IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANXIOUS AND DEPRESSIVE COGNITIONS AND SYMPTOMS LINEAR OR CURVILINEAR

Two studies are reported that investigated the relationship between an xious and depressive cognitions and symptoms in clinical and nonclinic al adult samples. In the first study the Cognitions Checklist (CCL), B eck Depression Inventory Beck Anxiety Inventory, and revised Hamilton Rating Scales of Anxiety and Depression were administered to 1,553 psy chiatric outpatients. Hierarchical polynomial regression analyses foun d only a linear component underlying most of the relationships among c ognition and symptom scales. In the second study, the CCL and measures of anxious and depressive symptoms were administered to 50 depressed psychiatric inpatients, 78 chronic medically ill patients, and 25 norm al controls. The relationships of cognitions and symptoms differed acr oss samples for both the clinical rating and self-report measures of s ymptoms. However the results supported a linear relationship between f requency of negative cognitions and severity of anxious or depressive symptoms in the depressed inpatient, and to a lesser extent, medical s amples.