Article
Reference
Impulsivity and intrusive thoughts: Related manifestations of
self-control difficulties?
GAY, Philippe, SCHMIDT, Ralph Erich, VAN DER LINDEN, Martial
Abstract
Impulsive behaviors and intrusive thoughts are prominent in psychopathology. Two studies
were conducted to explore their relationships. In Study 1, 250 participants completed the
UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale and the Thought Control Ability Questionnaire (TCAQ). In
Study 2 involving a sample of 97 female students, the relations between impulsivity and
different types of thought control difficulties were examined. Both negative urgency and lack of
perseverance were significantly related to the tendency to experience intrusive thoughts as
measured by the TCAQ, the Penn State Worry Questionnaire, the obsessing subscale of the
Obsessive–Compulsive Inventory-Revised, and an intrusion subscale of the White Bear
Suppression Inventory. Regression analyses revealed that negative urgency and lack of
perseverance independently contributed to worries and thought control difficulties and that
negative urgency was the strongest predictor of all types of intrusions. On the basis of these
findings, the authors discuss cognitive processes and content that may be related the different
facets of impulsivity.
GAY, Philippe, SCHMIDT, Ralph Erich, VAN DER LINDEN, Martial. Impulsivity and intrusive
thoughts: Related manifestations of self-control difficulties? Cognitive therapy and research,
2011, vol. 35, no. 4, p. 293-303
DOI : 10.1007/s10608-010-9317-z
Available at:
http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:29361
Disclaimer: layout of this document may differ from the published version.
1 / 1
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Impulsivity and Intrusive Thoughts: Related Manifestations
of Self-Control Difficulties?
Philippe Gay
•
Ralph E. Schmidt
•
Martial Van der Linden
Published online: 15 May 2010
Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010
Abstract Impulsive behaviors and intrusive thoughts are
prominent in psychopathology. Two studies were con-
ducted to explore their relationships. In Study 1, 250 par-
ticipants completed the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale
and the Thought Control Ability Questionnaire (TCAQ). In
Study 2 involving a sample of 97 female students, the
relations between impulsivity and different types of
thought control difficulties were examined. Both negative
urgency and lack of perseverance were significantly related
to the tendency to experience intrusive thoughts as mea-
sured by the TCAQ, the Penn State Worry Questionnaire,
the obsessing subscale of the Obsessive–Compulsive
Inventory-Revised, and an intrusion subscale of the White
Bear Suppression Inventory. Regression analyses revealed
that negative urgency and lack of perseverance indepen-
dently contributed to worries and thought control difficul-
ties and that negative urgency was the strongest predictor
of all types of intrusions. On the basis of these findings, the
authors discuss cognitive processes and content that may
be related the different facets of impulsivity.
Keywords Impulsivity Thought suppression
Intrusion Worry Self-control
Introduction
Self-control can broadly be defined as the ability to regu-
late one’s thoughts, emotions, impulses, and behavior
(Baumeister and Vohs 2007). Difficulties with self-control
are a typical feature of individuals showing a high level of
impulsivity (Whiteside and Lynam 2001). These difficul-
ties comprise cognitive distractibility, emotional instabil-
ity, and behavior that is poorly conceived, prematurely
expressed, unduly risky, or inappropriate to the situation
and often resulting in undesirable outcomes (Daruna and
Barnes 1993; Evenden 1999). Impulsivity-driven self-reg-
ulation problems have been associated with a wide range of
problematic behaviors and pathological states, such as
borderline personality disorder (Miller et al. 2003; White-
side and Lynam 2001; Whiteside et al. 2005), risky
behaviors (Cyders et al. 2007; Miller et al. 2003; Smith
et al. 2007), craving for alcohol (Cyders et al. 2007) and
tobacco (Billieux et al. 2007), and obsessive–compulsive
disorder (OCD) (Ettelt et al. 2007; Li and Chen 2007).
