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Abstract
Mental Time Travel (MTT) refers to our ability to think about the past, present and future. MTT impairments in depression, PTSD, and schizophrenia are linked to maladaptive behaviours, including poor planning and reduced coping skills. There is limited research into MTT in anxiety disorders, a family of disorders characterised by the experience of catastrophic fears related to the future. This thesis investigated differences in past and future thinking in individuals with increasing levels of anxiety.
Study 1 piloted an adapted protocol designed to address a number of methodological limitations within the literature. Study 2 applied this protocol in a large online sample. Study 3 investigated the effect of increasing levels of anxiety on the subjective experiences (phenomenological qualities) and objective qualities (overgenerality and episodic detail) of MTT in a non-clinical university sample. Several differences in subjective experience were identified with increasing levels of anxiety, but no differences between groups were identified for overgenerality or episodic detail. Study 4 investigated the subjective and objective differences in MTT in a transdiagnostic clinical anxiety sample compared to healthy controls. Individuals with anxiety were found to produce less episodic details when thinking about the past and the future. Several phenomenological differences were identified in the anxiety group, including self-reported higher levels of coherence and increased reaction ratings. Finally, Study 5 compared MTT in a naturalistic setting to MTT produced within the laboratory, in a non-clinical university sample and a transdiagnostic clinical sample. These studies aimed to address validity concerns of testing MTT within a laboratory setting. They represent the first studies to use traditional laboratory methods in combination with mobile phone technology to compare MTT in various settings. These studies highlight the qualitative differences in the recollection of past episodes and the simulation of future episodes, in combination with the reported phenomenological impact of these events, across varying levels of anxiety. The implications of the results of these studies on theory and treatment of anxiety disorders are explored.