Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T07:10:46.321Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Intrusive imagery in anxiety disorders in adolescents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 December 2020

Ana Ghita ,
Emma Tooley  and
Peter J. Lawrence Open the ORCID record for Peter J. Lawrence [Opens in a new window]
Ana Ghita
Affiliation:
School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AL, UK
Emma Tooley
Affiliation:
School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AL, UK
Peter J. Lawrence*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Southampton, SouthamptonSO17 1BJ, UK
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background:

Mental imagery plays an important role in models of anxiety disorders in adults. This understanding rests on qualitative and quantitative studies. Qualitative studies of imagery in anxious adolescents have not been reported in the literature.

Aims:

To address this gap, we aimed to explore adolescents’ experiences of spontaneous imagery in the context of anxiety disorders.

Method:

We conducted one-to-one semi-structured interviews, with 13 adolescents aged 13–17 years with a DSM-5 anxiety disorder, regarding their experiences of spontaneous imagery. We analysed participants’ responses using thematic analysis.

Results:

We identified five superordinate themes relating to adolescents’ influences on images, distractions from images, controllability of images, emotional responses to imagery and contextual influences on imagery.

Conclusions:

Our findings suggest that spontaneous images are an important phenomenon in anxiety disorders in adolescents, associated with negative emotions during and after their occurrence. Contextual factors and adolescents’ own cognitive styles appear to influence adolescents’ experiences of images in anxiety disorders.

Keywords

adolescentsanxiety disordersimagery
Type
Main
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 49 , Issue 5 , September 2021 , pp. 556 - 568
Copyright
© British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2020

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.)

Footnotes

‡

Joint first authors.

