Differences in anxiety, worry, and perceived stress among naturally cycling women and oral contraceptives users: a cross-sectional study investigating the role of contraceptive types.

The goal of our study was to test whether the types of OC affect the link between anxiety and its main maintenance factors: worry and perceived stress. Women are particularly at risk of being affected by excessive worrying, a core component of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and they are twice as likely as men to suffer from GAD. The literature suggests that gonadal hormones and types of oral contraceptives (OC) should be taken into account when exploring anxiety disorders in women, but the precise mechanism of this link remains understudied. We performed an observational cross-sectional study on a sample of 908 women, including 499 women naturally cycling (NC) and 409 taking OC (277 in the anti-androgenic group, 132 in the androgenic group). The participants filled in a battery of online questionnaires. Anxiety positively correlated with worry and perceived stress in the whole sample and in the three groups: androgenic OC, anti-androgenic OC, and NC. There was no significant difference between the groups on all the variables apart from the age of the participants. However, we found that women taking anti-androgenic OC had significantly higher levels of worry than NC women (after controlling for stress and age). The differences in OC types should be taken into account in future studies which might also lead to a better choice of OC based on women's individual needs.

Rumination, mood, and maladaptive eating behaviors in overweight and healthy populations.

PURPOSE: The literature suggests that rumination (i.e., repetitive thinking about 1 or more negative concerns that is perceived as difficult to control) is linked to impaired emotional regulation and increases negative affect. Not only individuals suffering from overweight or obesity, but also healthy individuals might use emotional eating as a coping strategy to deal with negative affect caused by rumination. The aim of the present study was to determine the link between rumination and maladaptive eating strategies in participants with normal weight and overweight/obesity using trait and ecological momentary measures. METHOD: In Study 1, 88 individuals from overweight/obese (N = 33) and control group (N = 50) filled in a series of questionnaires assessing trait rumination, and eating behaviors. In Study 2 momentary affect, rumination and eating behavior of 26 participants were assessed using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methodology. RESULTS: In Study 1, the moderated mediation model revealed that emotional eating mediates the link between rumination and uncontrolled eating or snacking, but only in healthy participants and not in the participants with overweight. The results of Study 2 suggest that when both momentary rumination and sad mood are entered into the model predicting momentary daily emotional eating, only rumination remains a significant predictor of emotional eating. This relationship is not modified by the fact that the participants are from healthy controls or the overweight/obese group. DISCUSSION: Study 1 provided evidence on the differential role of emotional eating in participants with normal weight and with overweight. Study 2 provided initial insights into the role of momentary mood and momentary repetitive thinking in the use of emotional eating in participants' everyday lives. The differences in group effect in trait and EMA measures indicated also the importance of considering the consciousness of using rumination and emotional eating, while studying those processes in individuals with overweight. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, case-control analytic study.

Strict health-oriented eating patterns (orthorexic eating behaviours) and their connection with a vegetarian and vegan diet.

PURPOSE: Although research on vegetarianism is becoming more prevalent, to date, only a few research has been conducted on relationship between vegetarian diet and orthorexia nervosa (ON). The objective of the present study was to examine the orthorexic dietary patterns and eating behaviours among individuals following a vegetarian, vegan, and meat diet. We examined the moderating role of ethical and health reasons for following a meat-free diet on the relation between vegan versus vegetarian diet and eating behaviours and ON. The study aimed to determine the predictors of ON in individuals with differential food preferences. METHODS: Seventy-nine individuals following a meat-free diet and 41 individuals following an omnivore diet completed the EHQ and the TFEQ-R18. RESULTS: Our findings indicated that individuals following a vegan diet showed a higher level of knowledge of healthy eating than those who followed a vegetarian diet and those who followed an omnivore diet. Participants maintaining a vegan diet for health reasons were more likely to have greater knowledge about healthy eating. Cognitive restraint was a predictor of ON among a sample following a meat-free diet. CONCLUSIONS: Our results could contribute to identify potential risk factors for strict health-oriented eating patterns and to gain a better insight into ON. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level V, descriptive study.

