Investigation of the mental health and cognitive correlates of psychological decentering in adolescence

The ability to notice and reflect on distressing internal experiences from an objective perspective, often called psychological decentering, has been posited to be protective against mental health difficulties. However, little is known about how this skill relates to age across adolescence, its relationship with mental health, and how it may impact key domains such as affective executive control and social cognition. This study analysed a pre-existing dataset including mental health measures and cognitive tasks, administered to adolescents in Greater London and Cambridge (mean age (SD) = 14.4 (1.77) years, <i>N</i> = 553). A self-report index of decentering based on available questionnaire items in the dataset was developed. Multiple linear regression was used to examine associations between decentering and mental health, affective executive control (measured using an affective Stroop Task, affective Working Memory Task, and affective Sustained Attention to Response Task) and social cognition. Higher decentering was significantly associated with lower depression and anxiety scores and higher psychological wellbeing. Results did not indicate significant relationships between decentering, affective executive control and social cognition. Further research is needed to discover cognitive mechanisms associated with this process, which could allow for optimisation of existing psychological therapy and reveal new avenues of intervention.

以客观视角觉察并反思痛苦内在体验的能力，通常被称为心理去中心化（psychological decentering），被认为可对心理健康困境起到防护作用。然而目前学界对该技能在青少年期的年龄变化规律、其与心理健康的关联，以及它如何影响情感执行控制、社会认知等关键认知领域的了解仍十分有限。
本研究对一项已有的数据集展开分析，该数据集包含对大伦敦及剑桥地区青少年施测的心理健康测评结果与认知任务数据，被试平均年龄（标准差）为14.4（1.77）岁，总样本量（N）为553。
研究人员基于数据集中已有的问卷条目，开发了一套用于评估去中心化能力的自报告量表。
本研究采用多元线性回归方法，检验了去中心化能力与心理健康、情感执行控制（通过情感Stroop任务（affective Stroop Task）、情感工作记忆任务（affective Working Memory Task）及情感持续注意反应任务（affective Sustained Attention to Response Task）进行测评）以及社会认知之间的关联。
分析结果显示，更高的去中心化能力与更低的抑郁、焦虑得分及更高的心理健康水平显著相关，但未发现去中心化能力与情感执行控制、社会认知之间存在显著关联。
未来仍需开展进一步研究，以探明与该心理过程相关的认知机制，这将有助于优化现有心理治疗方案，并为开发新的干预手段提供全新方向。