Counterfactual thinking is associated with impoverished attentional control in women prone to self-critical rumination
- Author
- Jens Allaert (UGent) , Rudi De Raedt (UGent) , Alvaro Sanchez-Lopez and Marie-Anne Vanderhasselt (UGent)
- Organization
- Project
-
- Harnessing the power of placebo with prefrontal transcranial direct current stimulation: an experimental psychopathological research line
- On counterfactual thoughts, regret and rumination: the investigation of a ground breaking theoretical framework in a laboratory and a naturalistic context
- Physical Exercise to Bounce back from Perseverative Cognition: Focus on Bottom-UP and Top-Down Influences of the Heart-Brain Nexus
- Promoting stable remission in depression by combining e-health and cognitive science: the development of DEpression’s DIgital foreCAsting Tool (DEDICAT)
- Abstract
- Background and objectives: Excessive engagement in counterfactual thinking (CFT), where individuals imagine alternative outcomes to past events, is associated with rumination, a process characterized by repetitive negative self-referential thoughts. Attentional control difficulties are closely linked with rumination, and negative thoughts can negatively impact attentional control among rumination-prone individuals. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between CFT and emotional and non-emotional attentional control among individuals with varying levels of self-critical rumination. Methods: A sample of 100 female participants, characterized by varying levels of self-critical rumination, completed a choice task resulting in goal failure, during which they reported their levels of CFT. Subsequently, participants performed an attentional control task involving eye-tracking measures to assess emotional attentional engagement, emotional attentional disengagement, and emotional and non-emotional attentional shifting. Results: Among women with high (but not low) self-critical rumination tendencies, increased levels of CFT were associated with slower attentional shifting from emotional stimuli of opposing valence, as well as between non- emotional stimuli. Limitations: The correlational design of the study prevents causal interpretations of the findings. Additionally, the exclusive inclusion of female participants may limit the generalizability of the results. Conclusions: This study underscores the association of CFT with subsequent attentional control among women prone to self-critical rumination, aligning with prior research suggesting a link between negative thoughts and attentional processes. Future research should explore these relationships in diverse populations and consider longitudinal designs to elucidate causal pathways.
- Keywords
- Rumination, Counterfactual thinking, Attentional control, Attentional bias, FUNCTIONAL THEORY, DEPRESSION, MINDFULNESS, DISENGAGEMENT, DEPLOYMENT, REGRET, REAPPRAISAL, IMPAIRMENTS, PERSPECTIVE, MODULATION
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Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-01JKAQY4RX3BED0M79B1ATYAS4
- MLA
- Allaert, Jens, et al. “Counterfactual Thinking Is Associated with Impoverished Attentional Control in Women Prone to Self-Critical Rumination.” JOURNAL OF BEHAVIOR THERAPY AND EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHIATRY, vol. 87, 2025, doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102017.
- APA
- Allaert, J., De Raedt, R., Sanchez-Lopez, A., & Vanderhasselt, M.-A. (2025). Counterfactual thinking is associated with impoverished attentional control in women prone to self-critical rumination. JOURNAL OF BEHAVIOR THERAPY AND EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHIATRY, 87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102017
- Chicago author-date
- Allaert, Jens, Rudi De Raedt, Alvaro Sanchez-Lopez, and Marie-Anne Vanderhasselt. 2025. “Counterfactual Thinking Is Associated with Impoverished Attentional Control in Women Prone to Self-Critical Rumination.” JOURNAL OF BEHAVIOR THERAPY AND EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHIATRY 87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102017.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Allaert, Jens, Rudi De Raedt, Alvaro Sanchez-Lopez, and Marie-Anne Vanderhasselt. 2025. “Counterfactual Thinking Is Associated with Impoverished Attentional Control in Women Prone to Self-Critical Rumination.” JOURNAL OF BEHAVIOR THERAPY AND EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHIATRY 87. doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102017.
- Vancouver
- 1.Allaert J, De Raedt R, Sanchez-Lopez A, Vanderhasselt M-A. Counterfactual thinking is associated with impoverished attentional control in women prone to self-critical rumination. JOURNAL OF BEHAVIOR THERAPY AND EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHIATRY. 2025;87.
- IEEE
- [1]J. Allaert, R. De Raedt, A. Sanchez-Lopez, and M.-A. Vanderhasselt, “Counterfactual thinking is associated with impoverished attentional control in women prone to self-critical rumination,” JOURNAL OF BEHAVIOR THERAPY AND EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHIATRY, vol. 87, 2025.
@article{01JKAQY4RX3BED0M79B1ATYAS4,
abstract = {{Background and objectives: Excessive engagement in counterfactual thinking (CFT), where individuals imagine alternative outcomes to past events, is associated with rumination, a process characterized by repetitive negative self-referential thoughts. Attentional control difficulties are closely linked with rumination, and negative thoughts can negatively impact attentional control among rumination-prone individuals. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between CFT and emotional and non-emotional attentional control among individuals with varying levels of self-critical rumination. Methods: A sample of 100 female participants, characterized by varying levels of self-critical rumination, completed a choice task resulting in goal failure, during which they reported their levels of CFT. Subsequently, participants performed an attentional control task involving eye-tracking measures to assess emotional attentional engagement, emotional attentional disengagement, and emotional and non-emotional attentional shifting. Results: Among women with high (but not low) self-critical rumination tendencies, increased levels of CFT were associated with slower attentional shifting from emotional stimuli of opposing valence, as well as between non- emotional stimuli. Limitations: The correlational design of the study prevents causal interpretations of the findings. Additionally, the exclusive inclusion of female participants may limit the generalizability of the results. Conclusions: This study underscores the association of CFT with subsequent attentional control among women prone to self-critical rumination, aligning with prior research suggesting a link between negative thoughts and attentional processes. Future research should explore these relationships in diverse populations and consider longitudinal designs to elucidate causal pathways.}},
articleno = {{102017}},
author = {{Allaert, Jens and De Raedt, Rudi and Sanchez-Lopez, Alvaro and Vanderhasselt, Marie-Anne}},
issn = {{0005-7916}},
journal = {{JOURNAL OF BEHAVIOR THERAPY AND EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHIATRY}},
keywords = {{Rumination,Counterfactual thinking,Attentional control,Attentional bias,FUNCTIONAL THEORY,DEPRESSION,MINDFULNESS,DISENGAGEMENT,DEPLOYMENT,REGRET,REAPPRAISAL,IMPAIRMENTS,PERSPECTIVE,MODULATION}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{8}},
title = {{Counterfactual thinking is associated with impoverished attentional control in women prone to self-critical rumination}},
url = {{http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2025.102017}},
volume = {{87}},
year = {{2025}},
}
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