New research published: How unhelpful thinking affects psychological distress

Web Page Updated on 29^th July 2025

We’re pleased to share that one of our team members has published new research exploring how unhelpful thinking patterns contribute to psychological distress, particularly in people with certain personality traits.  

The research article was published by Better Place Australia team member, Ronan Galloghly, along with Pragalathan Apputhurai and Simon Knowles. 

Here’s a short summary of the findings: 

The study looked at how certain unhealthy ways of thinking might contribute to people feeling distressed or emotionally unwell, especially when they also have personality traits that make coping with life more difficult. The researchers wanted to understand how these negative thinking patterns—like being overly self-critical or pessimistic—might play a role in the connection between personality and psychological distress. 

Over 700 psychology students took part in the study by completing an online questionnaire. The results showed that people who had more unhelpful personality traits (like being very negative or emotionally distant) were also more likely to have unhelpful thoughts and feel distressed. These thinking patterns partly explained the link between personality and distress. 

The takeaway? The way people think about themselves and the world around them can partly explain why certain personality traits are linked to feeling emotionally unwell. This highlights the importance of addressing negative thinking in therapy—but also suggests that more research is needed to find other factors that might be involved. 

Read the full article in Current Psychology.