Intrusive thoughts are also typically viewed as an
expression of lack in self-control (Baumeister and Vohs
2007). Intrusions can be defined in terms of processes
(unintended, difficult to control, often interrupting the
ongoing activity) and content (generally associated with
negative affect) (Clark and Purdon 1995). For example,
even if worries and obsessions share some similarities,
these two types of unwanted intrusive thoughts may be
distinguished both in terms of processes (e.g., when com-
pared with worries, obsessions are more spontaneous,
quick and unwanted) and content (e.g., when compared
with obsessions, worries are more ego-syntonic and related
to everyday life concerns) (Clark and Rhyno 2005; Julien
et al. 2007; Langlois et al. 2000; Turner et al. 1992; Wells
and Morrison 1994). The experience of unwanted intrusive
P. Gay (&) R. E. Schmidt M. Van der Linden
Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva,
Rue des Battoirs 7, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
e-mail: Philippe.Gay@unige.ch
P. Gay R. E. Schmidt M. Van der Linden
Cognitive Psychopathology and Neuropsychology Unit,
Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, Boulevard
du Pont d’Arve 40, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
123
Cogn Ther Res (2011) 35:293–303
DOI 10.1007/s10608-010-9317-z
thoughts represents a common thread running through a
large number of psychopathological states, for example,
anxiety disorders (e.g., generalized anxiety disorder, spe-
cific phobia, OCD, post-traumatic stress disorder), insom-
nia, and some forms of depression and psychotic states
(Clark and Rhyno 2005; Julien et al. 2007; Nolen-Hoek-
sema 2000; Rassin 2005).
Despite the evident commonalities between impulsivity
and intrusive thoughts, their mutual relations have rarely
been examined in previous research, and the few studies that
have done so produced somewhat equivocal evidence.
Nagtegaal and Rassin (2004), for example, examined the
relations between impulsivity, thought suppression and
intrusions in a Dutch student sample. In order to capture a
wide range of impulsivity-related traits, these authors used
three different measures: a preliminary version of the 11th
revision of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11a, Barratt
1994), the clinical scale Hypomania from the Minnesota
Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2, Butcher
et al. 1989), and three subscales (impulsiveness, risk-taking,
and sensation-seeking) from the Eysenck Personality Pro-
filer (EPP, Eysenck et al. 1996). Thought suppression and
intrusions were evaluated by means of the Dutch version of
the White Bear Suppression Inventory (WBSI, Wegner and
Zanakos 1994), which falls into a ‘‘thought suppression’’ and
an ‘‘unwanted intrusive thoughts’’ subscale (Muris et al.
1996; Rassin 2003). Contrary to expectations, the authors
did not find any significant relations between the dif-
ferent measures of impulsivity, thought suppression, and
intrusions.
More recently, Aidman and Kollaras-Mitsinikos (2006)
conducted a study with a sample of outpatients from a
trauma unit and found a positive correlation between the
impulsiveness score of the I
7
Impulsiveness–Venture-
someness–Empathy questionnaire (Eysenck et al. 1985) and
post-traumatic stress intrusion symptoms but not avoidance
symptoms as measured by the Impact of Event Scale
(Horowitz et al. 1979). In a study involving OCD patients,
Ettelt et al. (2007) also obtained evidence for a link between
impulsivity and specific types of intrusive thoughts: Cog-
nitive impulsiveness, as measured by the latest version of
the BIS-11 (Patton et al. 1995), turned out to be positively
correlated with aggressive thoughts, aggressive impulses,
and checking symptoms as assessed by the Padua Inventory
(Sanavio 1988). Finally, in a study involving a large non-
clinical sample of adolescents, Li and Chen (2007) found
that the Maudsley Obsessive–Compulsive Inventory
(Hodgson and Rachman 1977) factor ‘‘doubt and intrusive
thoughts’’ correlated positively with the Chinese BIS-11
factor ‘‘lack of perseverance and self-control’’, whereas the
factors ‘‘inability to plan and look ahead’’ and ‘‘novelty-
seeking and acting without thinking’’ were unrelated to the
occurrence of intrusive thoughts. When conducting separate
analyses for men and women, it turned out that the asso-
ciation between lack of perseverance and intrusive thoughts
only held for the former.
