Journal article
‘Flashforward’ mental imagery in adolescents: exploring developmental differences and associations with mental health
- Abstract:
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Background:
Future events can spring to mind unbidden in the form of involuntary mental images also known as 'flashforwards', which are deemed important for understanding and treating emotional distress. However, there has been little exploration of this form of imagery in youth, and even less so in those with high psychopathology vulnerabilities (e.g. due to developmental differences associated with neurodiversity or maltreatment).
Aims:
We aimed to test whether flashforwards are heightened (e.g. more frequent and emotional) in autistic and maltreatment-exposed adolescents relative to typically developing adolescents. We also explored their associations with anxiety/depression symptoms.
Method:
A survey including measures of flashforward imagery and mental health was completed by a group of adolescents (n=87) aged 10-16 (and one of their caregivers) who met one of the following criteria: (i) had a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder; (ii) a history of maltreatment; or (ii) no autism/maltreatment.
Results:
Flashforwards (i) were often of positive events and related to career, education and/or learning; with phenomenological properties (e.g. frequency and emotionality) that were (ii) not significantly different between groups; but nevertheless (iii) associated with symptoms of anxiety across groups (particularly for imagery emotionality), even after accounting for general trait (non-future) imagery vividness.
Conclusions:
As a modifiable cognitive risk factor, flashforward imagery warrants further consideration for understanding and improving mental health in young people. This implication may extend to range of developmental backgrounds, including autism and maltreatment.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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- Files:
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 363.2KB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1017/s1352465824000298
Authors
+ Medical Research Council
More from this funder
- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/03x94j517
- Grant:
- MR/Y009460/1
- Programme:
- Clinician Scientist Fellowship
+ Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
More from this funder
- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/056ffv270
- Grant:
- PSP955
+ John Fell Fund, Oxford University Press (United Kingdom)
More from this funder
- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/0336mm561
- Grant:
- 0014097
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
- Journal:
- Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy More from this journal
- Volume:
- 52
- Issue:
- 6
- Pages:
- 543-560
- Place of publication:
- United States
- Publication date:
- 2024-09-23
- Acceptance date:
- 2024-07-31
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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1469-1833
- ISSN:
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1352-4658
- Pmid:
-
39308216
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
-
2032439
- Local pid:
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pubs:2032439
- Source identifiers:
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W4402751576
- Deposit date:
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2026-04-27
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Lau-Zhu et al.
- Copyright date:
- 2024
- Rights statement:
- ©The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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