Citation

Yu M, Xu W, Xie Q, Zhu Y, Chasson GS, Wang J. Scand. J. Psychol. 2017; 58(5): 351-358.

Affiliation

Capital Medical University, Beijing, PR China.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Scandinavian Psychological Associations, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/sjop.12373

PMID

28741702

Abstract

The main aim of the current study was to test the cognitive content-specificity hypothesis across internalizing and externalizing problems in Chinese adolescents. The participants consisted of 2,158 adolescents aged 11-19 years from three middle schools, and they completed a number of measures assessing a wide range of automatic thoughts and syndromes related to internalizing and externalizing problems. Multivariate regression analyses demonstrated that thoughts about social threats, personal failure and hostility were the strongest predictors of anxiety, depression, and externalizing problems, respectively. Age was a statistically significant, albeit modest, moderator of the relationship between automatic thoughts about social threat and anxiety. The current study provides support for the cognitive content-specificity hypothesis in internalizing and externalizing problems in a Chinese sample.

© 2017 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Language: en

Keywords

Chinese adolescents; Cognitive content-specificity hypothesis; age effects; automatic thoughts; internalizing and externalizing problems