Repetitive Thinking in Alcohol-Dependent Patients.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies proposed that a tendency to have repetitive negative thinking (RNT) could be a predictor of alcohol use. Nevertheless, results differ depending on the studied population (nonclinical samples or patients with alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence) and on the type of repetitive thinking (rumination or worry). These heterogeneous results might be explained by the impact of anxiety and depression level on RNT and alcohol consumption. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to explore different type of repetitive thinking (i.e., worry, brooding and reflection rumination, analytic-abstract repetitive thinking, and concrete-experiential thinking) in a clinical sample of alcohol-dependent patients and a non-clinical sample and the role played by depression and anxiety. METHOD: Eighty-four inpatients with a diagnosis of alcohol dependence and 68 individuals from a nonclinical sample completed questionnaires evaluating repetitive thinking, anxiety, depression and alcohol consumption. RESULTS: Mann-Whitney U tests showed that patients with alcohol dependence reported more analytic-abstract repetitive thinking, brooding and reflection rumination and worry, as well as anxious and depressive symptoms, compared with social drinkers, who reported more concrete-experiential repetitive thinking. Moreover, a multiple mediation model indicated that the link between RNT and alcohol consumption was significantly mediated by both anxiety and depression. Conclusion/Importance: The results support the implication of RNT in alcohol dependence and the distinction between different types of repetitive thinking with adaptive or maladaptive consequences. This link seems to be explained by the levels of depression and anxiety that mediate the impact of RNT on alcohol consumption.

The bidirectional associations of rumination with values-based action and depression among young adults in the school-to-work transition.

BACKGROUND: School-to-work transition is crucial for young adults, requiring them to maintain their values-based action, even though this task is likely to cause rumination associated with depression. In the HExAGoN model, individuals with rumination tend to engage in abstract-analytic thought (AAT) but not in concrete-experiential thought (CET). Although this inflexible style of thought is assumed to decrease values-based action and increase depression, no empirical research has examined these relationships in young adults during their transition period. Therefore, this study examined the bidirectional relationships between AAT, CET, depression, and values-based action in young adults. METHODS: A one-year five-wave longitudinal survey was conducted on 756 third-year university students who engaged in job searches in Japan. Cross-lagged panel model and random-intercept cross-lagged panel model were used to estimate the bidirectional relationships at the between-person and within-person levels, respectively. RESULTS: AAT and CET had bidirectional associations with depression and values-based action at the between-person level. Furthermore, CET decreased depression and marginally improved values-based action at the within-person level. LIMITATIONS: The study comprised only university students in Japan and had a high attrition rate. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that CET can reduce depression and improve values-based action in young adults undergoing the transition. It may also expand the understanding of the treatment and prevention of depression in young adults.

Maladaptive task-unrelated thoughts: Self-control failure or avoidant behavior? Preliminary evidence from an experience sampling study.

Introduction: Task-unrelated thoughts (TUT) play an important role in everyday life functioning (e.g., anticipating the future, or providing a mental break). However, TUT might also be maladaptive, impairing cognitive performance emotion regulation, and increasing the risk of psychological disorders. In the present study, we aimed to test how self-reported control over TUT and task valence moderate the link between task difficulty and TUT intensity, testing the context regulation and avoidant alternative hypotheses of TUT occurrence. Method: Forty-nine participants took part in an experience sampling study. They were asked to answer five times a day for 5 days a series of questions assessing the intensity, valence, control over TUT, and their momentary affect along with characteristics of the task they were currently performing. They also filled in trait questionnaires assessing their tendency to daydream, ruminate, and their beliefs on emotions' usefulness and controllability. Results: The results showed that both task difficulty and one's lower control over thoughts along with their interaction significantly increased TUT intensity. Task negative valence significantly predicted TUT intensity and moderated the link between task difficulty and TUT intensity. In addition, the tendency to daydream and beliefs in the controllability of negative emotions affect the relations in this model. Discussion: To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to provide quantitative evidence from an experience sampling study on the role of the valence of currently performed tasks and beliefs on emotions on TUT intensity. It might be an important indication for research and clinical practice that maladaptive TUT might not be only linked to self-control failure but also to emotion regulation strategies one is using.

Measuring digital transformation stress at the workplace-Development and validation of the digital transformation stress scale.

Despite the unquestionable advantages of digital transformation (DT) in organizations, the very process of DT could have an impact on the level of stress of the employees. The negative effects of the digital transformation process can be observed during the implementation of information and communication technologies (ICT) solutions. They are further enhanced by the effects of COVID-19 pandemic, as digital transformation has accelerated to allow for remote work. Herein we distinguish between general stress at the workplace and the very specific type of stress, namely digital transformation stress (DTS). We assumed that this type of stress appears when rapid implementation of ICT solutions is introduced with time pressure and incertitude of further results. To quantify this phenomenon, we developed a new self-report scale-the Digital Transformation Stress Scale (DTSS), measuring employees' stress stemming from the process of digital transformation in organizations. The psychometric validity of the scale was evaluated in two studies: Study1 conducted at the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 (N = 229) and Study 2 in 2021 (N = 558), after a year of mostly remote work. The results confirmed good reliability with Cronbach's Alpha α = .91 in Study 1 and α = .90 in Study 2 and assumed unidimensional factorial validity of the scale in both studies. All items of the scale had good difficulty and discrimination values evaluated in Item Response Theory, i.e., IRT approach. The scale showed predicted convergent validity as the indicator of the digital transformation stress moderately correlated with general stress at work. Moreover, the assumption that even employees with high ICT skills could be affected by DTS was confirmed. Additionally, the results indicated that digital transformation stress was significantly higher among employees who reported both issues: ongoing digital solutions projects at the workplace and high impact of COVID-19 pandemic on their work. The scale could be used in future work on measuring and counteracting digital transformation stress at the workplace.

