Knight R C, Dunning D L, Cotton J, Franckel G, Ahmed S P, Blakemore S J, Ford T, Kuyken W, Dalgleish T, Bennett M P
MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, UK.
Cogn Emot. 2025 Mar;39(2):465-475. doi: 10.1080/02699931.2024.2402947. Epub 2024 Oct 2.
The ability to notice and reflect on distressing internal experiences from an objective perspective, often called psychological decentering, has been posited to be protective against mental health difficulties. However, little is known about how this skill relates to age across adolescence, its relationship with mental health, and how it may impact key domains such as affective executive control and social cognition. This study analysed a pre-existing dataset including mental health measures and cognitive tasks, administered to adolescents in Greater London and Cambridge (mean age (SD) = 14.4 (1.77) years, = 553). A self-report index of decentering based on available questionnaire items in the dataset was developed. Multiple linear regression was used to examine associations between decentering and mental health, affective executive control (measured using an affective Stroop Task, affective Working Memory Task, and affective Sustained Attention to Response Task) and social cognition. Higher decentering was significantly associated with lower depression and anxiety scores and higher psychological wellbeing. Results did not indicate significant relationships between decentering, affective executive control and social cognition. Further research is needed to discover cognitive mechanisms associated with this process, which could allow for optimisation of existing psychological therapy and reveal new avenues of intervention.
从客观角度关注并反思令人痛苦的内心体验的能力，通常称为心理去中心化，被认为有助于预防心理健康问题。然而，对于这种技能在整个青春期如何与年龄相关、它与心理健康的关系，以及它如何影响情感执行控制和社会认知等关键领域，我们所知甚少。本研究分析了一个现有的数据集，该数据集包括对大伦敦和剑桥的青少年进行的心理健康测量和认知任务（平均年龄（标准差）=14.4（1.77）岁，n = 553）。基于数据集中现有的问卷项目，编制了一个去中心化的自我报告指数。采用多元线性回归分析去中心化与心理健康、情感执行控制（使用情感Stroop任务、情感工作记忆任务和情感持续注意反应任务进行测量）和社会认知之间的关联。较高的去中心化程度与较低的抑郁和焦虑得分以及较高的心理健康水平显著相关。结果未表明去中心化、情感执行控制和社会认知之间存在显著关系。需要进一步研究以发现与这一过程相关的认知机制，这可能有助于优化现有的心理治疗方法并揭示新的干预途径。
