Negative Pathway of Wandering Minds: Serial Mediation Effect Between Mind Wandering and Internalising Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety

Guan, Siqing; Takahashi, Toru; Tomita, Nozomi; Kumano, Hiroaki · 2024 · Crossref

DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4265694/v1

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Summary

This study investigates the specific mechanisms linking mind wandering (MW) to internalizing symptoms of depression and anxiety, focusing on how the intentionality and content of MW influence these outcomes. While MW is a common mental activity, its relationship with psychopathology is complex; prior research has suggested that dysfunctional MW contributes to anxiety and depression, but the specific cognitive pathways remain unclear. The authors aimed to identify dysfunctional MW types by differentiating between intentional (deliberate) and unintentional (spontaneous) MW, as well as content dimensions such as temporal orientation (past/future), emotional valence (positive/neutral/negative), and specificity (specific/vague). The study further examined whether trait rumination and trait worry serve as mediators in the relationship between these MW characteristics and internalizing symptoms. The researchers employed a thought sampling method during a Sequential Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) with 55 undergraduate participants. Participants completed 900 trials, during which they were randomly prompted 20 times to report their mental state. They classified their thoughts as on-task, intentional MW, or unintentional MW, and further described the content’s temporal orientation, valence, and specificity. Self-report questionnaires measured depressive symptoms (CES-D), anxiety symptoms (GAD-7), trait worry (PSWQ), and trait rumination (RRQ). Statistical analyses, including principal component analysis to create a composite internalizing symptom score and mediation models using the PROCESS macro, were used to test hypotheses regarding serial mediation effects. The results indicated that intentional MW, particularly when focused on past experiences or positive/neutral content, was associated with lower levels of worry and was not correlated with internalizing symptoms. In contrast, unintentional MW, especially when vague, future-oriented, or negative, was positively correlated with rumination, worry, and internalizing symptoms. Mediation analyses revealed that rumination and worry sequentially mediated the link between unintentional MW (including vague, future-oriented, and negative subtypes) and internalizing symptoms. Specifically, unintentional MW predicted higher rumination, which in turn predicted higher worry, which finally predicted higher internalizing symptoms. For negative unintentional MW, a pathway mediated solely by worry was also significant, in addition to the serial mediation path. These findings suggest that the negative impact of mind wandering on mental health is not uniform but depends on its intentionality and content. Unintentional, vague, future-oriented, and negative MW appears to trigger abnormal self-referential processing, progressing from rumination to worry, thereby contributing to internalizing symptoms. The study highlights distinct roles for rumination and worry, with rumination acting as an initial response to self-relevant threats and worry serving as a subsequent cognitive avoidance mechanism. This clarifies the cognitive continuum from real-time mind wandering to clinical symptoms, implying that interventions targeting specific dysfunctional MW patterns and their associated mediating processes could be beneficial for managing anxiety and depression.

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• mind wandering