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Retrospective andProspective Cognitionsin Anxiety andDepressionAndrew K. MacLeod , Philip Tata ,John Kentish & Hanne JacobsenPublished online: 18 Aug 2010.

To cite this article: Andrew K. MacLeod , Philip Tata , John Kentish& Hanne Jacobsen (1997) Retrospective and Prospective Cognitionsin Anxiety and Depression, Cognition & Emotion, 11:4, 467-479, DOI:10.1080/026999397379881

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R etrospective and P rospective C ogn itions in

A nxiety and D epression

A ndrew K . M acL eod

R oya l H o llow ay U n ivers ity o f L ondon , U K

Ph ilip T ata , John K en tish , and H anne Jacob sen

St M ary ’ s H osp ita l, L ondon , U K

A study is reporte d that exam ined m em ory for pas t expe rienc es and antic i -

pation of future expe rie nc es w ithin pani c di sorde r patients (N = 1 7),

depre ssed pati ents (N = 16 ), and c ontrols (N = 17). Anti c ipation and recal l

of pos itiv e and neg ative expe rienc es w ere exam ined by adm inis te ring an

adapte d verbal ¯ uency paradigm . Partic ipants w e re asked to gene rate future

and past, pos itiv e and negative expe rienc es in respons e to various tim e -fram e

cue s. Anx ie ty w as assoc iated w ith generating m ore negativ e expe rienc es but

not few er pos itiv e expe rie nc es; depre ss ion w as assoc iate d w ith ge ne rating

few er pos iti ve expe rie nc es but not m ore negativ e expe rienc es . The patte rns

for recal l of past experienc es and antic ipation of future expe rie nc es w ere

very s im ilar.

INTRO DU CTION

The em piric al and conceptual bas is for distinguishing be tw een anx ie ty and

depress ion has been the subjec t of conside rable inte rest and debate (se e

Ke ndal l & W atson, 1989 , for a rev iew ). A tte m pts to i llustrate both the

sim ilari ties and the diffe rence s of anx ie ty and depress ion have focused on a

range of dim ensions inc luding affe c t, cognitions, and li fe ev ents .

Te lle gen and his col le ag ue s (Te l le gen, 1 985 ; W atson, C lark & Te lle gen,

1988 ) hav e tried to ac count for both the ove rlap and the distinc tiv ene s s of

anx ie ty and depress ion through the ir re lationships to bas ic af fe c tiv e sy s-

tem s of pos itiv e af fe c t (PA ) and negativ e af fe c t (NA ). Contrary to w hat the

term inology im plie s , PA and NA are not unipolar opposites but, rather, tw o

orthogonal dim e nsions. PA is a dim ens ion of ple as urable engag em ent and

CO GNITIO N A ND E M OTIO N, 1 9 9 7 , 1 1 (4 ), 4 67 ± 4 7 9

Re que sts for re prin ts should be sent to Dr A ndre w K. M acLe od, Departm ent of

Psy cholog y , Roy al Holl ow ay Univ e rsi ty of London, Eg ham Hil l, Eg ham , S urre y , TW 2 0

0 EX , UK; e -m ail: a.m ac le od@ rhbnc .ac .uk.

Ó 1 9 9 7 Psy cholog y Pre ss , an im print of E rlb aum (U K) Tay lor & Franc i s Ltd

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re ¯ e cts the ex te nt to w hich som eone fe e ls e nthusias tic , ac tiv e , and ale rt, as

opposed to sad and le tharg ic . NA is a m easure of unpleasurable engage -

m ent, w ith those high in NA charac te rised by state s such as ang e r, fe ar, and

disg ust, w he reas those low in NA are calm and se rene . The dim ensions

hav e also been used as a bas is for de sc ribing affe c tiv e disturbance , w he re

anx ie ty and de press ion are both thought to consist of high NA, w ith

depres s ion additionally hav ing a unique elem ent of low PA (C lark &

W atson, 199 1 ). S upport for this v iew com es from studie s that hav e found

NA to be corre late d w ith a broad range of depres s ion and anx ie ty sym p-

tom s, and PA re late d only to depress iv e sym ptom s (e .g . Jolly , Dyck,

Kram er, & W herry, 1994 ; W atson, Clark, & Carey , 19 88 ).

