COGNITIVE BALANCE AND SPECIFICITY IN ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION

States of mind (SOM) theory holds that distress is a function of the S OM ratio of (positive) to (positive + negative) thoughts. We investiga ted (a) whether symptoms of depression and anxiety would be uniquely a ssociated with SOM ratios derived from theoretically depression-specif ic or anxiety-specific cognition measures, and (b) what is unhealthy a bout SOMs that are more positive than the theoretically optimal range. Study 1 involved the development of a measure of positive anxiety-rel ated thoughts. Study 2 indicated that SOMs based on depression-related cognitions explained more variance in depressive symptoms than did SO Ms based on anxiety-related cognitions. Specificity was less evident f or anxiety-relevant thoughts. ''Excessively'' positive thinking was no t found to be dysfunctional.