COGNITIVE DEFUSION VERSUS THOUGHT DISTRACTION IN THE MITIGATION OF LEARNED HELPLESSNESS

2013-12-01
Hooper, Nic
McHugh, Louise
Recent research suggests that attempting to avoid unwanted psychological events is maladaptive. Contrastingly, cognitive defusion, which is an acceptance-based method for managing unwanted thoughts, may provide a plausible alternative. The current study was designed to compare defusion and experiential avoidance as strategies for coping with unwanted thoughts during a learned helplessness preparation. Before entering the learned helplessness preparation, participants were provided with 1 of 3 instructions: defusion, experiential avoidance (via a thought distraction instruction), or control (i.e., no instruction). Directly after the learned helplessness preparation, participants were instructed to attempt a pen-and-paper maze task, where their completion time was recorded. Results indicated that participants who received the defusion instruction produced maze times that were significantly shorter than the thought distraction and control groups. Results are discussed in terms of the efficacy of defusion instructions in the management of unwanted thoughts and the maladaptive nature of engaging in experiential avoidance.
PSYCHOLOGICAL RECORD

Suggestions

Rejection Sensitivity, Self-Esteem Instability, and Relationship Outcomes The Mediating Role of Responsibility Attributions
Goncu, Asli; Sümer, Nebi (Hogrefe Publishing Group, 2011-01-01)
This study examined whether responsibility attributions for self and partner behaviors differentially mediate the link between rejection sensitivity (RS), unstable self-esteem (USE), and relationship outcomes (i.e., violence and silencing the self, STS). Individuals in dating relationships in Turkey (N = 177) completed the measures of attributions for self and partner behaviors, RS, USE, violence, and STS. The results indicated that RS and USE had indirect effects on violence via attributions for partner be...
Psychometric Properties of a Turkish Version of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale
Ruganci, R. Neslihan; Gençöz, Tülin (Wiley, 2010-04-01)
This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; developed by Gratz & Roemer, 2004) in a Turkish sample. For this purpose, first, the factor structure of the scale was examined with a sample of 338 university students, and an identical factor structure with the original scale was obtained with the exclusion of a single item. Following the confirmation of the 6-factor structure of the scale with the current Turkish sample, the whole scale's and it...
Social support, locus of control, and depressive symptoms in hemodialysis patients
Gençöz, Tülin (Wiley, 2006-06-01)
This study aimed to reveal how social support and psychological well-being association might differ with locus of control orientation for chronically ill patients receiving a restrictive and unpleasant medical treatment (i.e., hemodialysis). Data were collected from 104 hemodialysis patients. After controlling for the variance accounted for by gender and duration of dialysis, for patients with internal locus of control, lack of "perceived social support" was found to be associated with depressive symptoms. ...
How three generations narrate their vicarious family stories: intrafamilial similarities, gender and cross-generational differences
Bakir-Demir, Tugce; Reese, Elaine; Şahin Acar, Başak (Informa UK Limited, 2020-04-01)
This study investigated the memory characteristics of vicarious family stories. Seventy-two families including three generations of women and men from different samples of families were recruited. Results can be described in three main sections: (a) intrafamilial similarities; (b) gender differences; and (c) cross-generational differences. For intrafamilial similarities, members of the same family showed similarities in terms of the volume and number of other-related words. For gender differences, women foc...
The relationship between perceived interpersonal competence and self-disclosure in an online context: The moderating role of shyness
Mısır, Selin; Demir, Ayhan Gürbüz (Wiley, 2020-08-01)
© 2019 International Union of Psychological ScienceThe purpose of this study is to examine the reported level of self-disclosure in online communication and understand the relationship between perceived interpersonal competence and self-disclosure in an online context, taking into account the moderating role of shyness. The study sample consists of university students (N = 585). Hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses revealed that, controlling for participants' online media use, shyness moderated ...
Citation Formats
N. Hooper and L. McHugh, “COGNITIVE DEFUSION VERSUS THOUGHT DISTRACTION IN THE MITIGATION OF LEARNED HELPLESSNESS,” PSYCHOLOGICAL RECORD, pp. 209–217, 2013, Accessed: 00, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://hdl.handle.net/11511/66099.