Perseverative Cognition and Chronic Stress

Authors:

Pages: 30-42
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54664/LWYF9708

Abstract:

Perseverative cognitions, defined as „the repeated or chronic activation of the cognitive representation of one or more psychological stressors“ (Brosschot et al., 2006, p. 114), are studied primarily in the context of their relationship with physiological activity to clarify the relationship between chronic stress and health. Their influence on the cardiovascular, autonomic, and endocrine systems has been established (Ottaviani et al., 2016). The report presents data from a study of the relationship between different types of perseverative cognition and perceived daily stress. The moderate and strong positive correlations between the predisposition to repeated thinking about negative events in the past and the future and the perceived stress in the last month allow the role of perseverative cognition as a stressor in itself, maintaining cognitive representations of negative events after the stressor has stopped, or as an unsuccessful attempt to cope with stress. These results suggest that perseverative cognition may play a significantly more important role in the development of chronic stress and its accompanying mental and physiological effects than the immediate effects of stressors.

Keywords:

perseverative cognition; stress.

Download

NA