Cognitive mediation in general psychiatric outpatients: a test of the content-specificity hypothesis

We investigated the degree of content specificity evident in the negative cognitions associated with anxiety and depression in two large samples of general psychiatric outpatients. Standardized measures of affect and cognition were analyzed in a multiple regression design. As predicted by Beck's (1967, 1976, 1987) cognitive theory of psychopathology, thoughts of loss and failure were specifically associated with depression, whereas cognitions of harm and danger were uniquely predictive of anxiety. In addition, hopelessness was specific to depression and not to anxiety. Dysfunctional beliefs showed no consistent association with either mood state. The implication of these results, as well as related findings, is discussed in terms of a cognitive perspective on the differentiation of emotional disorders. Also discussed are the methodological difficulties encountered in research on cognitive-affective relationships.