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Cross-sectional research has shown that clinical psychology trainees usually face a wide range of stressors related to the clinical practice and tend to present higher distress than other psychology students. However, to our knowledge, no longitudinal study has been conducted analysing this fact. Specifically, this study analyses the evolution of emotional symptoms among a group of novice clinical psychology trainees compared with a control cohort. We recruited 575 Colombian Psychology undergraduates: 52.9% were in the semester in which they began their clinical practice, and 47.1% were attending a regular semester. At the beginning of the semester (T1), participants responded to measures of emotional symptoms (Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21, DASS-21; General Health Questionnaire-12, GHQ-12). Approximately two months later (T2), participants responded to the DASS-21 and GHQ-12. The two groups did not differ in their scores on the DASS-21 and the GHQ-12 at T1. Bayesian repeated-measures ANOVA showed that clinical psychology trainees showed higher increases in scores on the DASS-Total, DASS-Depression, and DASS-Stress than participants attending a regular semester. This is the first study that shows clinical psychology trainees experiencing a higher increase in emotional symptoms compared with a control cohort.

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Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) focused on clinical practice might play a relevant role in the emotional difficulties clinical psychology trainees may experience during their training. However, the empirical evidence in this regard is very limited. To begin to address this topic, the current study aimed to adapt and preliminarily test the psychometric properties of the Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire–Clinical Psychology Trainees (PTQ-CPT), a measure of RNT focused on clinical practice. The instructions and 15 items of the Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire (PTQ) were modified to resemble RNT occurring in clinical practice. Four experts evaluated the items, and a nine-item version of the PTQ-CPT was obtained. This version was administered to 412 undergraduates in a psychology program in Colombia, all of them Spanish speakers. They were also at the beginning of or near their clinical practice. The PTQ-CPT showed excellent internal consistency (alpha of .93). A cross-validation study was conducted to analyze the factor structure of the PTQ-CPT, yielding a one-factor structure. The PTQ-CPT showed strong positive correlations with the PTQ, experiential avoidance, emotional symptoms, and obstruction in values, as well as medium negative correlations with life satisfaction and progress in values. In conclusion, the PTQ-CPT seems to be a valid and reliable measure of RNT focused on clinical practice, which might be used to explore the role of RNT in the stress and learning difficulties experienced by clinical psychology trainees.