Riskind John H, Tzur Dana, Williams Nathan L, Mann Brittany, Shahar Golan
Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA.
Behav Res Ther. 2007 Aug;45(8):1765-77. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2006.12.007. Epub 2007 Jan 4.
The looming cognitive style (LCS), an overarching cognitive vulnerability for anxiety syndromes, pertains to a tendency to construct dynamic expectations (mental scenarios, images) of negative events as progressively increasing in danger and rapidly escalating in risk. This study tested the hypothesis that the LCS has functions as a cognitive antecedent and moderator for even short-term changes over a brief time interval in anxiety syndromes (worry, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms, social anxiety, general anxiety) under restrictive methodological conditions. These included: (a) a one-week interval during which very little changes in anxiety were observed, and (b) controlling for participants' depression and intolerance of uncertainty. As hypothesized by our model, the looming cognitive style predicted short-term changes in worry and OCD symptoms over the week interval, and tended to predict changes in social (audience) anxiety. This style also functioned as a moderator and predicted changes in OCD symptoms among participants already high on this anxiety outcome. Intolerance of uncertainty predicted changes in social (audience) anxiety but not changes in OCD symptoms or worry. These findings support the looming vulnerability theory of anxiety, and encourage further attention into the possible role of the LCS as a cognitive antecedent and moderator of changes in a spectrum of anxiety syndromes.
隐约出现的认知风格（LCS）是焦虑综合征的一种总体认知易感性，它指的是一种构建负面事件动态预期（心理场景、图像）的倾向，即认为负面事件的危险程度会逐渐增加，风险会迅速升级。本研究检验了这样一个假设：在严格的方法学条件下，LCS作为一种认知前因和调节因素，即使在短时间间隔内，也会对焦虑综合征（担忧、强迫症（OCD）症状、社交焦虑、广泛性焦虑）的短期变化产生影响。这些条件包括：（a）一周的时间间隔，在此期间观察到焦虑几乎没有变化；（b）控制参与者的抑郁和对不确定性的不耐受。正如我们的模型所假设的，隐约出现的认知风格预测了一周时间间隔内担忧和OCD症状的短期变化，并倾向于预测社交（观众）焦虑的变化。这种风格还起到了调节作用，并预测了在这种焦虑结果已经很高的参与者中OCD症状的变化。对不确定性的不耐受预测了社交（观众）焦虑的变化，但没有预测OCD症状或担忧的变化。这些发现支持了焦虑的隐约易感性理论，并鼓励进一步关注LCS作为一系列焦虑综合征变化的认知前因和调节因素的可能作用。
