A five-factor model of perseverative thought.

Abstract

Background: Like diagnostic status, clinically-relevant thought remains overwhelmingly conceptualized in terms of discrete categories (e.g., worry; rumination; obsessions). However, definitions can vary widely. The area of perseverative thought (or clinically-relevant thought more broadly) would benefit substantially from a consensus-based, empirically-grounded taxonomy similar to the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP;Kotov et al., 2017) or the "Big Five" for personality. This paper addresses three major barriers to establishing such a taxonomy: 1) a lack of research explicitly comparing categorical (subtype) versus dimensional models; 2) primary reliance on between-person measures rather than modeling at the level of the thought (within-person); 3) insufficient emphasis on replication and refinement.Methods: Participants included an unselected crowdsourced sample (790 observations from 286 participants) and an independent anxious-depressed replication sample (808 observations from 277 participants). Participants made dimensional ratings for three idiographic clinically-relevant thoughts on a range of features. Multilevel latent class analysis and multilevel exploratory factor analysis were applied to identify and extract natural patterns of covariation among features at the level of the thought, controlling for person-level tendencies.Results: A consistent five-dimension solution emerged across both samples and reliably outperformed the best-fitting categorical solution in terms of fit, replicability, and explanatory power. Identified dimensions were dyscontrol, self-focus, valence, interpersonal, and uncertainty.Conclusions: Findings support a five-factor latent structure of PT. Theoretical, empirical, and clinical implications and future directions are discussed.

A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship Between Worry and Rumination

“…For example, should uncontrollability be retained as a core feature of worry, or should references to uncontrollability be stripped from worry items out of concern that such references add construct-unrelated method variance between worry and rumination items? A serious challenge faced by researchers in the quest to understand worry and rumination is how to define the constructs with enough precision to validly assess their characteristics while avoiding reifying their putative characteristics in the definition process (see Hallion et al, 2022). By taking a meta-analytic approach, we preserved the theoretical distinctions between worry and rumination that are captured by existing measures.…”

Neural correlates of mindful disengagement from worry.

“…Prior to the scanning session, participants rated each of their worry topics on a variety of characteristics, including dyscontrol (uncontrollability, intrusiveness, repetitiveness) and valence (happy, sad, angry, etc. ), using a Likert scale of 0 ( not at all ) to 4 ( very much ) (Hallion et al, 2022). Participants also reported time spent thinking about each topic in the previous 24 hr.…”

“…Defined as a chain of uncontrollable, future-oriented, negative thoughts and images (Borkovec et al, 1983), worry plays an important mechanistic role in the development and maintenance of anxiety (McLaughlin et al, 2007). A growing literature suggests that it is the uncontrollability of worry and related forms of perseverative thought per se that accounts for much of their relationship to depression and anxiety (Ehring et al, 2011; Hallion et al, 2022; Hallion & Ruscio, 2013). The ability to improve the controllability of worry—in other words, to facilitate conscious disengagement—therefore emerges as a promising target for intervention.…”

Neural Mechanisms of Mindful Disengagement from Worry

“…Defined as a chain of uncontrollable, future-oriented, negative thoughts and images (Borkovec et al, 1983), worry plays an important mechanistic role in the development and maintenance of anxiety (McLaughlin et al, 2007). A growing literature suggests that it is the uncontrollability of worry and related forms of perseverative thought per se that accounts for much of their relationship to depression and anxiety (Ehring et al, 2011;Hallion et al, 2022;Hallion & Ruscio, 2013). The ability to improve the controllability of worry-in other words, to facilitate conscious disengagementtherefore emerges as a promising target for intervention.…”

“…Prior to the scan session, participants rated each of their worry topics on a variety of characteristics, including dyscontrol (uncontrollability, intrusiveness, repetitiveness) and valence (happy, sad, angry, etc. ), using a Likert scale of 0 (not at all) to 4 (very much); (Hallion et al, 2022). Participants also reported time spent thinking about each topic in the previous 24 hours.…”