Metacognitive Appraisals of Perseverative Cognition: A Prospective Test Across Thought Types

Purpose Cognitive-behavioral and metacognitive theories suggest that appraisals of perseverative (repetitive negative) thoughts play a crucial role in determining affective and behavioral outcomes. The current study prospectively tested these theories across thought types by examining the relationship between thought appraisals and later outcomes. Methods The current study tested the association of negative and positive appraisals of obsessions, worries, and ruminative thoughts to self-reported outcomes at 1-month follow-up ( n = 96) using an unselected student sample. Results At 1-month follow-up, prior negative appraisals predicted increasing thought frequency for worry and rumination but not obsessions, while prior positive appraisals predicted increasing thought frequency and negative affect for rumination only. Conclusions Results suggest that different forms of perseverative thought may differ in the extent to which immediate negative and positive appraisals are related to later outcomes. These results contribute to our understanding of the role of metacognitive appraisals in the persistence of different forms of perseverative thought, and suggest important differences across thought types.