Worry in imagery and verbal form: Effect on residual working memory capacity

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Abstract

Worry-prone individuals have less residual working memory capacity during worry compared to low-worriers ( Hayes, Hirsch, & Mathews, 2008). People typically worry in verbal form, and the present study investigated whether verbal worry depletes working memory capacity more than worry in imagery-based form. High and low-worriers performed a working memory task, random interval generation, whilst thinking about a worry in verbal or imagery form. High (but not low) worriers had less available working memory capacity when worrying in verbal compared to imagery-based form. The findings could not be accounted for by general attentional control, amount of negatively-valenced thought, or appraisals participants made about worry topics. The findings indicate that the verbal nature of worry is implicated in the depletion of working memory resources during worry among high-worriers, and point to the potential value of imagery-based techniques in cognitive-behavioural treatments for problematic worry.

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Most cited references 58

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Behav Res Ther

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Behav Res Ther

Title: Behaviour Research and Therapy

Publisher: Elsevier Science

ISSN (Print): 0005-7967

ISSN (Electronic): 1873-622X

Publication date PMC-release: February 2011

Publication date (Print): February 2011

Volume: 49

Issue: 2

Pages: 99-105

Affiliations

[a ]King’s College London, Institute of Psychiatry, UK

[b ]University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia

Author notes

[∗ ]Corresponding author. Present address: Michael Rutter Centre, The Maudsley Hospital, London, UK. Tel.: +44 20 3228 3381; fax: +44 20 3228 5011. eleanor.leigh@ 123456kcl.ac.uk

Article

Publisher ID: BRT2330

DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2010.11.005

PMC ID: 3041927

PubMed ID: 21159327

SO-VID: 07009165-bd18-4f84-aac0-9cadffc09888

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This document may be redistributed and reused, subject to certain conditions.

History

Date received : 19 January 2010

Date revision received : 3 November 2010

Date accepted : 19 November 2010

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