Searching for Specificity Between Cognitive Vulnerabilities and Mood and Anxiety Symptoms

Using two large nonclinical samples (N = 725), relations between five targeted cognitive variables intolerance of uncertainty, negative problem orientation, perfectionism/certainty, responsibility/threat estimation, and importance/control of thoughts] and mood depression] and anxiety social anxiety, generalized anxiety, and obsessive–compulsive] symptoms were examined. Analyses provided multiple levels of specificity, including zero-order correlations, partial correlations controlling for the effects of positive and negative affect, regression analyses, and hierarchical structural modeling. Results were that (a) intolerance of uncertainty showed relative specificity to anxiety versus depression symptoms and (b) negative problem orientation was common to mood and anxiety symptoms. Although certain analyses suggested that (c) perfectionism/certainty specifically predicted generalized anxiety and (d) both responsibility/threat estimation and importance/control of thoughts were unique predictors of obsessive–compulsive symptoms, these three cognitive variables inconsistently predicted symptom scores across the two studies. Conceptual and therapeutic implications are discussed.