Functions of episodic future thinking: A validation and comparative study across individuals with normal versus pathological worry

Abstract

Future thinking is the ability to mentally simulate future scenarios, events, or circumstances that one might be personally involved in. The present study sought to evaluate the Persian version of the Functions of Future Thinking Scale (FoFTS) in a large sample of the Iranian general population and to compare individuals with normal versus pathological worry. The Persian FoFTS had an acceptable 10‐factor structure and the reliability index of all factors was within an acceptable range. The validity was explored in terms of temporal distance of future thinking, past (positive and negative) thinking, self‐efficacy, affect (positive and negative), and mindset (pessimism and optimism). Individuals with pathological worry scored significantly higher on seven functions of future thinking (boredom reduction, death preparation, negative regulation, social bonding, planning, problem‐solving, and decision‐making) compared to individuals with normal worry, and they did not differ on three functions of future thinking (identity contrast, goal setting, and positive regulation).

The Perceived Functions and Phenomenological Characteristics of Future Thinking and Clinically Significant Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms

“…Du, Hallford, and Busby Grant's (2022) review indicated that most studies had been conducted in community samples, and few involved samples selected on the basis of clinically elevated levels of anxiety. Within these clinical samples characterized by elevated anxiety, compared to non-anxious samples, differences in future thinking have been observed, for example, more overgeneral future thinking in posttraumatic stress disorder (Brown et al 2013;Kleim et al 2014;Verfaellie et al 2024), and more negatively biased and less vivid future thinking in Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) (Wu et al 2015; also, please see Akbari et al 2023). Although few studies exist that have examined the effects of induced state anxiety, the evidence in community samples indicates that state anxiety may not affect the ability to generate specific future events, but it may affect the detailed elaboration of these future events (Hallford et al 2019;Zhou, Li, and Hu 2024).…”