Disentangling the Phenomenology of Mind-Wandering.

OBJECTIVE

In the last decade, the research about mind-wandering (MW) significantly improved and allowed us to depth the phenomenology of thoughts. Prototypically, excessive MW was linked with ADHD symptoms. However, many studies have demonstrated the need to relate the type of mind-wandering with specific phenomenological presentations.

METHOD

Participants ( = 53; 54.7% male; age range 18-36 years) selfreported the Mind Excessively Wandering Scale (MEWS), and they were investigated for ADHD, impulsivity levels, and anxiety/depressive symptoms.

RESULTS

The exploratory analysis indicated a meaningful correlation between MEWS and anxiety traits and depressive symptoms. There was no significant relationship with ADHD symptoms.

CONCLUSION

These findings based our discussion about MW's phenomenology considering the novel classification model based on the consideration of clinical markers such as thoughts' content.