ArticleJournal of anxiety disorders2023
The transdiagnostic use of worry and rumination to avoid negative emotional contrasts following negative events: A momentary assessment study.
Article in Journal of anxiety disorders, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Dampening of positive affect as an emotional contrast avoidance strategy: An experimental test of the contrast avoidance model.Behaviour research and therapy · 2026Trial
- A brief ecological momentary intervention for generalized anxiety disorder: A randomized controlled trial of the worry outcome monitoring app.Journal of anxiety disorders · 2026Trial
- Savoring changes novel positive mindset targets of GAD treatment: Optimism, prioritizing positivity, kill-joy thinking, and worry mediation.Behaviour research and therapy · 2024Trial
- Reducing contrast avoidance in GAD by savoring positive emotions: Outcome and mediation in a randomized controlled trial.Journal of anxiety disorders · 2023Trial
- The Spatial Representation of Self-Referential Negative Events.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Development and validation of the eight item contrast avoidance questionnaire-general emotion scale (CAQ-GE-8): An item-response theory analysis.Journal of anxiety disorders · 2026Article
- Examining the Contrast Avoidance Model to Understand the Association between Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Sleep Difficulties.The Psychiatric quarterly · 2026Article
- Dampening of Positive Affect Serves an Emotional Contrast Avoidance Function: Preliminary Evidence From an Adult Community Sample.Journal of clinical psychology · 2026Article
- Thought suppression worsens mood and obsessions but improves them subsequently: First evidence of a contrast avoidance effect for the maintenance of thought suppression.Behaviour research and therapy · 2026Article
- Validation of the Chinese version of the Contrast Avoidance Questionnaires.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Rumination as a within-person indirect pathway between daily negative life events and suicidal ideation in recently hospitalized adults.Journal of psychiatric research · 2025Article
- Why do individuals with generalized anxiety disorder and depression engage in worry and rumination? A momentary assessment study of positive contrast enhancement.Journal of anxiety disorders · 2025Article
- Contrast avoidance as a diagnostic feature of OCD: A receiver-operator characteristic curve analysis of the contrast avoidance questionnaires.Journal of affective disorders · 2025Article
- Treatment condition as a moderator and change in trait mindfulness as a mediator of a brief mindfulness ecological momentary intervention for generalized anxiety disorder.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2024Article
- An initial test of the contrast avoidance model in bipolar spectrum disorders.Journal of psychiatric research · 2024Article
- Introduction to a special issue on the contrast avoidance model.Journal of anxiety disorders · 2024Article
- The Contrast Avoidance Model: Conclusion and synthesis of new research in the special issue.Journal of anxiety disorders · 2024Article
- Incremental validity of the contrast avoidance model: A comparison with intolerance of uncertainty and negative problem orientation.Journal of anxiety disorders · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The contrast avoidance model (CAM) suggests that individuals with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) are sensitive to a sharp increase in negative and/or decrease in positive affect. They thus worry to increase negative emotion to avoid negative emotional contrasts (NECs). However, no prior naturalistic study has examined reactivity to negative events, or ongoing sensitivity to NECs, or the application of CAM to rumination. We used ecological momentary assessment to examine effects of worry and rumination on negative and positive emotion before and after negative events and intentional use of repetitive thinking to avoid NECs. Individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) and/or GAD (N = 36) or without psychopathology (N = 27) received 8 prompts/day for 8 days and rated items on negative events, emotions, and repetitive thoughts. Regardless of group, higher worry/rumination before negative events was associated with less increased anxiety and sadness, and less decreased happiness from before to after the events. Participants with MDD/GAD (vs. controls) reported higher ratings on focusing on the negative to avoid NECs and greater vulnerability to NECs when feeling positive. Results support the transdiagnostic ecological validity for CAM extending to rumination and intentional engagement in repetitive thinking to avoid NECs among individuals with MDD/GAD.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.