Evaluation of Adolescents with Anxiety Disorders in the Context of Cognitive Distortion

Background: This study aimed to investigate the differences in cognitive distortions between patients with anxiety disorder (AD) and healthy controls, investigate the relationship between anxiety levels and cognitive distortions in AD, and investigate whether accompanying symptoms in AD had an impact on cognitive distortions

Methods: Eighty-nine adolescents diagnosed with AD and 94 healthy adolescents were assessed using The Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia, Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Cognitive Distortions Scale (CDS), and the effects of major depressive disorder (MDD) were evaluated.

Results: All cognitive distortions except catastrophizing were more problematic in AD. It also assessed the effects of comorbid MDD with AD on cognitive distortions. Another finding that was obtained in this study was that thought characteristics such as mindreading, catastrophizing, all-or-nothing thinking, emotional reasoning, personalization, minimizing the positive, and overgeneralization, CDS total scores were statistically significantly higher in the AD group with comorbid MDD.

Conclusion: The study indicates that some cognitive distortions may be prevalent in AD or AD with comorbid depression. The importance of this study is the probability of laying the groundwork for future research in adolescents, the development of cognitive anxiety models, and guiding treatment practices.

Cite this article as: Tanıgör EK, Özyurt G, Öztürk Y, Tufan AE, Akay A. Evaluation of adolescents with anxiety disorders in the context of cognitive distortion. Psychiatry Clin Psychopharmacol. 2025;35(3):226-233.