Cognitive processes associated with emotional disorders: implications for efficient psychological treatments

Abstract

Background

Emotional disorders (EDs) are the most prevalent worldwide. Despite psychotherapies are their treatment of choice, there are difficulties to apply them properly in mental health services. Since literature shows that cognitive processes are associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms, more information is needed in order to improve psychological treatments.

Aims

To determine the relation between cognitive factors with specific and non-specific ED symptoms in order to promote the development of accurate psychological treatments.

Methods

We analyzed the relation between rumination, worry, and metacognition with generalized anxiety, panic, and depression disorder symptoms from a clinical sample of 116 individuals through correlation and linear regression analyses.

Results

Although each specific disorder had a closer link with a particular cognitive process, all general ED symptoms were associated with the three cognitive factors studied.

Conclusions

For “pure” disorders, targeting a concrete cognitive process might be an optimal therapeutic option. However, due to the high comorbidity among EDs, we support the dissemination of the transdiagnostic treatment approach in which all cognitive factors are taken into account.

Keywords:

• Emotional disorders
• anxiety
• depression
• cognitive processes
• psychological treatments
• transdiagnostic

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).