Diffe rence s be tw een anx ie ty and depress ion at the cog nitiv e leve l hav e

al so been sugge ste d. The re is reas onable ag reem ent that depress iv e cogni-

tions re late to the them es of fai lure and pe rsonal deprec iation, w hereas

anx ious cognitions are m ore conce rned w ith dang e r and harm (e .g . B eck,

B row n, S te e r, Eide lson, & Riskind, 1 987 ; C lark, B eck, & S te w art, 1 990 ).

O ve rlapping w ith th is distinc tion in conte nt, Kendall and Ingram (1989 )

hav e al so sugge ste d a diffe rence in form , w ith depress iv e thoughts be ing

m ore absoluti stic and past-oriented and anx ious thoug hts being m ore

unce rtain and future -oriente d (p. 3 6 ): . . . ``depress iv e af fe c t se em s m ost

c lose ly as soc iate d w ith se lf-re fe rent, de ® n itiv e , pas t-oriente d cognitions of

sadne ss, fai lure , deg radation, and loss . Conve rse ly , anx iety appears m ost

c lose ly as soc iate d w ith future -oriente d `que stioning ’ cognitions.’ ’ A t a

m ore m ic ro-le ve l of cog nition, W il l iam s, W atts , Mac Leod, and Mathew s

(19 88 ) hav e argued that depress ion is assoc iate d w ith e laborativ e proc es -

s ing , w hich im pac ts prim arily on m em ory rec al l , w he reas anx ie ty is

charac te ris ed by an earlie r, prim ing proce ss that m ainly affe c ts atte ntion.

A sim ilar pic ture em erge s from life events research. Finlay -Jone s and

B row n (1981 ) found that anx ie ty w as assoc iated w ith threat events , that is ,

e vents that contained or im plied som e pos sible future threat, w hereas

depres s ion w as as soc iate d w ith loss ev ents w he re the event had already

happened. In a rec ent study , Surte e s (1 995 ) fol low ed up a group of w om en

w hose husbands had e ithe r had a nonfatal m yocardial infarc t or had died.

O nse t of psy chiatric disorde r in both groups w as greate r than that found in

a control g roup. How eve r, the onse t disorde r in the infarc t g roup w as

m ainly anx ie ty , w he reas in the be reav ed group the onse t disorder w as

ve ry large ly depres s ion. Charac te ris ing nonfatal infarc t as a thre at ev ent

and be re av em ent as a loss event, the results are cons is te nt w ith the v iew of

anx ie ty as prim ari ly future -threat oriente d and depress ion as pas t- loss

oriente d.

Follow ing the distinc tions outl ined, anx ie ty should re late prim arily to

cognitions conc erning the occurrence of negative events and to ex pec tan -

c ie s rathe r than m em orie s for those events . Depression should be re late d to

468 M acLEO D ET AL.

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both inc reased cognitions about negative ev ents and reduced cognitions

about pos itiv e ev ents , but, in contrast to anx ie ty , this re lationship should be

stronge r for m em orie s than it is for expec tanc ies . A com plication to this

schem e is that depress ion is ofte n thought of as entai l ing a negative v iew of

the future , chie ¯ y charac te rised as hopele ssne ss (e .g . B eck, Rush, S haw , &

Em ery , 1979 ). Mac Le od and Cropley (19 95 ) hav e in fac t arg ued that

depress iv e hope le ssne ss consists spe ci ® c al ly of a reduc ed antic ipation of

future positiv e expe rience s rathe r than inc reased antic ipation of negative

expe rience s. Thus, if depress ed partic ipants do show al te rations in their

thinking about the future this should be prim ari ly a reduced expec tancy of

positiv e expe rience s.

