ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Research suggests that executive functions and metacognitive abilities, including self-reflection and insight, may share underlying mechanisms since both rely on top-down cognitive processes and require self-regulation. However, these relationships have not been thoroughly examined by empirical research. The current study investigated the relationship between insight, self-reflection, and executive functions cross-sectionally across different stages of aging. METHODS: Participants were 1284 (655 men and 629 women) cognitively healthy community dwellers with an age range of 18-89 years (M = 47.91, SD = 19.83). The sample was divided into three groups based on age, e.g., the young adults (18-34 years-old), the middle-aged adults (35-59 years-old), and older adults (60 years and older). Participants completed multiple executive function tasks (including trail making, verbal fluency, Stroop, digit span) and a self-report insight and self-reflection measure individually in face-to-face sessions. RESULTS: The results show that education, age, digit span forward, which is a measure of short-term memory and phonemic fluency were significant predictors of self-reported insight. Furthermore, insight, but not self-reflection, had significant positive correlations with short-term memory and phonemic fluency across three age groups. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the results indicate that performance on executive function measures and self-reported self-reflection and insight are relatively independent cognitive abilities.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Abstract and concrete modes of rumination may be associated with different mental health outcomes; whereby concrete rumination strategies increase the individual's tendency to seek solutions to problems and thus leading to significant improvements in the mood state as well as reductions in the intensity of ruminative thoughts. However, related studies also are suggestive of other variables that are potentially effective in the outcome of abstract and concrete processing. The current study aimed to examine how abstract and concrete processing are associated with state rumination and explore the role of cognitive flexibility in this relationship. METHOD: A total of 111 (78 female) participants were assessed for state rumination prior and post induction of abstract versus concrete processing. RESULTS: Although all participants reported higher levels of state rumination following both processing inductions, participants that were instructed to engage in abstract processing reported higher levels of state rumination as opposed to concrete processing group. Moreover, participants with lower levels of cognitive flexibility reported significant increases in state rumination following the manipulation, independent of type of processing induction. LIMITATIONS: The impact of the manipulation was assessed only via the BSRI and lacks physiological assessment of arousal levels of participants. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical implications that involve concrete processing and CF ability trainings may be beneficial for the management of state rumination.
