UNLEASHING THE POWER OF PROACTIVE THOUGHT CONTROL: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS IN YOUNG ADULTS

Abstract

Background: Proactive thought control mechanism is evolving approach for managing intrusive thought control that need adaptation and validation in different cultures and population. Therefore, the current study aims to test the effectiveness of proactive thought control mechanisms on Pakistani normative sample.

Subject and Method: The repeated measure experimental research design was employed. The data was collected from 65 participants between the age ranges 18-25, randomly allocated in suppress (experimental) and control groups. They were subjected to perform a proactive thought control (free association) task in four trials on the computer.  Additionally, the effectiveness of intervention was also assessed with subjective measure of Thought Suppression Inventory (TSI) subscale effective suppression scale (ESS).

Results: The analysis revealed significant results as the thought suppress group took longer reaction time and significantly higher level of thought suppression as compare to control group which revealed that proactive thought control mechanisms significantly facilitate thought suppression.

Conclusion:  Our findings highlight the external validity of proactive thought control as it has yielded significant results on Pakistani normative sample. Hence, rectify the need of further investigation of this approach as non-pharmacological intervention for intrusive thoughts.