample reporting high levels of obsessive-compulsive symptoms. One-hundred and eight participants identified their most distressing intrusive thought and spent 7 minutes monitoring their stream of consciousness while recording occurrences of the identified thought. They then rated the unpleasantness of the intrusive thought, their attempts to dismiss the thought from consciousness, and their perceived success in reducing the frequency of the thought. Participants were then randomly assigned to receive one session of ATT, thought replacement instructions (TR), distraction instructions (DI), or no intervention (CONT). Participants then repeated the thought monitoring interval and ratings. ATT was expected to be the most effective in decreasing the frequency and unpleasantness of intrusive thoughts. However, contrary to hypotheses, all groups reported similar decreases across intervals. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Keywords

Attention TrainingOCDintrusive thoughtsreductionappraisal
Type
Research Article
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 36 , Issue 1 , January 2008 , pp. 61 - 70
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.Google Scholar
Antony, M. M., Bieling, P. J., Cox, B. J., Enns, M. W. and Swinson, R. P. (1998). Psychometric properties of the 42-item and 21-item versions of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales in clinical groups and a community sample. Psychological Assessment, 10, 176–181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conway, M., Howell, A. and Giannopoulos, C. (1991). Dysphoria and thought suppression. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 15, 153–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edwards, S. and Dickerson, M. G. (1987). Intrusive unwanted thoughts: a two-stage model of control. British Journal of Psychology, 60, 317–328.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Foa, E. B., Kozak, M. J., Salkovskis, P. M., Coles, M. E. and Amir, N. (1998). The validation of a new obsessive-compulsive disorder scale: the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory. Psychological Assessment, 10, 206–214.Google Scholar
Ingram, R. E. (1990). Self-focused attention in clinical disorders: review and a conceptual model. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 156–176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994). Wherever You Go, There You Are: mindfulness meditation in everyday life. New York: Hyperion.Google Scholar
Lovibond, S. H. and Lovibond, P. F. (1995). Manual for the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (2nd ed.). Sydney, Australia: Psychology Foundation of Australia.Google Scholar
OCCWG. (2001). Development and initial validation of the obsessive beliefs questionnaire and the interpretation of intrusions inventory. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 39, 987–1006.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Papageorgiou, C. and Wells, A. (1998). Effects of attention training on hypochondriasis: a brief case series. Psychological Medicine, 28, 193–200.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Papageorgiou, C. and Wells, A. (2000). Treatment of recurrent major depression with attention training. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 7, 407–413.Google Scholar
Purdon, C. (2001). Appraisal of obsessional thought recurrences: impact on anxiety and mood state. Behavior Therapy, 31, 47–64.Google Scholar
Purdon, C. and Clark, D. A. (1993). Obsessive intrusive thoughts in nonclinical subjects. Part I: content and relation with depressive, anxious and obsessional symptoms. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 31, 713–720.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Purdon, C., Rowa, K. and Antony, M. M. (2005). Thought suppression and its effects on thought frequency, appraisal and mood state in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 43, 93–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rachman, S. (1997). A cognitive theory of obsessions. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 35, 793–802.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rachman, S. (1998). A cognitive theory of obsessions: elaborations. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 385–401.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rachman, S. and de Silva, P. (1978). Abnormal and normal obsessions. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 16, 233–248.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rachman, S. and Hodgson, R. J. (1980). Obsessions and Compulsions. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Salkovskis, P. M. (1989). Obsessions and compulsions. In Scott, J., Williams, J. M. G. and Beck, A. T. (Eds.), Cognitive Therapy in Clinical Practice: an illustrative casebook (pp. 50–77). Florence, KY: Taylor and Frances/Routledge.Google Scholar
Salkovskis, P. M. and Harrison, J. (1984). Abnormal and normal obsessions: a replication. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 22, 1–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Segal, Z. V., Williams, J. M. G. and Teasdale, J. D. (2002). Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: a new approach to preventing relapse. New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Wegner, D. M., Schneider, D. J., Carter, S. R. and White, T. L. (1987). Paradoxical effects of thought suppression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 5–13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wells, A. (1990). Panic disorder in association with relaxation induced anxiety: an attentional training approach to treatment. Behavior Therapy, 21, 273–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wells, A. (1997). Cognitive Therapy of Anxiety Disorders: a practice manual and conceptual guide. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Wells, A. (2000). Emotional Disorders and Metacognition: innovative cognitive therapy. Wiley: Chichester.Google Scholar
Wells, A. and Matthews, G. (1994). Attention and Emotion: a clinical perspective. Hove, UK: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Wells, A., White, J. and Carter, K. (1997). Attention training: effects on anxiety and belief in panic and social phobia. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 4, 226–232.3.0.CO;2-M>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wenzlaff, R. M., Wegner, D. M. and Roper, D. W. (1988). Depression and mental control: the resurgence of unwanted negative thoughts. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 882–892.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Woodruff-Borden, J., Brothers, A. J. and Lister, S. C. (2001). Self-focused attention: commonalities across psychopathologies and predictors. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 29, 169–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.