Fig. 1: An overview of PCA-derived dimensional structure of ongoing thought, mean rating on each thought item, and measures of affective states and alexithymia traits (N = 190 participants).

A Word clouds visualising the thought item loadings for the 4 thought patterns identified using PCA: future-self (Component 1), intrusive distraction (Component 2), sensory engagement (Component 3), and task-focus (Component 4). Words in red indicate positive loadings, and negative loadings are in blue. Font size reflects the item loading magnitude. B Boxplots and violin plots showing the distribution of MDES scores for each dimension of thought. Scores could range from 0 (not at all) to 10 (completely). C Histograms showing the distribution of ratings on Valence, Arousal, and Stress (0-10 scale), with Valence rated from “very sad” to “very happy”. D Boxplots showing the distribution of scores on the three TAS-20 subscales representing different core facets of alexithymia: DIF (Difficulty Identifying Feelings), DDF (Difficulty Describing Feelings), and EOT (Externally Oriented Thinking). E Correlation matrix showing Pearson’s correlation coefficients between TAS-20 measures of alexithymia traits (TAS-total, TAS-DIF, TAS-DDF, TAS-EOT) and baseline distress as indexed by DASS scores (DASS = Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale). The strength and direction of correlations are indicated by size and colour, with numerical values representing exact coefficients. Note: For all boxplots, boxes show the median and interquartile range (IQR), and whiskers extend to 1.5× IQR.