Investigation of Cognitive Distortions in Panic Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Social Anxiety Disorder

The aim of this study was to determine the main cognitive distortions observed in panic disorder (PD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD) and to investigate the impact of cognitive distortions on diagnoses, depression levels, disorder type and severity of anxiety. This study consisted of 150 clinical (50 PD, 50 GAD, 50 SAD) and 91 healthy control participants. A sociodemographic data form, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale (DAS), the Cognitive Distortions Scale (CDS) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scales were administered to all participants. It was found that cognitive distortions were higher in individuals with PD, GAD and SAD. The PD, SAD and GAD groups were similar for "catastrophizing", "mindreading", "all or nothing thinking", "overgeneralization", "should statements" and "emotional reasoning". "Personalization", "labeling" and "minimizing or disqualifying the positive" were observed at a higher severity in the SAD group compared to the PD group, and "mental filter" was observed at a higher severity in the GAD group compared to the PD group. Our findings emphasize the need to address cognitive distortions in PD, GAD and SAD treatment. The evaluation of cognitive distortions specific to anxiety disorders is significant in guiding therapy goals and pioneering new research.

The interactive effects of family violence and peer support on adolescent depressive symptoms: The mediating role of cognitive vulnerabilities

BACKGROUND

Family violence as an inducing factor of depressive symptoms has been confirmed in previous studies. However, the mechanisms underlying this association are not well understood, particularly in Chinese adolescents. Guided by the social-ecological diathesis-stress model, this three-wave longitudinal study aimed to examine the effects of an individual's cognitive vulnerabilities (rejection-sensitivity anxiety and negative cognitive error) and positive societal contexts (peer support) on the link between family violence and depressive symptoms in Chinese society.

METHODS

A total of 859 Chinese adolescents (44.35 % female; M_age = 12.73, SD = 0.43 at baseline) completed self-reporting surveys that assessed variables associated with study and peer-nominated peer support.

RESULTS

The results showed that family violence increased the incidence of depressive symptoms in adolescents after two years, resulting in rejection-sensitivity anxiety and negative cognitive error. Surprisingly, higher self-reported peer support, although not peer-nominated support, exacerbated rather than mitigated this indirect effect, supporting the reverse stress-buffering model and extending the healthy context paradox.

LIMITATIONS

Most of the measures were based on participants' self-reports.

CONCLUSIONS

These results emphasize the importance of individual cognition and societal contexts in adolescents with traumatic experiences and provide empirical evidence for the intervention and clinical treatment of depressive symptoms.

Propiedades psicométricas del Children's Negative Cognitive Error Questionnaire en población española adolescente y joven

El objetivo de este estudio era analizar las propiedades psicométricas de la versión española del Children’s Negative Cognitive Errors Questionnaire (CNCEQ) en una muestra de población joven. El CNCEQ es uno de los procedimientos de autoinforme más utilizados para medir cuatro tipos de distorsión cognitiva (pensamiento catastrófico, sobregeneralización, personalización y abstracción selectiva) en tres áreas de contenido (social, académica y deportiva). A pesar de ello, no existen estudios que analicen las propiedades del instrumento entre los jóvenes. El estudio utilizó una amplia muestra (N = 2040; entre 12 y 22 años; 50,7% hombres y 47,3% mujeres) de diferentes centros educativos. La validez de constructo se evaluó mediante un análisis factorial exploratorio, y la consistencia interna mediante el coeficiente alfa de Cronbach. También se realizaron contrastes de medias para evaluar la validez discriminante y se llevó a cabo un análisis de correlación y regresión para explorar la validez de criterio. Los resultados indican que el CNCEQ permite evaluar las distorsiones cognitivas autodegradantes entre los jóvenes con suficientes garantías psicométricas. Su uso por parte de los profesores les permitirá adaptar sus actividades para tener en cuenta la presencia de distorsiones cognitivas entre sus estudiantes.

Revision and psychometric properties of the negative cognitive processing bias scale

Negative cognitive processing bias (NCPB) is a cognitive trait that makes individuals more inclined to prioritize negative external stimuli (cues) when processing information. Cognitive biases have long been observed in mood and anxiety disorders, improving validation of tools to measure this phenomenon will aid us to determine whether there is a robust relationship between NCPB and major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders and other clinical disorders. Despite the development of an initial measure of this trait, that is, the negative cognitive processing bias questionnaire (NCPBQ), the lack of psychometric examinations and applications in large-scale samples hinders the determination of its reliability and validity and further limits our understanding of how to measure the NCPB traits of individuals accurately. To address these issues, the current study evaluated the psychometric properties of the NCPBQ in a large-scale sample (n = 6,069), which was divided into two subsamples (Subsample 1, n = 3,035, serving as the exploratory subsample, and Subsample 2, n = 3,034, serving as the validation subsample), and further revised it into a standardized scale, that is the negative cognitive processing bias scale (NCPBS), based on psychometric constructs. The results show that NCPBS possesses good construct reliability, internally consistent reliability, and test-retest reliability. Furthermore, by removing two original items from NCPBQ, NCPBS was found to have good criterion-related validity. In conclusion, the present study provides a reliable and valid scale for assessing negative cognitive processing bias of individuals.

Associations between cognitive errors and mental health status in New Zealand adolescents

BACKGROUND

Cognitive models of psychopathology suggest that negatively biased thinking styles are involved in the development and maintenance of emotional disturbances.

AIMS

The present study examined the relationships between negative cognitive errors and indices of mental health status (i.e. anxiety and depression) in New Zealand adolescents.

METHOD

A community sample of 490 youth aged 16-18 years completed an anonymous online survey consisting of the Children's Negative Cognitive Error Questionnaire (CNCEQ), the Trait subscale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-T) and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D).

RESULTS

Negative cognitive errors correlated positively with greater levels of anxious and depressive symptoms. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that overall cognitive error score was a strong predictor of adolescents' self-reported anxious symptoms and, to a lesser extent, depressive symptoms. Moreover, cognitive errors significantly differentiated between adolescents with high scores from adolescents with low scores on both the anxiety (STAI-T) and the depression (CES-D) scales.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings lend support to the generalizability of Beck's cognitive theory to a New Zealand adolescent population and highlight the importance of focusing on prevention and early intervention programmes that directly target these faulty or biased ways of thinking in adolescents with anxious and/or depressive symptoms before meeting diagnostic criteria.