Engaging in imagery versus verbal processing of worry: Impact on negative intrusions in high worriers

By Caroline Stokes, C. Hirsch. 2010

77 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Chronic, excessive, and uncontrollable worry is the defining characteristic of generalised anxiety disorder. Worry largely consists of verbal thought and it has been postulated that this predominance of verbal thought in worry may contribute to its perseveration. In an investigation of this issue, high worriers were trained to engage in either imagery or verbal processing. Mentation was sampled before and after a five-minute period of worry during which participants engaged in either imagery of the worry topic or verbal processing of the worry topic. Verbal worry resulted in a significant increase in negative intrusions, consistent with previous research. Furthermore, imagery was associated with a decrease in negative intrusions. The results support the theory that the predominantly verbal nature of worry may be responsible for the uncontrollability and maintenance of worry.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Science & Psychology

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Clinical Psychology

In Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

In Cognitive Science & Psychology

Citations in the corpus

Inner Speech: Development, Cognitive Functions, Phenomenology, and Neurobiology (2015, background): “For instance, Stokes and Hirsch (2010) encouraged a group of selfreported high worriers to engage in either visual imagery or verbal thinking about a worrying topic.”