PROCESS CHARACTERISTICS OF WORRY AND OBSESSIVE INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS

One hundred and twenty-five university students were administered a ba ttery of self-report measures to assess worry disposition and content, frequency of obsessive intrusive thoughts, and 10 conceptually derive d appraisal dimensions of worry and obsessional intrusions. Process ra tings indicated that the worrisome thoughts were considered more distu rbing than the ego-dystonic intrusive thoughts. Worry was also disting uished by a focus on the possible consequences of negative events, whe reas concern about the personal meaning of the thought was a unique pr ocess dimension for obsessive intrusive thoughts. Both content and pro cess variables are important in differentiating worry and obsessive-li ke intrusive thoughts in a nonclinical population. (C) 1997 Elsevier S cience Ltd.