Negative Pathway of Wandering Minds: Serial Mediation Effect Between Mind Wandering and Internalising Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety

Abstract Abnormal self-referential processing, such as ruminating and worrying, has been shown to sustain internalising symptoms including depression and anxiety. However, examinations of the specific types of dysfunctional mind wanderings (MWs), which are real-time and fluctuating internally-oriented thoughts that trigger abnormal self-referential processing, and the cognitive processes that contribute to internalising symptoms have been limited. This study aimed to identify dysfunctional MWs associated with psychological symptoms by differentiating between intentionality and MW content. This study found that high-frequency intentional MW, particularly focused on past experiences or positive/neutral content, was not associated with internalising symptoms and led to lower levels of worry. The results indicate that rumination and worrying sequentially mediate the link between unintentional MW, which encompasses vague, future-oriented, and negative content and internalisation of symptoms. However, regarding negative unintentional MW and internalising symptoms, pathways in which worry alone served as a mediator were also observed along paths in which rumination and worry were sequentially mediated. This study’s results help us understand that individual traits of rumination and worry play distinct roles in abnormal self-referential processing, particularly within the realm of dysfunctional MW types and their involvement in symptom internalisation.