Dissociative absorption, mind‐wandering, and attention‐deficit symptoms: Associations with obsessive‐compulsive symptoms

Soffer‐Dudek, Nirit

doi:10.1111/bjc.12186

Cited by 34 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Similarly, Smallwood and Schooler (2015) have noted that whereas poor mood has been related to mind-wandering in general, it is especially related to mind-wandering about the past. Importantly, despite the similarity between mind-wandering and dissociative ABS, Soffer-Dudek (2018) has found that these constructs are empirically disparate. Theoretically, dissociative ABS is defined by the intensity of focus on the stimuli (to the point of obliviousness to other stimuli), whereas mind-wandering is defined by the nature of the stimuli (internal rather than external; Soffer-Dudek, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

No Time Like the Present: Thinking About the Past and the Future Is Related to State Dissociation Among Individuals With High Levels of Psychopathological Symptoms

Vannikov-Lugassi

Soffer‐Dudek

2018

Front. Psychol.

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Several short-term pathways have been implicated in relation to dissociative experiences, among them are daily stress, sleepiness, and rumination. In addition, it has been claimed that mechanisms contributing to dissociative experiences may differ, according to specific psychopathological symptoms. Accordingly, this study had two aims. The first was to sample moment-to-moment increases or decreases in current stress, sleepiness, and rumination, in order to assess their temporal relations with state dissociation. Rumination was broken down to its basic two subcomponents: the negative value of the thoughts and thinking about the past (in comparison to present or future), in order to differentiate it from other repetitive thought patterns (e.g., worry). The second goal was to explore whether depression, anxiety, and obsessive–compulsive symptoms may moderate the links between the three mechanisms and specific state dissociation scales [specifically, depersonalization-derealization (DEP-DER) and absorption (ABS)]. Ninety-nine undergraduate students completed trait questionnaires and then answered state items four times a day for 4 days. These experience sampling data were analyzed using multilevel linear modeling (MLM) with Level 1 state measurements and Level 2 demographic and trait variables of the participants. Moments of stress, sleepiness, thinking about the past and negative thoughts were all associated both with state DEP-DER and with state ABS. Dissociation, negative thinking, stress, and sleepiness were positively associated with moments of thinking about the past and the future but inversely associated with moments of thinking about the present. Finally, in accordance with our expectations, the links between DEP-DER and hypothesized mechanisms were mostly moderated by depression and anxiety symptoms, whereas the links between ABS and hypothesized mechanisms were moderated mainly by obsessive–compulsive symptoms. Our findings are in accordance with literature on the efficacy of mindfulness as well as the maladaptive correlates of mind-wandering, as they suggest that dissociative detachment from one’s present occupation is associated with decreased well-being.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

No Time Like the Present: Thinking About the Past and the Future Is Related to State Dissociation Among Individuals With High Levels of Psychopathological Symptoms

Vannikov-Lugassi

Soffer‐Dudek

2018

Front. Psychol.

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“…Similar to depersonalization‐derealization, dissociative absorption is also elevated in PTSD (Armour et al, 2014; Özdemir et al, 2015) but unrelated to childhood trauma (Irwin, 1999; Somer & Herscu, 2017). In recent years it has been specifically associated with OCD (Soffer‐Dudek, 2017a, 2019; Soffer‐Dudek et al, 2015) and sleepiness (Soffer‐Dudek et al, 2017). Thus, additional frameworks for understanding the aetiology of dissociation are needed, when considering a broad range of mild to moderate dissociative experiences and variable (not necessarily highly traumatized) clinical populations.…”

Section: The Path To Dissociative Experiences: a Direct Comparison Of Different Etiological Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The path to dissociative experiences: A direct comparison of different etiological models