T he p resen t stu d y looked a t reca ll o f past experiences and an tic ipa tionof

fu tu re experiences, bo th positiv e and nega tive, in anx ious pa tien ts ,dep ressed

pa tien ts,and con tro lsw ho w ere neith er anx ious nor depressed .A s a m easu re

o f fu tu re an tic ipation ,partic ipan tsw ere adm in iste red a sim ilar m easu re o f

fu tu re th ink ing used by M acL eod and B yrne (1996 ). T h is m easu re is an

adap ted verba l ¯ uency parad igm , w here partic ipan tsa re a sked to gene ra te

possib le fu tu re p osit ive and nega tive expe rience s fo r a range o f d ifferen t

fu tu re tim e period s, w ith th e num bero f item s genera ted being reco rded .F o r

th e p resen t study , an ana logousm easu re w as dev ised to assess reca ll o f p ast

positiv e and nega tive expe riences. T he m em ory m easu re requ ired partic i-

pan ts to reca ll as m any posit ive o r nega tive experiences a s possib le , from a

num bero f d ifferen t tim e pe riod s.T he m a in pred iction sconcernedd ifferences

betw een the groups in their m em o ry fo r and an ticipa tion o f positiv e and

nega tive experiences. A lthough it is som etim es possib le to look a t w ith in -

g rou p d ifferences, and even ta lk abou t b ia ses in the ba lance o f positiv e and

nega tive cogn ition s,th is w as no t the focu s o f the p resen t study . R eference to

b ia ses in th is sen se is o n ly rea lly w arran ted w here base ra te s Ð and , in

particu la r,ind ividua l base ra tes Ð a re k now n , w h ich w as no t th e case in th is

stu dy . T herefo re, th e em phasis in the p resen t study w as on how th e tw o

patien t g roups d iffered from con tro ls in each o f the cond ition s.

Predic tions w ere bas ed on the prev ious ® nding s of Mac Leod and B yrne

(1996 ), and tw o theore tic al argum ents : That anx ie ty is a pure state of high

NA w hereas depress ion is a m ixed state of high NA and low PA ; and that

anx ie ty is prim arily future oriente d w hereas depres s ion is prim ari ly pas t

oriente d. It w as the re fore predic te d that, re lati v e to controls , anx ious

partic ipants should show an inc reased ¯ uency (num ber) of negative

response s, but prim ari ly for future antic ipation rathe r than pas t recall .

De pressed partic ipants w ere al so expec ted to show inc reased ¯ uency of

negativ e response s but, in contrast, this should be m ainly for recalled rathe r

than antic ipate d experience s. Unlike the anx ious partic ipants , depressed

partic ipants w e re predic te d to show reduced ¯ uency of positiv e response s,

for both recal l of pas t expe rience s and antic ipation of future ex pe rience s .

AN XIETY , DEPRES SIO N , AN D CO G N ITIO NS 469

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METHO D

Subjects

Fifty -one partic ipants took part in the study . Thirty -four partic ipants w e re

pati ents atte nding one of ® v e London hospital s . According to DSMIII-R

crite ria (A m erican Psychiatric Assoc iation, 1987 ), 18 pati ents m e t c rite ria

for a diag nosis of anx ie ty disorde r. O f the 18 anx ious patients , 17 m et

c rite ria for pan ic disorde r and 1 for gene ralised anx iety disorde r. To

m aintain group hom ogene ity the gene ral ise d anx ie ty disorde r partic ipant

w as dropped from the study leav ing a group of 17 panic disorde r pati ents (7

m en, 1 0 w om en; m ean ag e = 31 y ears ). S ix te en patients (6 m en, 10 w om en;

m ean ag e = 41 y ears ) m e t c rite ria for a diag nos is of Major Depres siv e

Disorde r. All of the anx ious patients w e re out-pati ents ; ® v e of the

depres sed patie nts w e re in-patients . Diag nose s w e re m ade by a res earc he r

and w ere consensually validate d by the pe rson’ s c l inic ian or c l inical te am .

None of the anx ious pati ents had a com orbid diag nosis of depress ion and

v ic e ve rsa for the depress ed pati ents . A furthe r 17 partic ipants (8 m en, 9

w om en; m ean ag e = 38 y ears ) w e re rec ruited from am ong hospital em ploy -

e e s or from a local job centre . The se partic ipants w e re se le c ted as be ing

low on g ene ral psycholog ical distre s s as indicate d by Spie lbe rge r Trait

A nx ie ty scores of le ss than 36 (S pie lbe rge r, 1 983 ). The re w ere no signif i -

c ant diffe rence s be tw een the three g roups on sex distribution or on ag e .

The re w ere al so no s igni ® c ant difference s be tw een the groups on ve rbal

abi l ity as m easured by the Mil l Hil l v ocabulary te st. The control partic i -

pants , but not the patients , w e re paid for partic ipating .

