Participants will complete all assessments and training in a single laboratory session.
Participants (N=105) with elevated levels of negative repetitive thinking (Rumination
Response Scale -Brooding >=11) will be randomly assigned to one of 3 intervention arms:
Attention Feedback Awareness and Control Training (A-FACT; n=35), Mindful Disengagement from
Thoughts Training (MDTT; n=35), or placebo control (n=35).
At pre- and post-intervention, the investigators will measure: (1) Subjective emotional
reactivity in response to negative vs. neutral self-referential thoughts using the Simulated
Thought Paradigm (STP)-Emotional Reactivity task; (2) Interoceptive attention (i.e.
sensibility) of the subjective location, intensity and hedonic tone of bodily sensations,
using the STP-Body Map task, and (3) internal attentional control (i.e. latency to disengage)
using the STP-Digit Categorization Task.
At post-intervention assessment only, the investigators will measure: (1) Meta-awareness of
internal attentional dyscontrol using the STP-Digit Categorization Task with Self-Caught
Probes; (2) internal attentional control (i.e. selective attention) using the STP-One-Back
Dichotic Listening Task as a measure of the generalizability of the expected primary effect
on internal attentional control.
The primary aim is to test the effect of 2 active intervention arms, Attention Feedback
Awareness and Control Training and Mindful Disengagement from Thoughts Training, relative to
one another and placebo control, on internal attentional control from pre-to-post training
among adults with elevated negative repetitive thinking. The investigators hypothesise that
both active interventions conditions will yield improvement in internal attentional control,
as measured by the Digit Categorization Task integrated with the Simulated Thoughts Paradigm,
from pre-to-post intervention, relative to the placebo-control.
Secondary aims are to test the effects of the 2 active intervention arms, relative to one
another and placebo control, on subjective emotional reactivity to negative self-referential
thoughts, selection bias to negative self-referential thoughts, meta-awareness of attentional
dyscontrol, as well as interoceptive attention to bodily sensations in response to negative
self-referential thoughts. The investigators hypothesize that, relative to the
control-placebo group, the active intervention groups will yield (a) reduced emotional
reactivity to negative self-referential thoughts as measured in the Emotional Reactivity
Task, (b) higher levels of meta-awareness of attentional dyscontrol as measured by the
STP-Digit Categorization Task with Self-Caught Probes, and (c) higher levels of selective
internal attentional control as measured by the STP-One-Back Dichotic Listening Task.
Additionally, the investigators hypothesize that, relative to the placebo control group and
the Attention Feedback Awareness and Control Training group, the Mindful Disengagement from
Thoughts Training group will yield enhanced interoceptive attention (i.e. sensibility) to a
broader range of locations (e.g. peripheral body areas), intensities (e.g. subtle sensations)
and hedonic tones (e.g. neutral and pleasant hedonic tones) of bodily sensations in response
to self-referential thoughts, as measured by STP-Body Map task.
Finally, the investigators hypothesized non-inferiority between the active intervention
groups with respect to all mentioned measured outcomes, with exception of the noted
STP-Body-Map Task.