The impact of rumination on fibromyalgia pain after physical activity: an experimental study.

Some fibromyalgia (FM) patients engage in rumination (i.e. a chain of repetitive, passive and relatively uncontrollable thoughts focused on negative content) to cope with the pain and discomfort of daily activities. The partial model of rumination in chronic pain suggests that rumination processes may play a causal role in maintaining pain. Rumination might also be one of the key factors interfering with the reestablishment of adapted physical activity. The objective of this study was to test how rumination vs. distraction induction influence FM patients' pain intensity, discomfort linked to pain, and affect after physical activity. Forty-seven participants with a diagnosis of FM were randomly assigned to undergo distraction induction vs. rumination induction after performing a physical activity in ecological setting. Their pain intensity, pain-related discomfort, and affect were measured at the baseline, after physical activity, and after rumination versus distraction induction. A series of mixed-design ANOVAs showed that rumination induction after physical activity impairs patients' recovery in terms of pain intensity and discomfort, but not affect, as compared to the distraction condition. In conclusion, participants with fibromyalgia who engage in rumination following a physical activity recover less from their pain experience as compared to distraction induction. These results are consistent with the partial model of rumination in chronic pain and support the idea that rumination may play a causal role in the development and maintenance of pain.

A Grateful Disposition Promotes the Well-Being of Women with Breast Cancer Through Adaptive Coping.

INTRODUCTION: Gratitude has been studied as a disposition that reflects the extent to which people appreciate what they have in life knowing that it has not been given to them forever. Being grateful has been found to promote quality of life, which is why it may be used to cope in difficult times including during breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. METHODS: Dispositional gratitude was examined in relation to the well-being of women with breast cancer. In the current study, 119 women with breast cancer completed questionnaires that measured gratitude, well-being, coping styles, depression, and anxiety. RESULTS: Correlational analyses found that dispositional gratitude was positively correlated with well-being (p < 0.001) and was negatively correlated with depression (p < 0.05) and anxiety (p < 0.05). Gratitude was also positively correlated with the use of task-oriented (p < 0.05) and socially oriented coping (p < 0.01) techniques. Analyses of mediation using PROCESS found that the use of task-oriented and socially oriented coping mediated relationships between gratitude and well-being, between gratitude and anxiety, and between gratitude and depression. CONCLUSION: In terms of application, the present results suggest that among women who have breast cancer, increasing dispositional gratitude may increase adaptive coping, which in turn will increase their well-being.

Eye-tracking exploration of inhibitory control in post-traumatic stress disorder: an emotional antisaccade paradigm.

Background: Cognitive-behavioural studies among individuals suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have highlighted attentional biases towards threats as a key factor in the maintenance of the disorder. Anxiety-related studies have hypothesized that attentional biases were due to attentional control difficulties in inhibition and flexibility of threatening information. Objective: Because it remains unclear how this theory could be applied to PTSD, this study aims to evaluate the inhibitory control and flexibility abilities of negative and threatening information in this population, using eye-tracking technology. Method: Fifteen adults with a history of physical assault and a current diagnosis of PTSD, and 15 healthy control participants, completed an original mixed antisaccade task. Results: We found enhanced overt attentional allocation towards every item of emotional information among PTSD participants, such as indexed by the latencies of the first saccade in prosaccade trials, followed by disengagement difficulties, such as indexed by increased reaction time to identify the target. Conclusion: Our results could represent empirical evidence of the general enhancement of attentional vigilance in people with PTSD in comparison with healthy controls, as well as specific inhibitory deficits. The results are interpreted through a fear-generalization hypothesis.