M aterials

Se lf-reporte d An xie ty, D epre s s ion , an d Affe c t. The B e ck A nx ie ty

Inv entory (B A I; B eck, Epste in, B row n, & Ste e r, 1 988 ) and the B eck

Depression Inv entory (B DI; B e ck e t al ., 19 79 ) w ere used to ass es s anx ie ty

and depres s ion. The se are both 21 - ite m scale s , w here , for eac h ite m ,

partic ipants s e le c t from four response s g raded on sev e rity . B oth scale s

hav e been subje c te d to research show ing good rel iabi li ty and validity

(B ec k e t al ., 19 79 , 198 8 ).

The Positiv e and Negative Affe c t S cale (PA NAS ; W atson e t al ., 1988 )

w as also em ployed. This is a 20 -ite m m ood rating form consisting of 1 0 PA

adje c tiv e s (e .g . ac tiv e , enthusias tic ) and 1 0 NA adje c tiv e s (e .g . nervous,

guil ty ). Eac h adje c tiv e is rate d on a 5 -point scale rang ing from `̀ v ery

sl ightly or not at al l ’ ’ to ``ex trem e ly ’ ’ and partic ipants are asked to rate

the ex te nt to w hich they fe e l this w ay . V arious tim e -fram es have been

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adopte d rang ing from ``at th is m om ent’ ’ to ``gene rally ’ ’ . The ve rsion

em ploy ed in the pres ent s tudy asked partic ipants to rate the ex te nt to

w hich they had fe lt this w ay ov er the past few w eeks . The PA and NA

scale s hav e been found to be large ly uncorre late d and show good internal

and te s t-re te st re l iabi l i ty (W atson e t al., 1 988 ).

Person a l-fu tu re Task. This tas k required partic ipants to think of future

expe rience s occ urring ov er three diffe rent tim e pe riods Ð the nex t w eek,

inc luding today ; the nex t year; the nex t 5 to 10 years. Althoug h the tim e

pe riods w ere not expec ted to show diffe rential e ffe c ts , pi loting had show n

that partic ipants w e re m ore able to gene rate ite m s w here cue s spec ify ing

particular tim e pe riods w ere use d, rathe r than be ing presente d w ith the

future as a sing le c ue . The tim e periods w ere prese nte d ve rbal ly , one at a

tim e and in the orde r g iv en earl ier. There w ere tw o conditions: one w here

partic ipants w e re asked to think of future pos itiv e expe rience s; and the othe r

w he re they w ere as ked to think of future negativ e expe riences . For eac h of

the three tim e pe riods in eac h of the tw o conditions, partic ipants w e re g iven

1 m inute to gene rate as m any response s as they could and sim ply say

response s aloud. The num ber of ite m s g ene rate d w as for eac h tim e pe riod

in eac h condition w as recorded by the expe rim ente r, w ho w as pres ent.

Me m ory Ta sk. An autobiographical m em ory task sim ilar to the pe rso-

nal -future task w as dev ised for the present study . The form w as the sam e as

the pe rsonal -future task, but w ith the orientation be ing to the past rathe r than

the future . S ubje c ts w e re g iven the tim e pe riods of the past w eek, the pas t

year, and the pas t 5 to 10 years, and asked to prov ide as m any ex am ple s as

they could of pos itiv e expe rience s or negative expe rience s w ithin those

tim e -fram es. The sam e m easure , the num ber of different response s g iven

w ithin 1 m inute for eac h tim e pe riod in eac h condition, w as taken.

Con tro l Ta sk. This is a standard task that prov ide s a g ene ral m easure

of ve rbal ¯ uency (Lezak , 1 976 ). It inv olv e s asking partic ipants to say as

m any w ords as they can think of beg inning w ith eac h of three le tte rs (F, A ,

S ), e xc luding proper nouns, num bers, the sam e w ord w ith a diffe rent suf ® x ,

and repe ti tions. Subje c ts w e re allow ed 1 m inute for eac h le tte r and the

three le tte rs w e re g iven in a ® x ed orde r. The score is the sum of al l

ac c eptab le w ords produced w ithin the three 1 -m inute trial s .

