Mental Imagery and its Relevance for Psychopathology and Psychological Treatment in Children and Adolescents: a Systematic Review

Schwarz, Susan Muriel; Grasmann, Dörte; Schreiber, Franziska; Stangier, Ulrich

doi:10.1007/s41811-020-00092-5

Cited by 24 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…There is also evidence that depression (in adolescents: [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]) and social anxiety disorder (SAD; adolescents: [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]) are linked to specific attributes of MI in adolescents (for a detailed review of the relevance of MI in psychopathology in children and adolescents, see [ 28 ]).…”

Section: Mental Imagery In Psychopathologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental Imagery and Social Pain in Adolescents—Analysis of Imagery Characteristics and Perspective—A Pilot Study

2021

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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.

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Section: Mental Imagery In Psychopathologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental Imagery and Social Pain in Adolescents—Analysis of Imagery Characteristics and Perspective—A Pilot Study

2021

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“…Cognitive styles of mental imagery were linked to the ability to fantasize, to empathize, and to be emotionally self-aware, which can have important clinical implications. For example, imagery was associated with the strength of contextualized emotional responses (Böcker et al, 2000; Holmes & Mathews, 2010; Schwarz et al, 2020) and with impairments in autism and alexithymia (Bagby et al, 1994; Guttman & Laporte, 2002; Prkachin et al, 2009). The findings in this exploratory study propose that the links between mental imagery, prosociality, and emotional self-awareness play an important role in simulations of inner narratives essential to human exchanges and aesthetic experiences at the core of our culture.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental imagery in aesthetic appreciation and the understanding of the self and others.

Felisberti¹,

Cropper²

2023

Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts

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Mental imagery refers to the ability to generate images in the “mind's eye” in the absence of external stimulation (i.e., quasi-percepts), which allows us to conflate past and current events with imaginary futures in the ongoing narratives of ourselves. As such, mental imagery is likely to be associated with prosociality, emotional self-awareness, and aesthetic experiences, but empirical evidence is still limited. Experiment 1 examined if differences in styles of mental imagery were associated with social cognition and emotional self-awareness, while Experiment 2 examined if those imagery styles were associated with the aesthetic appreciation of visual forms of art. The findings showed that object-oriented imagery was associated with prosocial traits (empathy and the ability to be transported into fictional worlds), but not with perspective taking. Spatial-oriented imagery was associated with an increased difficulty describing one's own feelings, while verbal-oriented imagery was associated with a better understanding of one's own feelings. Visual styles of imagery (object, spatial) predicted some of the variation in the aesthetic appreciation of photographs (but not paintings), and such relationship was moderated by the vividness of the imagery (but not by art experience). Conversely, art experience (but not vividness) was a moderator of the appreciation of paintings, but only in individuals with a weak object-oriented imagery. The results point to reliable associations of mental imagery with prosociality and emotional self-awareness and support a role for imagery in fine-tuning the aesthetic appreciation of visual art, and in inner simulations underpinning an adaptive imagination.

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“…Furthermore, research suggests that positive imagery training may also be effective when considered as an adjunct to a standard cognitive behavioral treatment for PTSD in adolescents [ 63 ]. In a recent review, Schwarz et al [ 73 ] found that interventions targeting MI can be effective in reducing the symptom severity in adolescent patients, however, there is still a significant need for more studies on the effectiveness of those interventions adapted in a youth-manner.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental imagery in adolescent PTSD patients after child abuse: a comparison with matched healthy controls

et al. 2022

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Background Intrusive mental imagery (MI) plays a crucial role in the maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults. Evidence on the characteristics of MI in adolescents suffering from PTSD is sparse. The aim of this study was to thoroughly assess MI in an adolescent sample suffering from PTSD after the experience of childhood sexual abuse and/or childhood physical abuse (CA). Methods Thirty-two adolescents with a primary diagnosis of PTSD after CA and 32 adolescents without any mental disorder and without a history of CA, matched for age and gender, completed questionnaires assessing the characteristics of negative and positive MI, as well as images of injury and death that lead to positive emotions (ID-images). Results The PTSD group reported significantly more frequent, more vivid, more distressing and more strongly autobiographically linked negative MI compared to the control group. Although positive MI was highly present in both groups (PTSD: 65.6%; controls: 71.9%), no significant differences emerged between the two groups regarding the distinct characteristics of positive MI. The frequency of the ID-images did not significantly differ between the two groups (PTSD: 21.9%; controls: 9.4%), although the ID-images were more vivid in the PTSD group. Discussion Negative MI appears to be crucial in adolescent PTSD, whilst positive MI are unexpectedly common in both the PTSD and the control group. The role of positive MI as well as that of ID-images remain unclear. Specific interventions for changing negative MI that are tailored to the developmental challenges in adolescents with PTSD should be developed. Trial registration Some of the PTSD patients in this study were also part of a randomized controlled trial on Developmentally adapted Cognitive Processing Therapy (D-CPT). This trial was registered at the German Clinical Trial Registry (GCTR), DRKS00004787, 18 March 2013.

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Mental Imagery and its Relevance for Psychopathology and Psychological Treatment in Children and Adolescents: a Systematic Review

Cited by 24 publications

References 85 publications

Mental Imagery and Social Pain in Adolescents—Analysis of Imagery Characteristics and Perspective—A Pilot Study

Mental Imagery and Social Pain in Adolescents—Analysis of Imagery Characteristics and Perspective—A Pilot Study

Mental imagery in aesthetic appreciation and the understanding of the self and others.

Mental imagery in adolescent PTSD patients after child abuse: a comparison with matched healthy controls

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