The Impact of Cognitive Distortions on Negative Social Comparisons and Depressive Symptoms: Six-Month Longitudinal Study

Date
2019-08
Authors
Iskric, Adam Joseph
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Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina
Abstract

Depression is a debilitating mental disorder associated with impairment in social, family, and educational functioning, along with higher rates of comorbid anxiety disorders, poorer physical health, and a decrease in overall quality of life. The predictive cognitive model of depression states that negative cognitions may increase the risk of developing depression. However, there remains a lack of longitudinal studies examining whether baseline negative cognitions predict follow-up levels of depression. Consistent with the cognitive theory of depression, biased interpretations of the external world may be associated with increased negative social comparisons among individuals with a vulnerability to depression, which may in turn exacerbate depressive symptoms. The concept of negative social comparisons has recently been expanded to include feelings of anger, envy, and resentment towards others, negative evaluative thoughts about the self, and beliefs about distributive injustice, collectively known as socio-emotional comparisons. There is a paucity of research on whether socio-emotional comparisons are a consequence of, or a cause of, depressive symptoms, and whether social comparisons are linked with negative cognitive processes (e.g., cognitive distortions) known to exacerbate depression. In this six-month longitudinal study, I investigated the relationships among cognitive distortions, socio-emotional comparisons, and depressive symptoms. Participants were recruited online, using the crowdsourcing platform Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. A total of 644, 468, and 391 participants were recruited at baseline, three months, and six months, respectively. All participants completed questionnaires assessing socio-emotional comparisons, cognitive distortions, and depressive symptoms at each assessment period. Results indicated that both cognitive distortions and socio-emotional comparisons at baseline were correlated with three-month and six-month depressive symptoms. However, neither cognitive distortions, nor socio-emotional comparisons, were significant predictors of three-month and six-month depressive symptoms after accounting for age, gender, and baseline depressive symptoms. Finally, three-month socio-emotional comparisons partially mediated the association between baseline cognitive distortions and six-month depressive symptoms, even after controlling for baseline depressive symptoms. The results of this study suggest that cognitive distortions and negative socio-emotional comparisons are both a byproduct of depressive thinking; however, continually heightened cognitive distortions may fuel socio-emotional comparisons, which may in turn act as a partial predictor for future depression regardless of severity of initial depressive symptoms.

Description
A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology, University of Regina. viii, 97 p.
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