One reason for the complexity of the overall picture of
results certainly resides in the fact that the umbrella term of
‘‘impulsivity’’ refers to various facets of personality and
processes that are distinctly related to intrusive thoughts. A
further complication arises from the fact that the mentioned
studies all employed traditional measures of impulsivity,
which capture the different facets of this construct in partly
inconsistent ways. In an attempt to develop a comprehensive
model of impulsivity that allows to overcome inconsisten-
cies between existing approaches, Whiteside and Lynam
(2001) devised the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale which
measures four dimensions of impulsivity: (1) negative
urgency, defined as the tendency to act rashly, especially
in situations of intense negative affect; (2) premeditation,
defined as the tendency to plan and to consider the conse-
quences of an act before engaging in it; (3) perseverance,
defined as the ability to remain focused on a task that may be
boring or difficult; and (4) sensation seeking, defined as the
tendency to enjoy and pursue activities that are exciting, and
openness to trying new experiences.
Using the UPPS approach to impulsivity, recent studies
have provided some evidence for links between negative
urgency, lack of perseverance, and intrusive thoughts. In an
adolescent sample, d’Acremont and Van der Linden (2007)
showed that inappropriate emotion regulation strategies
such as rumination and self-blame were correlated with
negative urgency. In an investigation of sleep disturbances
in a student population, Schmidt et al. (2008b) found that
negative urgency and lack of perseverance were related to
insomnia severity. Critically, however, only negative
urgency was associated with the frequency of intrusive
thoughts and images during the presleep period. A medi-
ation analysis revealed that the effect of negative urgency
on insomnia severity was partially mediated by the expe-
rience of intrusions when trying to fall asleep. These results
have been replicated with bedtime counterfactual thoughts
such as regrets, shame or guilt (Schmidt and Van der
Linden 2009). In another study (Schmidt et al. 2010), both
lack of perseverance and negative urgency related to the
thought-control strategies of worry and thought suppres-
sion, which mediated the effects of these two facets of
impulsivity on sleep problems. More directly related to the
present study, an investigation of obsessive and compulsive
tendencies in a student population (Zermatten and Van der
Linden 2008) found that both negative urgency and lack of
perseverance were linked to obsessive thoughts. Finally, in
yet another study, lower perseverance was related to higher
proneness toward mind-wandering as assessed by the
number of prompted task-unrelated thoughts during a
9-min task (Gay et al. 2008b).
294 Cogn Ther Res (2011) 35:293–303
123
Here we report the results of two studies that were con-
ducted to more precisely explore the relations between the
different facets of impulsivity and clinically relevant forms
of intrusive thoughts. In light of the previously reviewed
literature, our general hypothesis was that two facets of
impulsivity, namely, negative urgency and lack of perse-
verance, would be specifically related to clinically relevant
forms of intrusive thoughts. Both impulsivity (e.g., Gay et al.
2008b) and intrusive thoughts (e.g., Friedman and Miyake
2004) are hypothesized to reflect poor executive control
(e.g., weak inhibition). A better understanding of the rela-
tions between impulsivity and intrusions is of particular
interest given the great number of psychopathological states
that include one or both of these aspects of self-control
problems. More precisely, it is important to better understand
the degree to which impulsive behavior may entail intrusive
thoughts about one’s own lack of control, and, conversely,
the degree to which intrusions may fuel impulsive behavior.
Study 1
The first study sought to explore the relations between the
different facets of impulsivity and perceived ability to
control unwanted, intrusive thoughts. To this end, the
UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale (Whiteside and Lynam
2001) and the Thought Control Ability Questionnaire
(TCAQ, Luciano et al. 2005) were administered to a stu-
dent sample. The TCAQ has a clear and valid one-
dimensional structure and captures previously neglected
aspects of mental control that are involved in a number of
psychopathological symptoms.
