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Concurrent effects of different psychological processes in the prediction of depressive symptoms – the role of cognitive fusion

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Abstract

Cognitive fusion refers to the dominance of verbal processes over behavior regulation, in detriment of being sensitive to contextual contingencies and pursuing valued life goals. It is a core process within Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and seems to have a crucial role in the development and maintenance of psychopathology. The first goal of this investigation was to explore the factor structure, factorial invariance and psychometrics of the Portuguese version of the Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire (CFQ). A multigroup confirmatory factor analysis attested the invariant one-dimensional factor structure of the CFQ across three samples from the general population (n = 408; n = 291; n = 101) with different demographic characteristics. Additionally, the CFQ showed to be a psychometrically robust and reliable measure. A second major goal was to investigate the convergent and incremental validity of this version of CFQ (n = 408). Convergent validity was explored and attested with several psychological indicators. Regarding incremental validity, the predictive power of depressive symptoms of cognitive fusion and three related processes, with origin in different conceptual frameworks, was tested. Results showed that even when the effects of decentering, mindfulness and metacognitions were controlled for, cognitive fusion consistently maintained a significant and unique predictive power over depressive symptoms. These findings suggest that these processes relate differentially and independently with depressive symptoms and, moreover, that cognitive fusion has a superior contribution to its explanation. Given the evidence that cognitive fusion plays an important role in the comprehension of depressive symptoms, conceptual and clinical implications were discussed.

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Acknowledgements

This research has been supported by the second and third authors Ph.D. Grants (SFRH/BD/36211/2007; SFRH/BD/40290/2007), sponsored by FCT (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology).

Funding

This study was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, FCT (Ph.D. Grants number SFRH/BD/36211/2007 and SFRH/BD/40290/2007.

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  1. Center for Research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive Behavioural Intervention (CINEICC), Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação da Universidade de Coimbra, Rua do Colégio Novo, s/n, 3000 - 115, Coimbra, Portugal

    José Pinto-Gouveia, Alexandra Dinis & Sónia Gregório

  2. Department of Psychological Medicine, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Coimbra, Polo 1 - Ed. central. Rua Larga, s/n, 3004-504, Coimbra, Portugal

    Ana Margarida Pinto

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  1. José Pinto-Gouveia
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Correspondence to Alexandra Dinis.

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Pinto-Gouveia, J., Dinis, A., Gregório, S. et al. Concurrent effects of different psychological processes in the prediction of depressive symptoms – the role of cognitive fusion. Curr Psychol 39, 528–539 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-017-9767-5

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