Procedure

Subje c ts ® rst com plete d the control task. They w ere then presente d w ith

e ithe r the pe rsonal-future task or the m em ory task. For the pe rsonal-future

tas k, partic ipants w e re told that they w ould be required to th ink about

AN XIETY , DEPRES SIO N , AN D CO G N ITIO NS 471

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things occurring to them ove r three diffe rent tim e pe riods in the future. It

w as explained that the se could be triv ial or im portant things and that the y

could be th ing s that the partic ipant knew w ere going to happen or things

that they thoug ht m ig ht reasonably happen. Subjec ts w e re instruc te d to

think of as m any th ings as possible for each tim e pe riod and w ere told to

keep try ing until the tim e lim it w as up. For the pos itiv e condition, they

w ere asked to think of positiv e th ings in the future Ð things that they w ere

looking forw ard to, things that they w ould enjoy . For negative events , the y

w ere as ked to think of negative th ings in the future Ð things that they w ere

w orried about or not looking forw ard to. O rde r of pres entati on of positiv e

and negative conditions w as counte rbalanced ac ros s partic ipants , w ith eac h

partic ipant rec e iv ing both conditions. The ite m s gene rate d by partic ipants

w e re w ritte n dow n by the expe rim ente r.

The instruc tions for the m em ory tas k w ere sim ilar, al though oriente d

tow ards the past rathe r than the future . S o, for the positiv e condition

partic ipants w e re as ked to think of positiv e th ings that had happened to

them Ð g ood expe rience s, things they enjoy ed. For the neg ative condition

they w ere asked to th ink of any negative things that had happened to

them Ð bad ex pe rience s , things that they had not enjoy ed. All partic ipants

rec e ived both the m em ory task and the pe rsonal-future task. The orde r of

pres entati on w as counte rbalanced, as w as the orde r of presentation of

negative and positiv e conditions w ithin eac h task. The tim e pe riods w ere

alw ays presente d in the sam e orde r (w eek, year, 5 ± 1 0 years). Finally ,

partic ipants com plete d the PANA S, the B DI, and the B A I, in that orde r.

RESULTS

Self-report M easures

Table 1 show s m ean scores for eac h of the three g roups on the se lf-report

m easures of af fe c t, anx ie ty , and depress ion, and indicate s s igni ® canc e of

diffe rence s be tw een groups on those variab le s . W here hom ogene ity of

variance assum ptions w ere not m e t, separate variance e s tim ate s w e re

used in m aking com parisons. The re w ere s igni ® c ant g roup diffe rence s on

al l variable s . The tw o pati ent g roups had highe r anx ie ty and depress ion

scores than the controls , as w e l l as higher NA and low er PA sc ores. In

addition, the depress ed pati ents had highe r depress ion scores and low er PA

scores than the anx ious pati ents , although the tw o pati ent g roups did not

diffe r on anx iety or NA scores. Table 1 also show s the m eans for the total

num ber of w ords gene rate d on the control tas k, w here there w as no

signi ® c ant ove ral l g roup diffe rence , as w e l l as m ean ag es , w he re , ag ain,

the groups did not diffe r s igni ® c antly .

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M em ory and Future-thinking

Table 2 show s the m eans and standard dev iations for eac h g roup on num ber

of pos itiv e and negative m em orie s and num ber of positiv e and negative

antic ipate d ex pe rience s .

The data w ere analy sed w ithin a Group (control , anx ious, depres sed) 3

V alence (positiv e , negative ) 3 O rientation (future , m em ory) 3 Tim e

(w eek, y ear, 5 ± 1 0 years) ANO V A. The re w ere signi ® cant m ain e ffe c ts of

g roup [ F (2 ,47 ) = 8 .5 , P < .001 ] , and valence [ F (1 ,4 7 ) = 40 .5 , P < .001 ] , as

w e ll as a Group 3 V alence inte rac tion [ F (2 ,47 ) = 1 2 .3 , P < .001 ] . The re

w as also an unexpec te d four-w ay inte raction inv olv ing group, valence ,

orientati on, and tim e [ F (4 ,94 ) = 3 .4, P < .0 5 ] . Three -w ay A NO V A s

holding orientati on constan t show ed a signi ® c ant three -w ay inte rac tion in

the future condition [ F (4 ,94 ) = 3 .9 , P < .01 ] but not in the m em ory

condition. The re w as a Group 3 Tim e inte rac tion in positiv e future

response s [ F (2 ,94 ) = 4 .1 , P < .01 ] , but no such inte rac tion in negative

future response s. Tukey po st-h oc tes ts show ed that the inte rac tion arose

because controls and anx ious partic ipants gav e s ig ni ® c antly m ore positiv e