Method
Participants
Two hundred and fifty first-year students (168 women and
81 men, one participant did not report gender) from the
Faculties of Economics and Social Sciences and of
Psychology and Educational Sciences at the University of
Geneva completed the questionnaires described hereafter.
Their mean age was 23.52 years (SD = 5.82; range =
16–49; 4 participants did not report their age).
Measures
UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale (Whiteside and Lynam
2001; French Version: Van der Linden et al. 2006)
This questionnaire contains 45 items that are rated on a
4-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (agree strongly)to4
(disagree strongly). The UPPS comprises four subscales
corresponding to the four distinct, yet related, facets of
impulsivity as defined by Whiteside and Lynam: (1) neg-
ative urgency (12 items; e.g., ‘‘When I feel rejected, I will
often say things I later regret’’); (2) lack of premeditation
(11 items; e.g., ‘‘I usually make up my mind through
careful reasoning’’); (3) lack of perseverance (10 items;
e.g., ‘‘I finish what I start’’); and (4) sensation seeking (12
items; e.g., ‘‘I’ll try anything once’’). For each facet, higher
scores indicate a higher level of impulsivity.
Thought Control Ability Questionnaire (TCAQ, Luciano
et al. 2005; French Version: Gay et al. 2008a)
This one-dimensional questionnaire contains 25 items (e.g.,
‘‘It is very easy for me to stop having certain thoughts’’;
‘‘I manage to have control over my thoughts even when
under stress’’). They are answered on a 5-point Likert scale
ranging from A (strongly disagree = 1) to E (strongly
agree = 5). Higher scores reflect better perceived control
over thoughts and emotions. The French version of the
TCAQ (which possesses good internal consistency, high
reliability, and fits with a one-dimensional model of thought
control ability) consists of only 23 items because two ori-
ginal items that capture ‘‘action control’’ (rather than
thought control) proved psychometrically problematic.
Results
Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were .82 for negative
urgency, .85 for lack of premeditation, .83 for lack of per-
severance, .84 for sensation seeking, and .91 for the TCAQ.
Pearson correlations between the four facets of impulsivity
and perceived thought control ability are reported in
Table 1, for both genders combined, as well as for each of
them separately. When considering the whole sample
(N = 250), thought control ability was, as predicted, neg-
atively related to two facets of impulsivity, namely, nega-
tive urgency and lack of perseverance: The coefficients
indicate a large correlation for negative urgency and a
smaller but significant correlation for lack of perseverance.
Unexpectedly, sensation seeking was positively related to
thought control ability. In contrast, lack of premeditation
was not related to mental control ability. These results
corroborate previous findings suggesting that impulsivity is
associated with difficulties in controlling unwanted, intru-
sive thoughts (e.g., Aidman and Kollaras-Mitsinikos 2006
;
Li and Chen 2007; Schmidt et al. 2008b; Schmidt and Van
der Linden 2009). More specifically, our findings indicate,
in accord with Schmidt et al. (2010), that two facets of
impulsivity (negative urgency and lack of perseverance) are
associated with thought-control difficulties, whereas this is
Cogn Ther Res (2011) 35:293–303 295
123
not the case of the two other facets of impulsivity (lack of
premeditation and sensation seeking). In fact, sensation
seeking seems to be related to better thought-control ability.
Separate analyses for men (n = 81) and women
(n = 168) revealed that for the former, only negative
urgency was related to thought-control ability; for the lat-
ter, all three mentioned relations remained significant, the
link with lack of perseverance being even stronger than it
was in the whole sample. Thus, contrary to the results
obtained by Li and Chen (2007) showing that the relation
between lack of perseverance and intrusive thoughts only
held for men, the association between thought-control
ability and lack of perseverance was significant only for
women. This difference may be due to age differences
(Li and Cheng’s participants were 17 years old), cultural
differences, or the use of different questionnaires to assess
impulsivity and intrusive thoughts. Specifically, lack of
perseverance as assessed by the UPPS may be more closely
related to intrusive thoughts in women because women
have generally been found to be more concerned about
their performance (e.g., Huan et al. 2008) and may there-
fore experience more intrusions about unfinished tasks than
do men. Alternatively, the difference between men and
women in our study may be due to the different size of the
subsamples (81 men vs. 168 women).