References

Alfano, C. A., Beidel, D. C., & Turner, S. M. (2008). Negative self-imagery among adolescents with social phobia: a test of an adult model of the disorder. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 37, 327–336. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374410801955870 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
American Psychiatric Association (APA) (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th edn). Arlington, VA, USA: APA.Google Scholar
Beck, A. T. (1976). Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders. International Universities Press.Google Scholar
Beck, J. S. (1995). Cognitive Therapy: Basics and Beyond. New York, USA: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Beck, A. T., Emery, G., & Greenberg, R. L. (2005). Anxiety Disorders and Phobias: A Cognitive Perspective. Basic Books.Google Scholar
Beck, A. T., Rush, A., Shaw, B., & Emery, G. (1979). Cognitive Therapy of Depression. New York, USA: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Blakemore, S.-J. (2008). The social brain in adolescence. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 9, 267.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bolton, D., Dearsley, P., Madronal-Luque, R., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2002). Magical thinking in childhood and adolescence: development and relation to obsessive compulsion. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 20, 479–494.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borkovec, T. D., & Inz, J. (1990). The nature of worry in generalized anxiety disorder: a predominance of thought activity. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 28, 153–158.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bourne, C., Frasquilho, F., Roth, A. D., & Holmes, E. A. (2010). Is it mere distraction? Peri-Traumatic verbal tasks can increase analogue flashbacks but reduce voluntary memory performance. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 41, 316–324.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, T. A., Campbell, L. A., Lehman, C. L., Grisham, J. R., & Mancill, R. B. (2001). Current and lifetime comorbidity of the DSM-IV anxiety and mood disorders in a large clinical sample. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 110, 585.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burnett Heyes, S., Lau, J. Y. F., & Holmes, E. A. (2013). Mental imagery, emotion and psychopathology across child and adolescent development. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 5, 119–133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2013.02.004 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chorpita, B. F., Moffitt, C. E., & Gray, J. (2005). Psychometric properties of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale in a clinical sample. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 43, 309–322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chorpita, B. F., Yim, L., Moffitt, C., Umemoto, L. A., & Francis, S. E. (2000). Assessment of symptoms of DSM-IV anxiety and depression in children: a revised child anxiety and depression scale. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38, 835–855.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Çili, S., & Stopa, L. (2018). Autobiographical Memory and the Self: Relationship and Implications for Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy. Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, D. M. (2004). Developing new treatments: on the interplay between theories, experimental science and clinical innovation. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 42, 1089–1104.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clark, D. M., & Wells, A. (1995). A cognitive model of social phobia. Social Phobia: Diagnosis, Assessment, and Treatment, 41, 22–23.Google Scholar
Conway, M. A., & Holmes, E. A. (2005). Autobiographical memory and the working self. In N. R. Braisby & A. R. H. Gellatly (eds), Cognitive Psychology (pp. 507–538). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Day, S., Holmes, E., & Hackmann, A. (2004). Occurrence of imagery and its link with early memories in agoraphobia. Memory, 12, 416–427.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
de Silva, P. (1986). Obsessional-Compulsive imagery. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 24, 333–350.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ehlers, A., & Clark, D. M. (2000). A cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38, 319–345.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eksi, A., Peykerli, G., Saydam, R., Toparla, D., & Braun, K. L. (2008). Vivid intrusive memories in PTSD: responses of child earthquake survivors in Turkey. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 13, 123–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farrell, L., & Barrett, P. (2006). Obsessive-compulsive disorder across developmental trajectory: cognitive processing of threat in children, adolescents and adults. British Journal of Psychology, 97, 95–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fereday, J., & Muir-Cochrane, E. (2006). Demonstrating rigor using thematic analysis: a hybrid approach of inductive and deductive coding and theme development. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 5, 80–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grey, N., & Holmes, E. A. (2008). “Hotspots” in trauma memories in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder: a replication. Memory, 16, 788–796.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hackmann, A., Bennett-Levy, J., & Holmes, E. A. (2011). Oxford Guide to Imagery in Cognitive Therapy. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hackmann, A., Surawy, C., & Clark, D. M. (1998). Seeing yourself through others’ eyes: a study of spontaneously occurring images in social phobia. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 26, 3–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harvey, A. G., Clark, D. M., Ehlers, A., & Rapee, R. M. (2000). Social anxiety and self-impression: cognitive preparation enhances the beneficial effects of video feedback following a stressful social task. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38, 1183–1192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hignett, E., & Cartwright-Hatton, S. (2008). Observer perspective in adolescence: the relationship with social anxiety and age. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 36, 437–447.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hirsch, C. R., Clark, D. M., & Mathews, A. (2006). Imagery and interpretations in social phobia: support for the combined cognitive biases hypothesis. Behavior Therapy, 37, 223–236.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hirsch, C. R., Clark, D. M., Mathews, A., & Williams, R. (2003). Self-Images play a causal role in social phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41, 909–921.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holmes, E. A., Arntz, A., & Smucker, M. R. (2007). Imagery rescripting in cognitive behaviour therapy: images, treatment techniques and outcomes. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 38, 297–305.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holmes, E. A., Brewin, C. R., & Hennessy, R. G. (2004). Trauma films, information processing, and intrusive memory development. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 133, 3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kemps, E., & Tiggemann, M. (2007). Reducing the vividness and emotional impact of distressing autobiographical memories: the importance of modality-specific interference. Memory, 15, 412–422.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kosslyn, S. M., Thompson, W. L., & Ganis, G. (2006). The Case for Mental Imagery. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lapadat, J. C., & Lindsay, A. C. (1999). Transcription in research and practice: from standardization of technique to interpretive positionings. Qualitative Inquiry, 5, 64–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry (vol. 75). Sage.Google Scholar
Murray, L., Cooper, P., Creswell, C., Schofield, E., & Sack, C. (2007). The effects of maternal social phobia on mother-infant interactions and infant social responsiveness. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48, 45–52. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01657 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ozsivadjian, A., Hollocks, M. J., Southcott, J., Absoud, M., & Holmes, E. (2016). Anxious imagery in children with and without autism spectrum disorder: an investigation into occurrence, content, features and implications for therapy. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-016-2840-3 Google Scholar
Pratt, D., Cooper, M. J., & Hackmann, A. (2004). Imagery and its characteristics in people who are anxious about spiders. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 32, 165–176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rapee, R. M., & Heimberg, R. G. (1997). A cognitive-behavioral model of anxiety in social phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 35, 741–756.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schreiber, F., & Steil, R. (2013). Haunting self-images? The role of negative self-images in adolescent social anxiety disorder. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 44, 158–164.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Silverman, W. K., & Albano, A. M. (1996). Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV.: Parent interview schedule (Vol. 1). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Speckens, A. E. M., Hackmann, A., Ehlers, A., & Cuthbert, B. (2007). Imagery special issue: intrusive images and memories of earlier adverse events in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 38, 411–422.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Steinberg, L., & Silk, J. S. (2002). Parenting adolescents. Handbook of Parenting, 1, 103–133.Google Scholar
Wells, A. (2000). Emotional Disorders and Metacognition: Innovative Cognitive Therapy. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Ghita et al. supplementary material

Table S1

Download Ghita et al. supplementary material(File)
File 22 KB
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.