AN XIETY , DEPRES SIO N , AN D CO G N ITIO NS 473

TAB LE 1

M ean s, (Standard Devia tions), and Sign i® cance o f D ifferen ces for Each G ro up on Each

o f the Q uestionnaire Variab les, the C ontro l Task, and Age

Co n tro l Anxio u s Dep re sse d F (2 ,4 8 ) P <

B AI 2 .6 a 2 3 .1 b 2 2 .2 b 2 2 .4 .0 0 1

(3 .7 ) (1 3 .1 ) (1 0 .8 )

B DI 3 .1 a 1 9 .8 b 3 3 .3 c 3 6 .4 .0 0 1

(3 .8 ) (1 0 .8 ) (1 3 .6 )

NA 1 3 .5 a 2 8 .7 b 3 0 .1 b 2 1 .2 .0 0 1

(3 .6 ) (8 .3 ) (1 1 .1 )

PA 3 7 .0 a 2 6 .0 b 1 8 .1 c 3 5 .5 .0 0 1

(5 .5 ) (5 .4 ) (7 .5 )

FAS 3 9 .1 a 3 5 .4 a 3 1 .8 a 1 .8 n.s .

(1 3 .7 ) (1 1 .2 ) (9 .1 )

A g e 3 8 .5 3 0 .7 4 1 .4 2 .1 n.s .

(1 5 .5 ) (1 0 .4 ) (2 1 .0 )

No tes : B A I, B e ck A nx ie ty Inv e ntory ; B DI, B ec k De pre ss ion Inv entory ; PA , pos i tiv e

affe c t; N A, neg ativ e aff e c t; FA S, c ontrol task.

M eans sharing a subsc rip t on a v ari able do not dif fe r from each othe r at the P < .0 5 le v e l,

Fis he r’ s prote c ted t-te s ts .

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re sponse s to the nex t w eek than did the depressed partic ipants (Ms = 5 .0 ,

4 .6 , and 2 .7 , for c ontrol, anx ious, and depres sed, re spec tiv e ly ), controls

gav e signi ® cantly m ore positiv e response s to the nex t year than did

depres sed partic ipants , w ith anx ious patie nts not diffe ring s ig ni ® c antly

from e ithe r (Ms = 5 .3 , 4 .2 , and 2 .9 , for control , anx ious , and depressed,

re spec tiv e ly ), but anx ious partic ipants gav e m ore pos itiv e response s to the

nex t 5 to 10 years than did the depressed, w ith controls not differing

signi ® c antly from e ithe r (Ms = 3 .8 , 5 .2 , and 2 .7 , for control , anx ious,

and depres sed, re spec tiv e ly ). Thus, the inte rac tion appears to be the result

of controls being som ew hat les s pos itiv e , and anx ious partic ipants be ing

som ew hat m ore positiv e than the y m ight hav e been expec te d to be about

the nex t 5 to 10 y ears . A s this inte rac tion w as unpredic te d and is not easy to

inte rpre t i t w il l not be pursued furthe r.

From inspec ting the m eans in Table 2 the Group 3 V alence inte rac tion

appe ars to arise through the anx ious partic ipants produc ing m ore response s

to negative cue s, re lativ e to both the depres se d and control partic ipants ,

w he reas for positiv e cue s the depresse d partic ipants produce few e r

response s than both the anx ious and control partic ipants . The lac k of a

signi ® c ant three -w ay inte rac tion indicate s that this ef fe c t w as not quali ® e d

by the tim e orientation but w as true for both m em orie s and ex pec tancie s , a

point borne out by the re levant m eans. A s the re w ere no statis tic al g rounds

for distinguishing be tw een m em orie s and expec tanc ies , the m e m ory con-

dition and future condition w ere collapsed, produc ing a cate gory of m ean

num ber of positiv e response s and a cate gory of m ean num ber of negativ e

response s. The m eans are show n in Fig . 1 . S eparate one -w ay ANO V As

w ere carried out on the positiv e and neg ative conditions. For the positiv e

condition, the re w as a signi ® cant e ffe c t of g roup [F (2 ,47 ) = 10 .4, P < .001 ] .