In sum, the findings from Study 1 suggest that negative
urgency and, to a lesser degree, lack of perseverance are
associated with difficulties in controlling unwanted, intru-
sive thoughts. Furthermore, the results indicate that the ties
between lack of perseverance and thought-control ability
are closer for women than for men.
Study 2
The aim of the second study was to better understand the
relationships between different forms of intrusive thoughts
(e.g., presence of worries, obsessions), suppression
attempts, and the four facets of impulsivity. Obsessions are
often viewed as an extreme variant of unwanted intrusive
thoughts. When compared with the more ubiquitous
experience of worrying, which essentially involves anxious
repetitive thoughts about possible future threats, obsessions
have been described as being more frequent, interfering,
distressing and uncontrollable, as well as eliciting stronger
resistance and more feelings of guilt (Clark and Rhyno
2005). Interestingly, in a direct comparison of these two
types of intrusions in a student sample, Wells and Morrison
(1994) reported that worries and obsessions did not differ
in the extent to which they were resisted, in the degree of
intrusiveness, or in perceived uncontrollability. However,
when compared with worries, obsessions were rated as
being shorter in duration, more involuntary, involving
predominantly imagery rather than verbal material and,
astonishingly, a less pronounced compulsion to act.
Langlois et al. (2000) also found that worries and obses-
sions elicited the same degree of resistance and that, by
comparison, obsessions were of shorter duration, more
unwanted, less interfering, and more often experienced as
images rather than in verbal form. Moreover, obsessions
were comparatively more egodystonic and less frequent.
However, when frequency was controlled for, obsessions
and worries did not differ in terms of intrusiveness, atten-
tion/distraction, control, resistance, and disapproval.
According to Whiteside and Lynam (2001, p. 685),
negative urgency refers to weak self-control in the sense of
difficulties in resisting things we do not want to do (related
to impulsiveness as defined by Costa and McCrae 1992),
whereas lack of perseverance reflects weak self-control in
the sense of difficulties in doing things we really want to
do (related to auto-discipline as defined by Costa and
McCrae). This difference informed our hypotheses
regarding the relations between impulsivity and different
types of intrusive thoughts. Specifically, we surmised that
the egodystonic nature of obsessions, which clearly dis-
tinguishes them from worries (e.g., Langlois et al. 2000),
would relate to problems of ‘‘resisting to do unwanted
things’’ behind the construct of negative urgency. In con-
trast, we predicted that worries would relate to both neg-
ative urgency (worries about unwanted outcomes) and lack
of perseverance (worries about unattained outcomes).
Finally, in view of previous findings relating thought sup-
pression to worry and obsession (for reviews, see Rassin
2005; Wenzlaff and Wegner 2000) but not to self-report
Table 1 Pearson’s correlations between the TCAQ and UPPS scales
Facets of impulsivity
Urgency Lack of premeditation Lack of perseverance Sensation seeking
TCAQ All (N = 250) -.53
a
(-.61 -.43) .03 (-.10 .15) -.20
a
(-.32 -.08) .27
a
(.15 .38)
TCAQ Males (n = 81) -.49
a
(-.64 -.31) .05 (-.17 .27) -.13 (-.34 .09) .19 (-.03 .39)
TCAQ Females (n = 168) -.51
a
(-.61 -.39) .05 (-.10 .20) -.28
a
(-.42 -.14) .20
a
(.05 .34)
Note. TCAQ = Thought Control Ability Questionnaire
a
0 Not included in the 95% confidence interval
296 Cogn Ther Res (2011) 35:293–303
123
