Reducing the Number of Intrusive Memories of Work-Related Traumatic Events in Frontline Health Care Staff During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Case Series.

Background: Frontline health care staff are frequently exposed to traumatic events as part of their work. Although this study commenced before the emergence of COVID-19, levels of exposure were heightened by the pandemic. Many health care staff members report intrusive memories of such events, which can elicit distress, affect functioning, and be associated with posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in the long term.

RELAX (REducing Levels of AnXiety): a study protocol for a parallel two-arm randomised controlled trial evaluating a web-based early intervention for pregnant women with high levels of repetitive negative thinking to prevent escalating anxiety during pregnancy and after birth.

Background: Perinatal anxiety is common: up to 40% of pregnant women and new mothers experience high levels of anxiety. Given its prevalence, interventions that are low-intensity, highly accessible and cost-efficient, and target modifiable risk factors for anxiety are needed. Repetitive negative thinking (RNT)-such as worrying about ways things will go wrong in the future or ruminating about past negative events-is a risk factor for the development of anxiety.

A guided single session intervention to reduce intrusive memories of work-related trauma: a randomised controlled trial with healthcare workers in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Intrusive memories of psychologically traumatic events bring distress both sub-clinically and clinically. This parallel-group, two-arm randomised controlled trial evaluated the effect of a brief behavioural intervention on reducing intrusive memories in frontline healthcare workers exposed to traumatic events during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Participants with at least two intrusive memories of work-related trauma in the week before recruitment were randomised 1:1 to an imagery-competing task intervention (n = 73) or attention-based control task (n = 71).

Managing Rumination and worry: A randomised controlled trial of an internet intervention targeting repetitive negative thinking delivered with and without clinician guidance.

Background: Rumination and worry, forms of repetitive negative thinking (RNT), are implicated in the onset, maintenance, severity, and relapse risk of depression and anxiety disorders. This randomised controlled trial evaluated an internet intervention targeting both rumination and worry in adults compared to treatment-as-usual (TAU) and compared treatment effects and adherence when delivered with and without clinician guidance.

Methods: Adults (N = 137) with elevated RNT were randomly allocated to a 3-lesson clinician guided (n = 45) or self-help (n = 47) online program delivered over 6 weeks, or a TAU control group which waited 18 weeks to receive the program (n = 45).

Future self-imagery of young people in Sweden during the COVID-19 pandemic: an exploratory mixed methods analysis.

Unlabelled: Global restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic significantly limited the capacity to plan for the future. Little is known about young people's future self-images and the impact the COVID-19 pandemic may have had upon them. Given evidence that the ability to imagine a positive future can be protective for mental health, research into the impact of the pandemic on future self-imagery is needed.

Using a daily diary for monitoring intrusive memories of trauma: A translational data synthesis study exploring convergent validity.

Objective: Intrusive memories are a core feature of posttraumatic stress disorder and have transdiagnostic relevance across mental disorders. Establishing flexible methods to monitor intrusions, including patterns and characteristics, is a key challenge. A daily diary has been developed in experimental settings to provide symptom count data, without the need for retrospective self-report over extended time periods (e.

A qualitative analysis of feelings and experiences associated with perinatal distress during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Rates of perinatal mental health difficulties (experienced during pregnancy and the 12-months postpartum) increased worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the UK, anxiety and depression were estimated to affect more than half of perinatal women during the first national lockdown. However, little is known about women's qualitative experiences of distress.

Repetitive negative thinking in the perinatal period and its relationship with anxiety and depression.

Background: Rumination and worry represent two types of repetitive negative thinking (RNT), and their predictive and maintaining roles are well-established in depression and anxiety, respectively. Furthermore, there is an emerging literature on the link between RNT and psychological wellbeing in the perinatal period.

Methods: We conducted a scoping review of studies that have investigated the relationship between RNT and perinatal depression and anxiety.

Understanding the experience of rumination and worry: A descriptive qualitative survey study.

Objectives: Rumination and worry have been implicated in the onset, severity, maintenance and relapse risk of depression and anxiety disorders. Despite this, little research has examined individuals' personal experiences of these processes. This study investigates how individuals experience these processes, which will provide insight into these common features of mental disorders and inform the development of an online intervention specifically targeting rumination and worry.

Hotspots in the immediate aftermath of trauma - Mental imagery of worst moments highlighting time, space and motion.

Intrusive memories of trauma (memories that enter consciousness involuntarily) highjack cognitive processing, cause emotional distress, and represent a core symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder. Intrusive memories often contain the worst moment/s ('hotspots') of the trauma memory. Little is known about hotspots shortly after they are formed, i.

A first remotely-delivered guided brief intervention to reduce intrusive memories of psychological trauma for healthcare staff working during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic: Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Addressing the mental health needs of healthcare staff exposed to psychologically traumatic events at work during the COVID-19 pandemic is a pressing global priority. We need to swiftly develop interventions to target the psychological consequences (e.g.

Managing rumination and worry: A pilot study of an internet intervention targeting repetitive negative thinking in Australian adults.