Fishe r’ s prote c te d t-te sts show ed that both anx ious partic ipants (P < .001 )

and control partic ipants (P < .001 ) prov ided m ore pos itiv e response s than

depres sed partic ipants but did not diffe r s igni ® c antly from eac h othe r. On

negative response s, the re w as al so a signi ® c ant g roup e ffe c t [ F (2 ,47 ) = 6 .8 ,

P < .0 1 ] , due to anx ious partic ipants prov iding m ore response s than both

474 M acLEO D ET AL.

TAB LE 2

M ean s an d (Standard Dev ia tions) of N um ber o f Responses divided by G roup ,

O rientation, and Valence

F u ture Me m ory

G ro u p Po s i tiv e Ne g a tiv e Po s itiv e Ne ga tiv e

Control 1 4 .1 (5 .5 ) 8 .1 (4 .1 ) 1 4 .4 (5 .6 ) 7 .8 (4 .2 )

A nx ious 1 4 .1 (3 .9 ) 1 1 .6 (3 .0 ) 1 3 .7 (4 .5 ) 1 1 .9 (4 .8 )

Depre sse d 8 .3 (4 .3 ) 6 .6 (4 .5 ) 7 .7 (3 .9 ) 7 .9 (4 .3 )

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control partic ipants (P < .01 ) and depress ed partic ipants (P < .01 ), w ho did

not diffe r s igni ® c antly from eac h othe r. Thus, as predic te d, anx ious parti-

c ipants show ed inc reased neg ative ¯ uency but not reduced ¯ uency for

positiv e cog nitions. A lso as predic te d, depressed partic ipants show ed

reduced positiv e ¯ uency al though ag ainst predic tion they did not show

inc reas ed negative ¯ uency . The re w as no support for predic tions con-

c e rning orientation: Diff erence s be tw een the patient g roups and controls

w e re equivalent for recall of pas t expe rience s and antic ipation of future

expe rience s.

The re w ere no signi ® c ant diff erence s betw een the groups in the ir control

tas k scores but the re w ere som e num erical diffe rences in the m ean scores

of the three g roups. To check w he the r thes e sm al l diffe rence s could hav e

ac counte d for som e of the g roup diffe rence s in positiv e and negative

AN XIETY , DEPRES SIO N , AN D CO G N ITIO NS 475

FIG . 1 M ean re sp onse s (m em orie s and ex p ec tan cie s) for e ach g ro up for p ositi ve and negativ e

con dition s.

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re sponse s, the one -w ay A NO V A s w ere carried out for positiv e and ne ga-

tiv e responses using FAS sc ores as a covariate . In both case s, the g roup

e ffe c t rem ained sig ni ® c ant afte r covary ing out FAS scores [ F (2 ,47 ) = 8 .5 ,

P < .001 for positiv e ; F (2 ,47 ) = 6 .7 , P < .0 1 for negative ] . The g roups also

show ed som e nonsigni ® c ant diffe rence s in ag e so the sam e analy s es w e re

carried out this tim e cov ary ing out ag e . The group difference in positiv e

response s rem ained signi ® cant afte r cov ary ing out ag e [ F (2 ,47 ) = 9 .1 , P <

.001 ] , as did the group diffe rence on negativ e response s [ F (2 ,47 ) = 4 .6 ,

P < .05 ] .

A s al ready m entioned, the anx ious and depress ed groups w ere not

``pure’ ’ in that they both reported e levate d anx ie ty and depre ss ion, re la-

tiv e to controls . S im ilarly , both groups show ed e levate d NA and reduced

PA scores. In orde r to explore furthe r the re lationship of anx ie ty , depres -

s ion, PA , and NA to positiv e and neg ative cognitions corre lations w ere

carried out ac ros s all partic ipants be tw een the s elf-report m easures and

positiv e and negative ¯ uency . The se correlations are show n in Table 3 .

The corre lations te l l a s im ilar s tory to the group com parisons. Depres -

s ion and PA w ere prim arily re late d to lac k of positiv e cog nitions, w he reas

anx ie ty and NA w ere prim ari ly re lated to inc reased negativ e cog nitions.

