After a short symptom provocation task, participants (N = 57) wrote about their negative experience in either an abstract-evaluative or a concrete-experiential way. Intrusive memories were assessed during the session and in the first 36 h after the session.
In line with the expectations, participants in the abstract-evaluative condition showed less reduction of intrusive memories during the experimental session than those in the concrete-experiential condition, and showed a slower recovery in the 36 h following the session.
An analogue design was used. Therefore, results need to be replicated with survivors of traumatic events following DSM-IV.
Taken together, the results support the idea that abstractness of thinking is responsible for the dysfunctional effects of rumination about a highly distressing or traumatic event.