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Suppression of Dentist-Related Thoughts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2009

Ad de Jongh ,
Peter Muris ,
Harald Merckelbach  and
Nelleke Schoenmakers
Ad de Jongh
Affiliation:
Academic Centre for Dentistry, Amsterdam
Harald Merckelbach
Affiliation:
University of Limburg
Nelleke Schoenmakers
Affiliation:
Academic Centre for Dentistry, Amsterdam
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Abstract

The present study explored factors associated with the successful suppression of dentist-related thoughts. Fifty-eight subjects first completed questionnaires on dental anxiety, trait anxiety, cognitive self-efficacy, and negative cognitions related to dental treatment. After imagining a scene in which they were undergoing dental treatment, subjects were asked to identify the negative thoughts they had just experienced. Next, subjects were instructed to suppress these thoughts during a one minute period. After this suppression period, subjects rated the extent to which they had succeeded in suppressing their dentist-related thoughts (i.e., thought control) and the extent to which they had spent on thinking about these thoughts (i.e., intrusiveness). The results showed that dental anxiety was negatively correlated with successful thought suppression, while trait anxiety was negatively associated with intrusions during the suppression period. It is suggested that anxiety undermines adequate cognitive control.

Type
Research Article
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 24 , Issue 2 , April 1996 , pp. 117 - 126
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 1996

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