Verbalization and imagery during worry activity

This study examined a model of worry as verbal activity that suppresses imagery and autonomic fear. The effects of emotional imagery vs. verbalization upon worry and fearfulness of an impending public speaking situation were assessed in 54 public speaking anxious participants who were categorized as worriers. Randomly assigned groups that processed the impending public speaking task either verbally or imaginally were compared to a group that received no processing instructions. Subjective distress was measured throughout the study. Results revealed partial support for the hypotheses that proportions of verbal thought and imagery shift upon threat presentation and a mitigation of fear habituation with verbalization. However, interpretation of between-group differences was complicated because the groups did not report consistent or complete adherence to cognitive processing instructions. Methodological and design implications for future investigations in this area are discussed.