EC Psychology and Psychiatry

It is crucial to understand how individuals respond to unwanted thoughts so that proper treatment plans could be put into practice. The TCQ is used to measure the strategies individuals use when facing negative thoughts. Previous research shows that (worry and punishment) as thought control strategies are correlated with psychopathology and aggression. The purpose of this scoping review was to provide a comprehensive overview of relevant literature regarding the process of thought control in terms of the strategies used and its correlation with measures of psychopathology and aggression as well as identifying any gaps in the literature which could inform future research. The current scoping review followed Arksey and O’Malley (2005) 5-stage framework. The results reveal that there are correlations between different thought control strategies and measures of psychopathology and aggression. The review also reveals gaps in the literature in terms of failing to use violent offenders as a sample of interest when studying the correlation of thought control strategies and aggression. Another possibility for future research is to examine if there is a relationship between thought control strategies and different types of cognitive distortions.

Keywords: Thought Control; Measures; Strategies; Treatment

1. Wells A and Davies MI. “The Thought Control Questionnaire: A measure of individual differences in the control of unwanted thoughts”. Behaviour Research and Therapy8 (1994): 871-878.
2. Feliu-Soler A., et al. “Fifteen Years Controlling Unwanted Thoughts: A systematic Review of Thought Control Ability Questionnaire (TCAC)”. Frontiers in Psychology (2019): 10.
3. Johnston L., et al. “Deviant sexual thoughts: Mental control and the treatment of sexual offenders”. Journal of Sex Research2 (1997): 121-130.
4. Gill AH., et al. “Development and preliminary validation of the Thought Control Questionnaire for Adolescents (TCQ-A)”. Cognitive Therapy and Research2 (2013): 242-255.
5. Reynolds M and Wells A. “The Thought Control Questionnaire–psychometric properties in a clinical sample, and relationships with PTSD and depression”. Psychological Medicine5 (1999): 1089-1099.
6. Fehm L and Hoyer J. “Measuring thought control strategies: The thought control questionnaire and a look beyond”. Cognitive Therapy and Research1 (2004): 105-117.
7. Luciano JV., et al. “Development and validation of the thought control ability questionnaire”. Personality and Individual Differences 38 (2005): 997-1008.
8. Williams A., et al. “A Psychometric Evaluation of the Thought Control Ability Questionnaire (TCAQ) and the Prediction of Cognitive Control”. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment 32 (2010): 387-405.
9. Grant M and Booth A. “A typology of reviews: an analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies”. Health Information and Libraries Journal 26 (2009): 91-108.
10. O’Flaherty J and Phillips C. “The use of flipped classrooms in higher education: A scoping review”. Internet and Higher Education 25 (2015): 85-95.
11. Arksey H and O’Malley L. “Scoping studies: Towards a methodological framework”. International Journal of Research Methodology1 (2005): 19-32.
12. Anderson S., et al. “Asking the right questions: Scoping Studies in the commissioning of research on organisation and delivery of health services”. Health Research and Policy Systems BioMed Central7 (2008): 1-12.
13. Levac D., et al. “Scoping studies: advancing the methodology”. Implementation Science69 (2010): 1-9.
14. Nagtegaal MH and Rassin E. “The usefulness of the thought suppression paradigm in explaining impulsivity and aggression”. Personality and Individual Differences 37 (2004): 1233-1244.
15. Ree MJ., et al. “Attempts to” control unwanted thoughts in the night: development of the thought control questionnaire-insomnia revised (TCQI-R)”. Behaviour Research and Therapy8 (2005): 985-998.
16. Nagtegaal MH., et al. “Aggressive fantasies, thought control strategies, and their connection to aggressive behaviour”. Personality and Individual Differences8 (2006): 1397-1407.
17. Shingler J. “Managing Intrusive Thoughts: What works”. Journal of Sexual Aggression1 (2009): 39-53.
18. Ree MJ. “The Thought Control Questionnaire in an inpatient psychiatric setting: Psychometric properties and predictive capacity”. Behaviour Change4 (2010): 212-226.
19. Valdez C and Lilly M. “Thought Control: Is ability,. Strategies or Both That Predicts Posttraumatic symptomatology in victims of interpersonal trauma”. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment 34 (2012): 531-541.
20. Reinecke A., et al. “Cognitive-behavioural therapy reduces unwanted thought intrusions in generalized anxiety disorder”. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry1 (2013): 1-6.
21. Allen KJ., et al. “Thought control strategies in patients with severe obsessive–compulsive disorder: Treatment effects and suicide risk”. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders 8 (2016): 31-37.
22. Tucker RP., et al. “Do thought control strategies applied to thoughts of suicide influence suicide ideation and suicide risk?” Personality and Individual Differences 112 (2017): 37-41.
23. Yildirm A., et al. “Validation of the Turkish Version of the Thought Control Questionnaire Insomnia Revised (TCQA-R)”. Yeni Syposuim (2018): 9-16.
24. Rezaei S., et al. “Comparison of Perfectionism and Thought Control Strategies in Patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and normal individuals”. Iranian Journal of Rehabilitation Research in Nursing4 (2018): 43-51.