Mind-wandering content in major depressive disorder: A preregistered secondary analysis

Individuals with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) experience high levels of mind-wandering. Despite the fact that mind wandering is common, there is a need to better characterize its occurrence beyond mere frequency. In our preregistered study we aimed to characterize the thematic content and valence of on- and off-task thoughts and examine whether they differ based on MDD status. Adults diagnosed with MDD (n = 53) and healthy controls (n = 53) completed an in-person continuous performance task with random probes to assess their thoughts. Participants indicated whether their thoughts were on-task or, if they were off-task, the thematic content of their thoughts. They also rated the valence (negative to positive) of their thoughts. Compared to controls, individuals with MDD reported higher levels of mind wandering overall. When looking at specific thought contents, the only difference occurred for mind wandering about personally relevant worries (and this remained after excluding individuals with comorbid anxiety disorders). Both groups rated mind-wandering thoughts as being more negative than on-task thoughts to a similar degree. This work clarifies qualitative aspects of the mind-wandering process that differs between adults with MDD and healthy controls. Findings indicate that personally relevant concerns may drive the increased frequency of mind-wandering in MDD. In contrast, neither frequencies of other specific content areas nor the extent to which mind-wandering versus on-task thoughts are negative differed by MDD status. Future studies should test whether targeting worry-centric spontaneous thoughts alleviates cognitive symptoms of MDD to a greater degree than focusing on reducing mind-wandering broadly in treating MDD.