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Can Cognitive Distortions Differentiate between Internalising and Externalising Problems?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 1998

Patrick W. L. Leung  and
Maggie M. T. Wong
Patrick W. L. Leung
Affiliation:
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
Maggie M. T. Wong
Affiliation:
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
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Abstract

A community sample of 405 adolescents were given the Youth Self-Report Form (YSR) and the Children's Negative Cognitive Errors Questionnaire (CNCEQ). Both regression and group comparison analyses, using the full sample and a subset of extreme scorers, respectively, indicated that internalising problems were specifically associated with the various forms of cognitive distortions assessed, namely, selective abstraction, personalising, overgeneralisation, and catastrophising. Furthermore, they displayed a curvilinear relationship; as the severity of internalising problems increased, the magnitude of cognitive distortions grew positively at a quadratic rate, displaying a U-shaped upward curve. However, in view of the potential measurement bias of CNCEQ toward internalising problems, the conclusion was qualified. Although our results found some specific event/schema-linked cognitive distortions that distinguished internalising from externalising problems, we could not conclude that the latter were free from any other event/schema-linked cognitive distortions that the CNCEQ might have failed to elicit.

Abbreviations: CNCEQ: Children's Negative Cognitive Errors Questionnaire; YSR: Youth Self-Report Form.

Keywords

Externalising problemsInternalising problemscognitive distortions
Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines , Volume 39 , Issue 2 , February 1998 , pp. 263 - 269
Copyright
© 1998 Association for Child Psychology and Psychiatry

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