Is the looming maladaptive cognitive style a central mechanism in the (generalized) anxiety-(major) depression comorbidity: An intra-individual, time series study

The authors examined the unfolding of anxiety-depression comorbidity while emphasizing its multifaceted and intra-individual nature. An intensive time series design was employed, whereby three young adult patients with diagnosed comorbid Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and Major Depression Disorder (MDD) were followed daily for a period of 6 months. Daily reports included affective states, cognitive vulnerability, and symptoms of depression and anxiety. The Looming Maladaptive Style (LMS), pertaining to the tendency to generate mental scenarios of potentially threatening situations as rapidly rising in risk, prospectively predicted anxiety, depression, and hopelessness, a dimension of depressive vulnerability. Effects of anxiety and depression on cognitive vulnerability were also documented. Findings suggest that LMS confers vulnerability to emotional disorders, broadly defined, and emphasize the need to include an intra-individual analysis for the purpose of elucidating the nature of psychopathological comorbidity.