What lies beyond neuroticism? An examination of the unique contributions of social-cognitive vulnerabilities to internalizing disorders
Abstract
Extensive research has identified various social-cognitive vulnerabilities for internalizing disorders. However, few studies have assessed multiple disorders simultaneously, so it is unclear whether these vulnerabilities are transdiagnostic or specific risk factors. Their unique associations with disorders are also uncertain, given that they correlate strongly with neuroticism and one other. Psychiatric outpatients completed self-report and interview measures of six disorders (depression, generalized anxiety disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, social anxiety, panic, obsessive-compulsive disorder), and personality (the Big Five, neuroticism facets, and four vulnerabilities: anxiety sensitivity, intolerance of uncertainty, perfectionism, experiential avoidance). All constructs were modeled as latent variables using structural equation modeling. All four vulnerabilities were closely associated with neuroticism, loading on its anxiety facet in factor analyses. Furthermore, after accounting for the contribution of neuroticism facets, intolerance of uncertainty and experiential avoidance were not uniquely associated with any disorders, and perfectionism was only related to obsessive-compulsive disorder. However, anxiety sensitivity accounted for substantial unique variance in several disorders (i.e., depression, social anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and panic). We discuss theoretical and clinical implications of these results.
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Cognitive factors (neuroticism, perceived control, anxiety sensitivity) are insufficient to differentiate PD from other anxiety disorders.
“Naragon-Gainey and Watson (2018) noted that these factors were insufficient to differentiate PD from other anxiety disorders.”
From Managing emotions in panic disorder: A systematic review of studies related to emotional intelligence, alexithymia, emotion regulation, and coping (2023) · cites this paper as Naragon-Gainey and Watson (2018)
Various combinations of experiential avoidance, distress tolerance, emotion dysregulation, anxiety sensitivity, worry, rumination, and perfectionism have been shown to load a single latent factor.
“For instance, various combinations of experiential avoidance, distress tolerance, emotion dysregulation, anxiety sensitivity, worry, rumination, and perfectionism have been shown to load single latent factor (Conway et al., 2021;Naragon-Gainey & Watson, 2018;Spinhoven et al., 2017).”
From Within-person changes in aversive reactivity predict session-to-session reductions in anxiety and depression in the unified protocol. (2024) · cites this paper as Naragon-Gainey & Watson, 2018
Intolerance of uncertainty is commonly associated with generalized anxiety disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
“Intolerance of uncertainty, a form of cognitive inflexibility in which ambiguity is deemed aversive, is commonly associated with generalized anxiety disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder (Naragon-Gainey & Watson, 2018).”
From Within-person changes in aversive reactivity predict session-to-session reductions in anxiety and depression in the unified protocol. (2024) · cites this paper as Naragon-Gainey & Watson, 2018
These findings replicate and extend previous research demonstrating conceptual and empirical overlap among these seemingly disparate aspects of aversive reactivity.
“these findings replicate and extend previous research demonstrating conceptual and empirical overlap among these seemingly disparate aspects of aversive reactivity (Naragon-Gainey & Watson, 2018;Semcho et al., in preparation;Spinhoven et al., 2017).”
From Within-person changes in aversive reactivity predict session-to-session reductions in anxiety and depression in the unified protocol. (2024) · cites this paper as Naragon-Gainey & Watson, 2018
Experiential avoidance and distress intolerance have been studied transdiagnostically and are relevant to anxiety and depression.
“Other forms of aversive reactivity such as experiential avoidance and distress intolerance have been studied transdiagnostically and are relevant to a wide swath of psychopathology, including both anxiety and depression (Akbari et al., 2022;McHugh et al., 2009;Naragon-Gainey & Watson, 2018;Spinhoven et al., 2014;Spinhoven et al., 2017).”
From Within-person changes in aversive reactivity predict session-to-session reductions in anxiety and depression in the unified protocol. (2024) · cites this paper as Naragon-Gainey & Watson, 2018
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References 91 · Cited by 67
- Authors
- Naragon-Gainey, K., & Watson, D.
- Affiliations
- University at Buffalo, the State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA
- University of Notre Dame (US)
- ORCID
- Watson, David
- Venue
- Assessment
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2016-07-13
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 143-158
- ISSN
- 1073-1911 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-3489
- OpenAlex
- W2471284741
- Cited by
- 67
- References
- 91
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 7.10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Assessment (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01-MH068472)
- American Psychological Association
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Keywords
- internalizing disorders, neuroticism, anxiety sensitivity, intolerance of uncertainty, perfectionism, experiential avoidance, transdiagnostic risk factors, depression, generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, social anxiety, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, Big Five personality traits
- MeSH terms
- Neuroticism, Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Anxiety Disorders, Cognition, Depression, Factor Analysis, Statistical, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Outpatients, Panic, Personality Tests, Psychometrics, Social Behavior, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Young Adult, Self Report
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