Temperament, Parental Styles and Metacognitions as Predictors of Ruminative Brooding and Worry

G. Caselli1,2, C. Manfredi2, D. Rebecchi2,3, F. Rovetto4, G.M. Ruggiero2, S. Sassaroli2, M.M. Spada1

1 London South Bank University, London, UK2 Studi Cognitivi, Cognitive Psychotherapy School, Milano, Italy3 Servizio Psicologia Clinica, Dipartimento Salute Mentale, Ausl Modena, Italy4 University of Pavia

Introduction• Recurrent, rigid and negative thinking style has been

found to be a core dysfunctional component in different forms of psychopathology (Watkins, 2009)

• Ruminative brooding represents a perseverative thinking style that occurs in the absence of immediate environmental demands and is focused on personal depressive symptoms and their consequences (Martin & Tesser, 1996; Nolen-Hoeksema & Morrow, 1991)

• Worry has been conceptualized as a chain of thoughts and images on possible negative outcomes in the future and represents an attempt to engage in mental problem-solving (Borkovec, 1994)

Ruminative Brooding and Worry• Similarities

– Repetitiveness– Negative content– Perseverance– Depletion of cognitive resources– Conscious nature

• Differences– Verbal/Imaginal content– Level of effort– Confidence in problem-solving– Time orientation– Associated emotions (anxiety vs depression)

• Which predictors may be relevant in the development and maintenance of ruminative brooding and worry?

• Temperament: the genetically-based component of personality which is responsible for individual differences in reactivity and self-regulation (Cloninger, 1986; Rothbart, & Bates, 2006)

• Parental styles: the educational strategies employed by parents use in child rearing

• Metacognitions: Information individuals hold about their own cognition and internal states (Wells, 2008)

Understanding Brooding and Worry

Key Literature• Temperament

– Harm avoidance and negative emotions (Starcevic, Uhlenhuth, Fallon, & Pathak, 1996, Celikel et al., 2009)

– Persistence (reward dependence) and depressive symptoms (Elovainio et al., 2004)

• Parental styles– Parental rejection and children’s worrying (Muris, Meesters, Merckelbach, &

Hülsenbeck, 2000)– Ruminative or overcontrolling parental styles and the tendency to ruminate in

response to negative mood (Nolen-Hoeksema, Wolfson, Mumme, & Guskin, 1995; Spasojevic & Alloy, 2002)

• Metacognitions– Metacognitive beliefs and levels of worry (Wells, 2008; Wells & Carter 2001;

Wells & Cartwright-Hatton, 2004)– Metacognitive beliefs and levels of rumination (Papageorgiou & Wells, 2001;

Roelofs et al., 2007)

Study 1

• Aim: to explore the relative contribution of temperament and parental styles to ruminative brooding and worry

• Participants: 307 individuals (162 females) who were recruited from the general population through leaflets and advertisements in work environments and public places (33.9 years, SD = 13.1, range = 18-57)

• Materials: Temperament (TPQ), Parental styles (PBI), Ruminative brooding (RRS-B), Worry (PSWQ)

ResultsAlpha Mean

ScoreSD BDI TPQ-NS TPQ-HA TPQ-RD PBI-C PBI-O RRS-B PSWQ

Anxiety (BAI) .88 8.65 8.23 .53** .05 .31** -.02 -.13* .20** .45** .43**

Depression (BDI) .84 7.07 6.43 - .01 .39** -.11 -.15** .19** .49** .42**

Novelty Seeking (TPQ-NS) .76 16.27 5.36 - - -.28** .05 .04 -.08 .05 -.13*

Harm Avoidance (TPQ-HA) .88 15.08 6.38 - - - .04 -.10 .21** .33** .49**

Reward Dependence (TPQ-RD) .76 19.01 4.24 - - - - .16** .02 .16** .09

Parental Care (PBI-C) .89 48.58 12.85 - - - - - -.44** -.10 -.12

Parental Overprotection (PBI-O) .89 28.00 12.86 - - - - - - .24** .28**

Ruminative Brooding (RRS-B) .90 9.71 3.23 - - - - - - - .57**

Worry (PSWQ) .91 42.45 12.35 - - - - - - - -

ResultsRuminative Brooding Worry

Β t p β t p

Step 3

Anxiety .22 3.93 .00 .23 4.09 .00

Depression .34 5.80 .00 .15 2.54 .00

Novelty Seeking - - - -.05 -.94 .35

Harm Avoidance .10 1.83 .07 .33 6.05 .00

Reward Dependence .19 4.07 .00 - - -

Parental

Overprotection

.11 2.23 .02 .13 2.64 .01

r2 .36 .37

F Change 4.95 .02 6.94 .01

In the final equation Anxiety, Depression and Parental Overprotection are predictors of both brooding and worry, Reward Dependence predicts

