Testing the cognitive content-specificity hypothesis of social anxiety and depression : An application of structural equation modeling

The present research examined three key issues of the cognitive content-specificity hypothesis of social anxiety and depression using structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. First, using confirmatory factor analyses on data from a sample of 507 undergraduate students, we found that both positive and negative self-statements factors of the modified Social Interaction Self-Statement Test were empirically differentiated from those of the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire-Positive and the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire. Next, SEM was used to analyze data from a subsample of 489 students to identify unique and common cognitive contents that contribute to social anxiety or depressive symptoms and then to evaluate their magnitudes simultaneously. Both positive and negative social interaction self-statements were unique to social anxiety symptoms. However, negative depressive self-statement was specific to depressive symptoms, whereas positive affect self-statement was common to the symptoms of social anxiety and depression. Furthermore, the effects of unique components of self-statements seemed stronger than that of common component on the symptoms of social anxiety and depression. In conclusion, these findings provide general support for the cognitive content-specificity hypothesis of social anxiety and depression.