Me, myself, and I: self-referent word use as an indicator of self-focused attention in relation to @entity308 and XXXX .

@entity1 @entity308 @entity1278 @entity148 @entity2483
UNASSIGNED: Self-focused attention (SFA) is considered a cognitive bias that is closely related to @entity308 . However, it is not yet well understood whether it represents a disorder-specific or a trans-diagnostic phenomenon and which role the valence of a given context is playing in this regard. Computerized quantitative text-analysis offers an integrative psycho-linguistic approach that may help to provide new insights into these complex relationships. The relative frequency of first- @entity1 singular pronouns in natural language is regarded as an objective, linguistic marker of SFA. Here we present two studies that examined the associations between SFA and symptoms of @entity308 and @entity148 in two different contexts (positive vs. negative valence), as well as the convergence between pronoun-use and self-reported aspects of SFA. In the first study, we found that the use of first- @entity1 singular pronouns during negative but not during positive memory recall was positively related to symptoms of @entity308 and @entity148 in @entity1 with @entity1278 with varying levels of co-morbid @entity308 and @entity148 . In the second study, we found the same pattern of results in non- @entity308 individuals. In addition, use of first- @entity1 singular pronouns during negative memory recall was positively related to brooding (i.e., the assumed @entity2483 ) but not to reflection. These findings could not be replicated in two samples of @entity308 @entity1 . However, non-chronically @entity308 @entity1 used more first- @entity1 singular pronouns than healthy controls, irrespective of context. Taken together, the findings lend partial support to theoretical models that emphasize the effects of context on self-focus and consider SFA as a relevant trans-diagnostic phenomenon. In addition, the present findings point to the construct validity of pronoun-use as a linguistic marker of maladaptive self-focus.