Ruminative Brooding and Harm Avoidance predicts worry

Discussion• With respect to temperament, reward dependence

significantly predicted ruminative brooding, whilst harm avoidance uniquely predicted worry

• Both ruminative brooding and worry shared perceived parental overprotection as the only significant predictor among parental styles

• The predictive impact of both parental overprotection and dimensions of temperament on ruminative brooding and worry was independent of negative affect

Study 2• Aims:

1. High worriers would show higher scores on parental overprotection and metacognitions than low worriers;

2. Metacognitions would predict category membership as a high worrier independently of anxiety and parental styles;

3. Metacognitions would predict levels of worry independently of anxiety and parental styles.

• Participants:– 55 High-worriers (PSWQ > 55), 37 female, mean age = 32.7

(SD=12.4)– 67 No-worriers (PSWQ< 33), 26 female, mean age = 32.8 (SD = 13.3)

• Materials: Anxiety (BAI), Parental Style (PBI), Metacognitions (MCQ-30), Worry (PSWQ)

Results (1)• Individuals high on worry reported significantly higher levels anxiety [U=741.000,

p<.0005], parental overprotection [U=1150.500, p<.0005], positive beliefs about worry [U=779.000, p<.0005], and negative beliefs about thoughts concerning uncontrollability and danger [U=1010.000, p<.0005].

• Binary Logistic Regression Equation predicting Worry Category Membership

B S.E. Wald df Sig. Exp(B)Gender 1.86 .62 4.50 1 .00 6.42

BAI: Anxiety .01 .05 4.51 1 .10 1.08

PBI: Control .05 .02 9.35 1 .01 1.05

MCQ-30-1: Positive Beliefs about Worry .37 .09 4.51 1 .00 1.45

MCQ-30-2: Negative Beliefs about Thoughts .34 .11 3.81 1 .00 1.41

Constant -12.90 2.60 9.35 1 .00 .00

The overall statistics for the final equation were as follows: Χ²=81.0, df=5, p<.0005, with 87.7% of cases correctly classified

Results (2) r2 F Change B t p

Step 1 .29 50.60 .00

BAI: Anxiety .54 7.10 .00

Step 2 .36 11.40 .00

BAI: Anxiety .51 6.90 .00

PBI: Control .25 3.40 .00

Step 3 .53 88.50 .00

BAI: Anxiety .29 3.60 .00

PBI: Control .20 3.10 .00

MCQ-30-1: Positive Beliefs about Worry .41 5.40 .00

MCQ-30-2: Negative Beliefs about Thoughts .30 3.40 .00

MCQ-30-3: Cognitive Confidence .06 .90 .40

MCQ-30-4: Beliefs about the Need to Control Thoughts .24 3.00 .00

MCQ-30-5: Cognitive Confidence .03 .50 .64

Discussion

• Positive beliefs about worry and negative beliefs about thoughts concerning uncontrollability and danger predicted category membership as a high worrier independently of anxiety and parental overprotection

• These same metacognitions in addition to beliefs about the need to control thoughts predicted levels of worry independently of anxiety and parental overprotection

Conclusions• Temperament

– Harm avoidance may predispose to a form of passive problem-solving strategic approach that does not require an active engagement with the environment (worry)

– Reward dependence may lead to difficulties in goal disengagement even when facing loss or a frustrating event, contributing to the enhancement of “moody pondering” on one’s own problems (brooding)

• Parental styles– Parental overprotection may hinder children’s exploration experiences

preventing the learning of action-oriented coping strategies and consequently fostering abstract and inactive responses

• Metacognitions– Positive beliefs about worry may increase the use of worrying as a coping

strategy, leading, in some cases, to overuse– Negative beliefs about worry and the need to control thoughts may increase

levels of distress, leading to engage in further and counterproductive attempts to control worry

Implications for Reducing Vulnerability to Emotional Distress

• Assessment of family environmental factors, temperament and metacognitions may help to identify individuals at risk of developing perseverative thinking

• Interventions may focus on (1) promoting more concrete strategies to cope with

stressful situations(2) parent training oriented to modifying the tendency

towards overprotection(3) restructuring metacognitions and gaining control over

the worry process

Limitations• Absence of behavioral or neurological demonstration of

temperament to corroborate data from self-report instruments

• Social desiderability, self-report biases, context effects and poor recall may have contributed to errors in self-report.

• Measures of parental styles are retrospective, so they refer only to the individual perception of parental rearing behaviours

• Sample in this studies was almost entirely Caucasian and was taken from one geographic region

Future Research

• Employ longitudinal designs

• Employ direct measures of parental styles

• Evaluate the mediating role of the direct change in parental overprotection and metacognitions in reducing the tendency to engage in ruminative brooding and worry

Thank you for your attention!

Contact details

Dr. Gabriele Caselli

Cognitive Psychotherapy School Studi Cognitivi, Modena, Italy

London South Bank University, London, UK

g.caselli@studicognitivi.net

casellig@lsbu.ac.uk