Maladaptive beliefs and supression of negative autobiographical memories

This study sought to investigate whether an individual difference in beliefs regarding the importance of controlling intrusive thoughts influenced the effect of suppressing negative autobiographical memories. In Phase I of the study, 165 undergraduate students completed the control-subscale of the Interpretations of Intrusions Inventory (III-31). Students with scores in the top (strong beliefs) and bottom (weak beliefs) 30% of the III-31 were selected to participate in Phase II. In Phase II an equal number of students with these 'strong' and 'weak' beliefs (N = 60) were randomised to either a thought suppression or control condition. As expected, instructions to suppress resulted in a rebound effect; however, contrary to predictions, differences in beliefs regarding the importance of controlling intrusive thoughts did not influence thought suppression ability. The implications of the findings for understanding the influence of metacognition on thought suppression are discussed.