Background: Rumination and worry, both forms of repetitive negative thinking (RNT), have been implicated in the onset, maintenance, severity, and relapse risk of depression and anxiety disorders. Despite promising initial findings for internet-delivered interventions targeting both rumination and worry simultaneously, no studies have investigated treatment effects in an adult population or when delivered in a brief, unguided format. We developed a 3-lesson unguided online treatment program targeting both rumination and worry and evaluated the adherence and effectiveness in Australian adults using an open pilot trial.

Correlates of repetitive negative thinking in postnatal first time mothers.

Background: Despite the well-established role of repetitive negative thinking (RNT) in the prediction and maintenance of depression and anxiety, only minimal research to date has investigated RNT in the context of postnatal psychological adjustment.

Objective: We examined the relationships between RNT, associated maladaptive cognitive processes, infant responsiveness and psychopathology in a sample of first-time mothers ( = 235) with babies under 12 months.

Methods: Participants completed an online battery of measures that indexed RNT, dampening of positive affect, metacognitive beliefs about RNT, infant responsiveness, depression and anxiety symptoms.

Looking on the Bright Side Reduces Worry in Pregnancy: Training Interpretations in Pregnant Women.

Background: Recent evidence suggests that anxiety is more common than depression in the perinatal period, however there are few interventions available to treat perinatal anxiety. Targeting specific processes that maintain anxiety, such as worry, may be one potentially promising way to reduce anxiety in this period. Given evidence that negative interpretation bias maintains worry, we tested whether interpretation bias could be modified, and whether this in turn would lead to less negative thought (i.

A simple cognitive task intervention to prevent intrusive memories after trauma in patients in the Emergency Department: A randomized controlled trial terminated due to COVID-19.

Objective: This randomised controlled trial (RCT) aimed to investigate the effects of a simple cognitive task intervention on intrusive memories ("flashbacks") and associated symptoms following a traumatic event. Patients presenting to a Swedish emergency department (ED) soon after a traumatic event were randomly allocated (1:1) to the simple cognitive task intervention (memory cue + mental rotation instructions + computer game "Tetris" for at least 20 min) or control (podcast, similar time). We planned follow-ups at one-week, 1-month, and where possible, 3- and 6-months post-trauma.

Content and Themes of Repetitive Thinking in Postnatal First-Time Mothers.

Repetitive thinking (RT) predicts and maintains depression and anxiety, yet the role of RT in the perinatal context has been under-researched. Further, the content and themes that emerge during RT in the perinatal period have been minimally investigated. We recruited an online community sample of women who had their first baby within the past 12 months ( = 236).

Support from friends moderates the relationship between repetitive negative thinking and postnatal wellbeing during COVID-19.

Background: Increasing evidence has linked repetitive negative thinking (RNT) to postnatal depression and anxiety, yet the factors moderating this relationship have been minimally investigated. During the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, social restrictions imposed to reduce viral transmission limited access to social support, which is critical to postnatal psychological wellbeing - potentially intensifying RNT.

Objective: We examined whether perceived social support (from friends, family, and a significant other) played a moderating role in the relationship between RNT and maternal postnatal anxiety and depressive symptoms.

Reducing intrusive memories after trauma via a brief cognitive task intervention in the hospital emergency department: an exploratory pilot randomised controlled trial.

Intrusive memories are common after trauma, and can cause significant distress. Interventions to prevent/reduce the occurrence of this core clinical feature of posttraumatic stress disorder are needed; they should be easy to deliver, readily disseminated and scalable. A novel one-session intervention by Iyadurai et al.

Perceived social support and prenatal wellbeing; The mediating effects of loneliness and repetitive negative thinking on anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Problem: Prenatal depression and anxiety are linked to poor maternal and infant outcomes. We need to understand predictors of poor mental health to identify at-risk women, and targets for support.

Background: Previous research has demonstrated a relationship between low levels of perceived social support, and depression and anxiety in pregnant women.

Repetitive Negative Thinking and Interpretation Bias in Pregnancy.

Background: Repetitive negative thinking (RNT; e.g., worry about the future, rumination about the past) and the tendency to interpret ambiguous information in negative ways (interpretation bias) are cognitive processes that play a maintaining role in anxiety and depression, and recent evidence has demonstrated that interpretation bias maintains RNT.

Rumination in posttraumatic stress disorder: A systematic review.

Initial models and empirical investigations of rumination in the clinical literature were predominantly in the domain of depression. However, rumination is now well-established as a transdiagnostic cognitive process, including in the context of posttraumatic stress. To clarify the current understanding of rumination in posttraumatic stress, we conducted a systematic review of the empirical literature on rumination in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Imagery-enhanced verbally-based group cognitive behavior therapy for social anxiety disorder: a randomized clinical trial.

Background: Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is effective for most patients with a social anxiety disorder (SAD) but a substantial proportion fails to remit. Experimental and clinical research suggests that enhancing CBT using imagery-based techniques could improve outcomes. It was hypothesized that imagery-enhanced CBT (IE-CBT) would be superior to verbally-based CBT (VB-CBT) on pre-registered outcomes.