Abstract
Irrational beliefs and self-management are both cognitive-behavioral constructs that are integral in modern Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy and Self-Management Therapy, respectively. Both irrational beliefs and self-management have been linked to anxiety and depression, and there is evidence for their usefulness for these types of distress. This is the first study to consider irrational beliefs and self-management as simultaneous predictors of anxiety and depression. An outpatient clinical sample (n = 51) completed measures of irrational beliefs, self-management, and emotional symptoms. Results indicated that as simultaneous predictors of fear and worry, self-management did not account for any additional variance accounted for by irrational beliefs. However, both irrational beliefs and self-management predicted unique variance in depression, negative affect, and positive affect. Exploratory analyses with single diagnosis (n = 26) and multiple diagnoses (n = 25) subsamples provided some divergent results. These results are discussed in terms of case conceptualization and potential future applications in the treatment of affective disorders, in particular depression.
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Mezo, P.G., Callanan, T.S., Radu, G.M. et al. Irrational Beliefs and Self-Management as Separable Predictors of Anxiety and Depression. J Rat-Emo Cognitive-Behav Ther 36, 172–186 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-017-0280-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-017-0280-4