Buchnik-Daniely

Vannikov-Lugassi

Shalev

et al. 2021

Clin Psychology and Psychoth

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Severe dissociation is trauma‐related, but a range of dissociative experiences are also prevalent in clinical populations that are not necessarily trauma‐based (e.g., depression, anxiety disorders, and obsessive–compulsive disorders). These remain poorly understood as the dominant etiological model for dissociation relies on trauma. Importantly, dissociation in such samples predicts poor prognosis and high drop‐out rates. We set out to better understand the aetiology of dissociative experiences in a mixed clinical (anxiety and depression) and community sample by exploring between‐ and within‐subjects effects of two domains: psychological distress or negative affectivity (operationalized as anxiety and depression symptoms), and poor sleep quality, including disturbed dreaming. The idea that negative affectivity triggers dissociation (Distress Model) is inspired by the trauma model. The idea that poor sleep and unusual dreaming underlie dissociation (Sleep Model) has been suggested as a competing theory. We examined both models by exploring which domains oscillate alongside dissociative experiences. N = 98 adults, half of them diagnosed with depression and anxiety and half community controls, underwent a structured clinical interview and completed questionnaires monthly for 6 months. Support was found for both models in that each domain had a unique explanatory contribution. Distress evinced consistent effects that could not be explained by sleep or dreaming, both between individuals and across time. Oscillations in dissociation across months, when taking psychological distress into account, were better explained by unusual dreaming than traditional sleep quality measures. These findings cannot be generalized to highly‐traumatized samples. A complex, integrated etiological model for dissociative experiences is warranted.

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“…In relation to ADHD, deficient deactivation of DMN activity during cognitive tasks has consistently been found to be associated with the disorder (e.g., Christakou et al , ; Liddle et al , ). On a conceptual and empirical level, MW is related to constructs such as inattention, daydreaming, and self‐absorption (Soffer‐Dudek, ). Taking these findings together, a recently proposed model suggests that altered activation of the DMN in ADHD might lead to excessive MW that in turn may lead to the inattentive symptoms of ADHD (Bozhilova, Michelini, Kuntsi, & Asherson, ).…”

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confidence: 99%

Mind‐wandering in children with and without ADHD

Frick

Asherson²,

Brocki

2019

British J Clinic Psychol

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Objectives. Mind-wandering (MW) is a commonly experienced phenomenon, characterized by focus of attention drifting away from the present situation to intrinsically originated thoughts. Studies in adults show that MW is related to ADHD symptoms, but this association is understudied in children. We set out to investigate the associations of MW in children with and without ADHD and to simultaneously validate the self-report Mind Excessively Wandering Scale (MEWS) in children.Design. We used a cross-sectional, correlational, design to examine the research questions.Methods. The sample consisted of 82 children (61 boys) aged 8-13 years (m = 10.46), of which 35 had a diagnosis of ADHD. Children rated MW; parents and teachers rated ADHD symptoms, emotion regulation and academic achievement. Working memory was assessed with Digit Span.Results. MW was positively related to ADHD symptoms, and the MEWS could differentiate between cases and controls with a sensitivity of 0.71 and specificity of 0.81. Psychometric properties of the MEWS were satisfactory. In addition, MW contributed independently to working memory (R 2 D = .05, p = .01) and emotion regulation (R 2 D = .04, p = .04) beyond ADHD symptoms.Conclusions. MW is elevated in children with ADHD and contributes to functional domains. The MEWS is a valid tool for assessing MW in children, and the results are mostly comparable to that of adults (Mowlem et al., 2016, Journal of Attention Disorders, 23, 624), suggesting a similar relationship of MW to ADHD across the lifespan. Practitioner pointsSpontaneous mind-wandering is elevated in children with ADHD compared to children without a diagnosis. Elevated spontaneous mind-wandering predicts lower working memory, emotion regulation and academic achievement beyond ADHD symptoms, IQ and socio-economic status. Clinicians should consider evaluating excessive spontaneous mind-wandering and targeting it as an important outcome when treating children with ADHD. The MEWS is a valid tool for assessing excessive mind-wandering in children.

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Dissociative absorption, mind‐wandering, and attention‐deficit symptoms: Associations with obsessive‐compulsive symptoms

Cited by 34 publications

References 70 publications

No Time Like the Present: Thinking About the Past and the Future Is Related to State Dissociation Among Individuals With High Levels of Psychopathological Symptoms

No Time Like the Present: Thinking About the Past and the Future Is Related to State Dissociation Among Individuals With High Levels of Psychopathological Symptoms

The path to dissociative experiences: A direct comparison of different etiological models

Mind‐wandering in children with and without ADHD

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