Attempted versus successful avoidance: associations with distress, symptoms, and strategies for mental control Leanne Andrews a, *, Nicholas Troop b , Stephen Joseph c , Syd Hiskey a , Iain Coyne d a Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK b Department of Psychology, London Guildhall University, London E1 7NT, UK c Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK d Department of Psychology, University of Hull, East Yorkshire HU6 7RX, UK Received 13 July 2001; received in revised form 12 October 2001; accepted 12 November 2001 Abstract The most widely used measures of avoidance strategies following stressful or traumatic experiences are unidimensional. However, recent work has emphasised the multifactorial nature of avoidance. One intri- guing and as yet unexplored distinction is that between attempts at avoidance and successful avoidance. Two studies are reported with the aim of investigating the differential relationships between attempted and successful avoidance and measures of distress and thought control strategies. In the first study 207 parti- cipants completed measures of attempted and successful avoidance along with a measure of distress. The results indicated that distress was associated with attempted avoidance but not successful avoidance. In the second study, 143 participants completed measures of attempted and successful avoidance along with measures of thought control strategies and distress. The results of study two replicated those of study one and also found that attempted avoidance was associated with ‘punishment’ and ‘worry’ thought control strategies, whereas, successful avoidance was associated with ‘social control’ strategies. It was concluded that attempts at avoidance that are not successful are maladaptive following stressful or traumatic experi- ences but successful avoidance is not. These data highlight the importance of identifying and making explicit the distinction between attempted and successful avoidance in future operational definitions. # 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Avoidance; Control strategies; Trauma; Distress; PTSD 1. Introduction The evidence regarding the question of whether avoidance following traumatic or other stress- ful life events is adaptive or maladaptive is mixed. For example, Perry, Difede, Musngi, Frances, and Jacobsberg (1992) found that severity of avoidant thoughts at 6 months post trauma 0191-8869/02/$ - see front matter # 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S0191-8869(01)00200-8 Personality and Individual Differences 33 (2002) 897–907 www.elsevier.com/locate/paid * Corresponding author. Fax: +44-1206-873590. E-mail address: landre@essex.ac.uk (L. Andrews).