Verbalization and imagery during worry activity

This study examined a model of worry as verbal activity that suppresses ima gery and autonomic fear. The effects of emotional imagery vs. verbalization upon worry and fearfulness of an impending public speaking situation were assessed in 54 public speaking anxious participants who were categorized as worriers. Randomly assigned groups that processed the impending public spe aking task either verbally or imaginally were compared to a group that rece ived no processing instructions. Subjective distress was measured throughou t the study. Results revealed partial support for the hypotheses that propo rtions of verbal thought and imagery shift upon threat presentation and a m itigation of fear habituation with verbalization. However, interpretation o f between-group differences was complicated because the groups did not repo rt consistent or complete adherence to cognitive processing instructions. M ethodological and design implications for future investigations in this are a are discussed. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.