Antecedentes: Los estudios cognitivo-conductuales entre personas que padecen Trastorno de Estrés Postraumático (TEPT) han destacado los sesgos atencionales (AB, por su sigla en inglés) por amenaza como factor clave para el mantenimiento del trastorno. La literatura relacionada con ansiedad ha planteado la hipótesis de que los AB se debían a la dificultad del control atencional en la inhibición y flexibilidad de la información amenazante (Eysenck, 2008).Objetivo: Debido a que no está claro cómo se podría aplicar esta teoría al TEPT, este estudio tiene como objetivo evaluar el control inhibitorio y las capacidades de flexibilidad de la información negativa y amenazante en esta población, utilizando tecnología de seguimiento-ocular.Método: 15 adultos agredidos físicamente con un diagnóstico actual de TEPT y 15 participantes de Controles Sanos (CS) completaron una tarea original de antisacada mixta.Resultados: Encontramos una asignación atencional directa-abierta aumentada hacia información emocional entre los participantes con TEPT, tales como las latencias indexadas de la primera sacada en los ensayos de prosacada, seguida por las dificultades de desenganche, indexada por un tiempo de reacción mayor para identificar el objetivo diana.Conclusión: Nuestros resultados podrían representar una evidencia empírica de un aumento general de la vigilancia atencional en el TEPT en comparación con los CS, así como de déficits inhibitorios específicos. Los resultados se interpretan a través de una hipótesis de generalización del miedo.

Concrete vs. Abstract Processing in Repetitive Negative Thinking: Distinct Functional Effects on Emotional Reactivity and Attentional Control.

Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is a transdiagnostic process linked to emotional regulation impairment and involved in mood, anxiety, eating disorders and addictions. Attentional disengagement impairment is one of the factors hypothesized to be responsible for the recurrent and uncontrollable character of RNT. The aim of the present study was to empirically test this hypothesis with evaluation of disengagement from negative and RNT-related stimuli separately. Sixty participants were randomly allocated to one of three experimental conditions: abstract RNT, concrete RNT, and control condition (distraction). The change in their negative affect (PANAS) and their attentional disengagement impairment (exogenous cueing task) were measured. The analysis revealed that participants in abstract RNT condition presented higher emotional reactivity comparing to concrete or distraction conditions. The results indicated no differences between induction conditions in attentional disengagement. However, participants after concrete RNT induction had longer mean response times in exogenous cueing task comparing to control induction suggesting that they detected presented stimuli slower than participants in control condition. The results raised an important, from clinical point of view, question of distinctive impact of two types of RNT on emotional reactivity and attentional processes.

Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire (PTQ): French Validation of a Transdiagnostic Measure of Repetitive Negative Thinking.

Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is a transdiagnostic process involved in the onset and maintenance of many psychological disorders. The Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire (Ehring et al., 2011) is a content-independent scale composed of 15 items that assesses RNT from a transdiagnostic perspective in both clinical and general populations. The aim of the current research was to translate and validate the French version of the PTQ through two studies (total N = 1016) following the steps for the trans-cultural validation of psychometric instruments (Hambleton et al., 2006). An exploratory factor analysis conducted on a first community sample revealed a latent structure composed of 10 items distributed on one common factor, labeled RNT, and three subfactors that evaluated the repetitive characteristic of RNT, the intrusiveness of RNT and the effect of RNT on mental resources. This factorial structure was confirmed in two confirmatory factor analyses in community and clinical samples. Scale score reliability indices were good and confirmed the validity of the instrument. The French version of the PTQ is a good content-independent instrument to assess RNT in general and clinical populations of French speakers.

Assessing Repetitive Negative Thinking Using Categorical and Transdiagnostic Approaches: A Comparison and Validation of Three Polish Language Adaptations of Self-Report Questionnaires.

Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is a transdiagnostic process involved in the risk, maintenance, and relapse of serious conditions including mood disorders, anxiety, eating disorders, and addictions. Processing mode theory provides a theoretical model to assess, research, and treat RNT using a transdiagnostic approach. Clinical researchers also often employ categorical approaches to RNT, including a focus on depressive rumination or worry, for similar purposes. Three widely used self-report questionnaires have been developed to assess these related constructs: the Ruminative Response Scale (RRS), the Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire (PTQ), and the Mini-Cambridge Exeter Repetitive Thought Scale (Mini-CERTS). Yet these scales have not previously been used in conjunction, despite useful theoretical distinctions only available in Mini-CERTS. The present validation of the methods in a Polish speaking population provides psychometric parameters estimates that contribute to current efforts to increase reliable replication of theoretical outcomes. Moreover, the following study aims to present particular characteristics and a comparison of the three methods. Although there has been some exploration of a categorical approach, the comparison of transdiagnostic methods is still lacking. These methods are particularly relevant for developing and evaluating theoretically based interventions like concreteness training, an emerging field of increasing interest, which can be used to address the maladaptive processing mode in RNT that can lead to depression and other disorders. Furthermore, the translation of these measures enables the examination of possible cross-cultural structural differences that may lead to important theoretical progress in the measurement and classification of RNT. The results support the theoretical hypothesis. As expected, the dimensions of brooding, general repetitive negative thinking, as well as abstract analytical thinking, can all be classified as unconstructive repetitive thinking. The particular characteristics of each scale and potential practical applications in clinical and research are discussed.