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-yearsold)
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.