Relationships Between Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety and Dysfunctional Beliefs About Achievement and Attachment Article

Persons, JB, Burns, DD, Perloff, JM et al. (1993). Relationships Between Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety and Dysfunctional Beliefs About Achievement and Attachment . JOURNAL OF ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY, 102(4), 518-524. 10.1037/0021-843X.102.4.518

cited authors

  • Persons, JB; Burns, DD; Perloff, JM; Miranda, J

authors

abstract

  • Psychiatric outpatients (N = 293) provided data to test the symptom specificity and final common pathway hypotheses about symptoms of depression and anxiety. The symptom specificity hypothesis predicts that the symptoms reported by a depressed or anxious patient depend on the dysfunctional beliefs he or she endorses. In contrast, the final common pathway hypothesis predicts that symptoms are unrelated to the types of beliefs the patient endorses. These hypotheses were tested in the context of theories that emphasize the importance of dysfunctional beliefs about achievement and attachment. Only limited support for the symptom specificity hypothesis was obtained; support was strongest for the link between attachment beliefs and anxiety symptoms. Relationships between symptoms and dysfunctional beliefs did not depend on psychiatric diagnosis.

publication date

  • January 1, 1993

published in

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

start page

  • 518

end page

  • 524

volume

  • 102

issue

  • 4