Beckwé, M. 1 , Deroost, N. 1 & De Lissnyder, E. 2
1 Vrije Universiteit Brussel
2 Universiteit Gent
It is commonly assumed that rumination and worrying play an important role in the development of major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). But, despite their clinical significance, little is known about the underlying mechanisms of rumination and worrying. The present study investigated the shifting capacity of working memory, when processing non-emotional and emotional verbal information, using an Internal Shift Task (IST). The IST was administered to a group of high-ruminators (N=31) and high-worriers (N=32) versus non-ruminators (N=39) and non-worriers (N=38). The main finding was that rumination and worrying were both related to general shifting impairments. This increased shifting cost for ruminators and worriers was most pronounced when they had to shift from a negative to a neutral word. Interestingly, these results were only found when the negative words we used reflected relevant worry-themes for the participants. The possible implications of these findings in relation to vulnerability for MDD and GAD are further discussed.