Depression and looming cognitive style: Examining the mediating effect of perceived control

摘要: BackgroundIndividuals with a looming cognitive style (LCS) bias display a tendency to interpret threat representations as rapidly approaching and rising in risk. The present study is the first to investigate whether the relationship between LCS and depression is mediated by perceived control (over evading threats).MethodsAfter completing mood questionnaires, participants recorded future-self threats (feared possible selves) and rated their threat representations on a measure of perceived control. LCS was measured using an adapted version of the looming maladaptive style questionnaire. In total 74 participants were recruited through university research participation.ResultsPerceived control was significantly related to depression (r = -.3, p = .011) and LCS (r =-.27, p = .019) but not to anxiety (r =-.14, p = .223). Mediation analyses revealed that control mediated the relationship between depression and LCS, when …