Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Thought Suppression, and the Self-Regulatory Executive Function Model
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Thought Suppression, and the Self-Regulatory Executive Function Model
The first paper of the thesis commences with a summary of several cognitive models of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This summary facilitates an understanding of a range of cognitive factors that have been linked with the aetiology and maintenance of traumatic symptoms. A key factor that has been associated with persistent, traumatic intrusions is thought suppression. Ironically, attempts to suppress or avoid thoughts can actually lead to their delayed resurgence, a mechanism termed 'the rebound effect' (Wegner 1994). Within PTSD, the majority of research supports the rebound effect, but not consistently. As a way forward, the Self-Regulatory Executive Function (S-REF) model (Wells & Matthews 1994, 1996) is therefore presented to address potential limitations of Wegner's theory and current cognitive models of PTSD. Most importantly, the S-REF model considers the potential impact of metacognitive factors on traumatic material, including the role of a metacognitive thinking style called detached mindfulness.
The second paper describes an exploratory study which aims to compare the impact of thought suppression with detached mindfulness on the 'rebound effect' in analogue posttraumatic intrusions. The findings indicated that suppression of intrusions did not produce an immediate decrease in their frequency, followed by a delayed increase as expected in the 'rebound effect'. However, using a retrospective analogue measure, the suppression group did report more time thinking about the film compared with the detached mindfulness group during the first and second time periods. Notably, the percentage of time spent thinking about target thoughts recorded by a 5-hour diary measure did not reveal group differences. Limitations of the current study are discussed.
University of Southampton
Drysdale, Shara D
554f7eea-ecd0-4376-80e3-748f336dd0a5
2001
Drysdale, Shara D
554f7eea-ecd0-4376-80e3-748f336dd0a5
Drysdale, Shara D
(2001)
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Thought Suppression, and the Self-Regulatory Executive Function Model.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
The first paper of the thesis commences with a summary of several cognitive models of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This summary facilitates an understanding of a range of cognitive factors that have been linked with the aetiology and maintenance of traumatic symptoms. A key factor that has been associated with persistent, traumatic intrusions is thought suppression. Ironically, attempts to suppress or avoid thoughts can actually lead to their delayed resurgence, a mechanism termed 'the rebound effect' (Wegner 1994). Within PTSD, the majority of research supports the rebound effect, but not consistently. As a way forward, the Self-Regulatory Executive Function (S-REF) model (Wells & Matthews 1994, 1996) is therefore presented to address potential limitations of Wegner's theory and current cognitive models of PTSD. Most importantly, the S-REF model considers the potential impact of metacognitive factors on traumatic material, including the role of a metacognitive thinking style called detached mindfulness.
The second paper describes an exploratory study which aims to compare the impact of thought suppression with detached mindfulness on the 'rebound effect' in analogue posttraumatic intrusions. The findings indicated that suppression of intrusions did not produce an immediate decrease in their frequency, followed by a delayed increase as expected in the 'rebound effect'. However, using a retrospective analogue measure, the suppression group did report more time thinking about the film compared with the detached mindfulness group during the first and second time periods. Notably, the percentage of time spent thinking about target thoughts recorded by a 5-hour diary measure did not reveal group differences. Limitations of the current study are discussed.
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Published date: 2001
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Local EPrints ID: 467139
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/467139
PURE UUID: 7716d317-0443-469f-bfd5-58fca7a480b1
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Date deposited: 05 Jul 2022 08:13
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 21:00
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Author:
Shara D Drysdale
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