ARTICLE Abstract and concrete repetitive thinking modes in alcohol-dependence Delphine Grynberg, PhD a , Philippe de Timary b,c,d , Pierre Philippot b , Fabien D’Hondt, PhD b , Yasmine Briane b , Faustine Devynck e ,C eline Douilliez e , Jo€ el Billieux b , Alexandre Heeren, PhD b,f , and Pierre Maurage b a University Lille, UMR 9193—SCALab—Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, Lille, France; b Laboratory for Experimental Psychopathology, Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Universit e Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; c Saint-Luc Academic Hospital, Brussels, Belgium; d Universit e Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium; e University Lille, EA 4072—PSITEC—Psychologie: Interactions Temps  Emotions Cognition, Lille, France; f Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA ABSTRACT Emotional and interpersonal deficits play a crucial role in alcohol-related disorders as they predict alcohol consumption and relapse. Recent models of emotion regulation in psychopathology postulate that these deficits are centrally related to increased abstract/analytic repetitive thinking, combined with reduced concrete/experiential repetitive thinking. As this assumption has not been tested in addictions, this study aimed at investigating repetitive thinking modes in a large sample of alcohol-dependent subjects. One hundred recently detoxified alcohol-dependent subjects (29 females; mean age D 49.51-years-old) recruited during the 3rd week of their treatment in a detoxification center were compared to 100 healthy controls (29 females; mean age D 48.51-years- old) recruited in the experimenters’ social network, matched at the group level for age, gender, and educational level. All participants completed the Mini Cambridge Exeter Repetitive Thought Scale measuring abstract/analytic and concrete/experiential repetitive thinking modes as well as complementary psychopathological measures (Beck Depression Inventory and State and Trait Anxiety Inventory). Alcohol-dependent individuals have similar levels of concrete repetitive thinking as controls but report significantly higher levels of abstract repetitive thinking (p < 0.001; d D 1.28). This effect remains significant after controlling for depression and anxiety. Relative to healthy controls, alcohol-dependent patients report more frequent use of abstract/analytic repetitive thinking, with preserved concrete/experiential thinking. Despite the cross-sectional nature of the study, frequent use of abstract repetitive thinking thus appears to constitute a main feature of alcohol-dependence. KEYWORDS Alcohol-dependence; repetitive thinking; abstract thinking mode; concrete thinking mode Introduction Alcohol-dependence is among the most widespread psychiatric disorders worldwide, 1 leading to strongly established cognitive deficits, 2 but also to a wide range of emotional 3 and interpersonal impairments. 4 These impairments should be considered as more than a mere side-effect of alcohol-dependence as they consti- tute one of the main relapse factors after mid-term abstinence. 5 Moreover, as increased alcohol consump- tion is conceptualized as a coping strategy to face emotional and interpersonal difficulties, 5,6 these deficits frequently initiate a vicious circle favoring the development and maintenance of alcohol-related disorders. 7 Beyond addiction, recent theoretical and empirical models focusing on emotional and interper- sonal deficits in psychopathology have pointed out that these deficits are frequently related to a high-level construal about self and mood (e.g., why a mood is experienced) and to reduced concreteness of thinking. 8,9 Indeed, two forms of repetitive thinking, respectively named abstract/analytic [AA] and concrete/experiential [CE], have been distinguished: 10 The AA repetitive thinking mode refers to the higher- level causes, meanings and implications of self-experi- ence. When confronted with adversity, this mode is likely to engender negative overgeneralization (e.g., I am always failing), known to increase the vulnerability toward emotional deficits. 11 AA consists in general, superordinate, and cross-situational thoughts which make individuals apprehend a situation in terms of “why” it occurred. 12 Conversely, CE repetitive think- ing mode refers to lower-level, specific, contextual, CONTACT Dr. Delphine Grynberg, PhD Delphine.Grynberg@univ-lille3.fr Domaine Universitaire du Pont de Bois, BP 149, Villeneuve d’Ascq 59653, France. © 2016 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC JOURNAL OF ADDICTIVE DISEASES http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10550887.2016.1207970