Mental Imagery and Social Pain in Adolescents—Analysis of Imagery Characteristics and Perspective—A Pilot Study
Background: Mental imagery (MI) may play a key role in the development of various mental disorders in adolescents. Adolescence is known to be a fragile life period, in which acceptance by one’s favored peer group is extremely important, and social rejection is particularly painful. This is the first...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Children |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/8/12/1160 |
| _version_ | 1797505820162785280 |
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| author | Susan Muriel Schwarz Mersiha Feike Ulrich Stangier |
| author_facet | Susan Muriel Schwarz Mersiha Feike Ulrich Stangier |
| author_sort | Susan Muriel Schwarz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Mental imagery (MI) may play a key role in the development of various mental disorders in adolescents. Adolescence is known to be a fragile life period, in which acceptance by one’s favored peer group is extremely important, and social rejection is particularly painful. This is the first pilot study investigating MI and its relationship to social pain (SP). Method: A sample of 80 adolescents (14–20 years; 75.3% female) completed a web-based quasi-experimental design about the contents and characteristics of their spontaneous positive and negative MI and associated emotions, and were asked to complete the Social Pain Questionnaire, the Becks Depression Inventory and the Social Phobia Inventory. Results: A higher score of SP was significantly associated with increased fear, sadness, and feelings of guilt, and less control over negative MI. Characteristics of negative MI were more precisely predicted by SP scores than depression- and social anxiety scores. Adolescents with higher SP-scores more often reported negative images including social situations and were more likely to perceive negative images in a combination of field-and observer perspectives than adolescents with lower SP scores. Conclusion: SP-sensitivity seems to be linked to unique characteristics of negative MI, which reveals the strong emotional impact of social exclusion in youths. The results do not allow causal conclusions to be drawn, but raise questions about previous studies comparing each imagery perspective individually. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:23:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4f820fcc88774fd780c37fa581bca041 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9067 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:23:48Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Children |
| spelling | doaj.art-4f820fcc88774fd780c37fa581bca0412023-11-23T07:42:46ZengMDPI AGChildren2227-90672021-12-01812116010.3390/children8121160Mental Imagery and Social Pain in Adolescents—Analysis of Imagery Characteristics and Perspective—A Pilot StudySusan Muriel Schwarz0Mersiha Feike1Ulrich Stangier2Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Goethe University, Varrentrappstraße 40-42, 60486 Frankfurt am Main, GermanyDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Goethe University, Varrentrappstraße 40-42, 60486 Frankfurt am Main, GermanyDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Goethe University, Varrentrappstraße 40-42, 60486 Frankfurt am Main, GermanyBackground: Mental imagery (MI) may play a key role in the development of various mental disorders in adolescents. Adolescence is known to be a fragile life period, in which acceptance by one’s favored peer group is extremely important, and social rejection is particularly painful. This is the first pilot study investigating MI and its relationship to social pain (SP). Method: A sample of 80 adolescents (14–20 years; 75.3% female) completed a web-based quasi-experimental design about the contents and characteristics of their spontaneous positive and negative MI and associated emotions, and were asked to complete the Social Pain Questionnaire, the Becks Depression Inventory and the Social Phobia Inventory. Results: A higher score of SP was significantly associated with increased fear, sadness, and feelings of guilt, and less control over negative MI. Characteristics of negative MI were more precisely predicted by SP scores than depression- and social anxiety scores. Adolescents with higher SP-scores more often reported negative images including social situations and were more likely to perceive negative images in a combination of field-and observer perspectives than adolescents with lower SP scores. Conclusion: SP-sensitivity seems to be linked to unique characteristics of negative MI, which reveals the strong emotional impact of social exclusion in youths. The results do not allow causal conclusions to be drawn, but raise questions about previous studies comparing each imagery perspective individually.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/8/12/1160mental imagerysocial paindepressionanxietychildrenadolescents |
| spellingShingle | Susan Muriel Schwarz Mersiha Feike Ulrich Stangier Mental Imagery and Social Pain in Adolescents—Analysis of Imagery Characteristics and Perspective—A Pilot Study Children mental imagery social pain depression anxiety children adolescents |
| title | Mental Imagery and Social Pain in Adolescents—Analysis of Imagery Characteristics and Perspective—A Pilot Study |
| title_full | Mental Imagery and Social Pain in Adolescents—Analysis of Imagery Characteristics and Perspective—A Pilot Study |
| title_fullStr | Mental Imagery and Social Pain in Adolescents—Analysis of Imagery Characteristics and Perspective—A Pilot Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mental Imagery and Social Pain in Adolescents—Analysis of Imagery Characteristics and Perspective—A Pilot Study |
| title_short | Mental Imagery and Social Pain in Adolescents—Analysis of Imagery Characteristics and Perspective—A Pilot Study |
| title_sort | mental imagery and social pain in adolescents analysis of imagery characteristics and perspective a pilot study |
| topic | mental imagery social pain depression anxiety children adolescents |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/8/12/1160 |
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