3 - (SYM 66) Online Imagery Rescripting for Trait Anxiety: Viewing Memories More Positively

Imagery rescripting (IR) has been found effective across psychopathologies. IR modifies and updates negative schema-based representations by recalling autobiographical memories of past events and then elaborating on a potential positive alternative outcome. During IR, the patient is requested first to relive a negative past event and then to reimagine the event with an agent (self or other) intervening. This study is a secondary evaluation of positive emotions during a transdiagnostic, self-guided internet-based intervention of IR, which compares two conditions of agent type. We examine both changes in the positive and negative details of the autobiographical memory, predicting that more positive and neutral details will be updated in the memory after IR. In addition, we predict that positive emotions will increase following rescripting, whereas negative emotions will decrease. We will examine the relation between increases in positive details of the memory with increases in positive emotion, and decreases in negative details with decrease in negative details. Exploratory analyses will examine differences for self vs other conditions. 300 high trait-anxious individuals were randomly assigned to one of the two conditions of agent type with 20% of participants first assigned to a waiting list control. Ethnicity data was collected to examine diversity of the sample. It included White (n=271), Asian (n=10), Black (n=9), Mixed (n=6), and other (n=4). 141 participants rescripted their memory using their current selves, whereas 159 participants used a supportive other who intervened in their painful memory. Clinical symptoms were measured in three time-points: pre-intervention, post-intervention, and one week follow-up. Autobiographic memories were collected only at pre and at follow-up. Emotional responses to memories were collected during IR. Improvement in trait anxiety was found both for self and other conditions, but not for waitlist. There was greater improvement in the self condition than the other condition. Positive state emotion increased during IR, whereas negative state emotion decreased. Memories are currently being coded. Online imagery rescripting improves trait anxiety symptoms and state emotion. Our results demonstrated that both self and other conditions are equally effective at improving positive details of memories and emotions, suggesting that positively rescripting memories is an effective method of using the power of positive thinking.