Anxiety sensitivity, catastrophic misinterpretations and panic self-efficacy in the prediction of panic disorder severity: towards a tripartite cognitive model of panic disorder.

The present study examined the contribution of three main cognitive factors (i.e., anxiety sensitivity, catastrophic misinterpretations of bodily symptoms, and panic self-efficacy) in predicting panic disorder (PD) severity in a sample of patients with a principal diagnosis of panic disorder. It was hypothesized that anxiety sensitivity (AS), catastrophic misinterpretation of bodily sensations, and panic self-efficacy are uniquely related to panic disorder severity. One hundred and sixty-eight participants completed measures of AS, catastrophic misinterpretations of panic-like sensations, and panic self-efficacy prior to receiving treatment. Results of multiple linear regression analyses indicated that AS, catastrophic misinterpretations and panic self-efficacy independently predicted panic disorder severity. Results of path analyses indicated that AS was direct and indirectly (mediated by catastrophic misinterpretations) related with panic severity. Results provide evidence for a tripartite cognitive account of panic disorder.

Depresión y memoria: ¿Es la información congruente con el estado de ánimo más accesible? / Depression and memory: Is mood-congruent information more accesible?

La teoría de red semántica de la emoción y la memoria de Bower (1981) postula que el estado de ánimo depresivo incrementa la activación y accesibilidad de las cogniciones negativas previamente asociadas al estado de ánimo. Sin embargo, recientemente Teasdale y colaboradores (e.g., Teasdale y Barnard, 1993) han sugerido que los "sesgos" cognitivos asociados a los estados de ánimo depresivos serían productos de cambios a nivel de los modelos mentales utilizados por estos individuos para procedimientos mediante la utilización del paradigma clásico de congruencia. Los resultados obtenidos confirman las predicciones basadas en el modelo de la red asociativa de Bower (1981) (AU)

Bower’s (1981) associative network theory of mood and memory suggests that depressed mood selectively increases the activation or accessibility of all negative cognitions previously associated with depressed mood. However, in their Interacting Cognitive Subsystems theory, Teasdale and colleagues (e.g., Teasdale y Barnard, 1993) suggest that negative depressive thinking reflects changes, with depression, in the schematic mental models through which information is processed, rather than from changes in the accessibility of cognitive constructs. The aim of the present experiment was to explore the predictions derived from both accounts. The results obtained in this study confirm the predictions based on Bower’s(1981) associative network theory. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed (AU)