Looming cognitive style (LCS), repetitive negative thinking (RNT), and anxiety: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Looming cognitive style (LCS) was proposed as a vulnerability and risk factor specific for anxiety disorders, which manifests itself through the overestimation of threat perception, as becoming more intense through space and time. Despite a large number of studies on the association of LCS with anxiety disorders, research on the mechanisms through which LCS influence anxiety are rather limited. Worry and rumination, on the other hand, are disorder-specific types of repetitive negative thinking (RNT), which is a transdiagnostic risk factor associated with different forms of psychological disorders including anxiety disorders. The mediator roles of worry and rumination, as two disorder-specific types of RNT, in the relationship of LCS with anxiety and depression are examined in the present study. Participants were 333 university students (243 female) with the mean age of 20.98 (SD=2.45). Participants were administered scales assessing LCS, disorder-specific repetitive negative thinking, anxiety, and depression. Results showed that both worry and brooding mediate the relationship of LCS with anxiety. But, although the mediating role of worry is attenuated, effect of brooding disappeared, when depression is controlled. Building on the previous studies, the results indicate that LCS is a vulnerability factor directly related to anxiety rather than depression. The reverse model based on the cascade model suggesting that worry is one of the mechanisms that is likely to explain the relationship between anxiety and LCS was not supported. Further, longitudinal research is required to obtain more clear results.