The corre lations carried out for recal l and antic ipation separate ly produce d

a ve ry s im ilar patte rn.

DISCUSSION

The predictions of the pos itiv e -negativ e asy m m etry in anx ie ty and depres -

s ion w e re m ainly supporte d. A nx ious partic ipants gav e m ore negativ e

response s but not few e r positiv e response s than controls; depressed parti -

c ipants gav e few e r pos itiv e response s al though, ag ains t predic tion, they did

not gene rate m ore negative response s than controls . The re w as , how eve r,

no ev idence to support a m em ory -future distinc tion. In the case of

depres sed partic ipants , they w ere predic te d to show sim ilar reduc tions in

positiv e response s for both m em ory and antic ipation. How eve r, ag ainst

476 M acLEO D ET AL.

TAB LE 3

C orre la tions o f BDI, BA I, PA , and N A w ith N um ber of Positive and N egative R esponses

(M em ory an d Expectan cies)

Co n d itio n BD I BAI PA NA

Pos it iv e 2 .4 1 * * 2 .1 9 .5 6 * * 2 .23

Neg ativ e .1 5 .3 2 * .1 4 .3 3 *

No tes : B A I, B eck A nx ie ty Inv entory ; B DI, B eck Depre ss ion Inv entory ; PA , pos itiv e

af fe c t; N A, neg ativ e affe c t.

* P < .0 5 ; * * P < .0 1

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predic tion, anx ious partic ipants show ed an inc reas e in negative m em orie s

as w e l l as the predic te d inc rease in neg ative ex pec tancie s .

The results prov ide furthe r support for the involvem ent of cog nitions in

m ood disturbance as w e ll as the idea that the se cognitions are diffe rent in

anx ie ty and depress ion. The results from the present study and from

Mac Leod and B yrne (1 996 ) are consiste nt w ith the ideas of anx iety as

``negative conce rn’ ’ . A nx ious partic ipants in both studie s show ed an

e levate d antic ipation of future ne gative experience s but no re duced antic i-

pation of positiv e expe rience s. A nx ie ty as ``neg ative conce rn’ ’ is al so

consiste nt w ith theore tic al discuss ions of anx ie ty , w he re w orry about

negativ e outc om es is s een as the key cognitiv e e lem ent ( e .g . B arlow ,

1988 ), and also w ith the v iew of anx ie ty as be ing a pure state of high

NA (Clark & W atson, 19 91 ).

In contrast to the anx ious partic ipants , the depres sed partic ipants show ed

a re lati v e ly pure lac k of positiv e cognitions. This ® nding is cons iste nt w ith

idea of depres s ion as a s tate of low rew ard (e .g . Fow le s, 19 94 ) or low PA

(Clark & W ats on, 19 91 ). How eve r, the lac k of any increased negative

cognitions w ent ag ains t predic tion and is al so diffe rent from the ® ndings

of Mac Leod and B y rne , w ho found that a group of m ixed anx ie ty -depres-

s ion partic ipants show ed an inc rease in negative expec tanc ie s as w e ll as a

reduc tion in pos itiv e ex pec tanc ie s . It is unl ike ly that the diffe rence in

results be tw een the studie s w ill hav e aris en because of the partic ipants in

the Mac Leod and B y rne study be ing anx ious as w e l l as depressed, as the

depress ed partic ipants in the present s tudy also had signi ® c antly e levate d

lev els of anx ie ty . How eve r, the partic ipants in the Mac Leod and B yrne

study w ere not pati ents and w ere therefore not nece s sarily show ing cl inical

lev els of m ood disturbance . It is possible that the diffe rence in results

be tw een the tw o studie s is due to the partic ipants in the pres ent study

be ing m ore seve re in their le ve l of m ood disturbance . The depressed

partic ipants in the present s tudy m ay hav e been avoiding or repress ing

negativ e thoug hts that w e re too seve re ly painful , or m ay hav e just been le ss

engag ed in the task, e ithe r through lac k of m otivation or through suffe ring

gene ral cog nitiv e de ® c i ts . The latte r explanation se em s unlike ly , g iv en the

com parab le leve ls of gene ral cognitiv e ¯ uency . A t this point, how eve r,

explanations for the lac k of increase d negative cognitions in the depressed

group rem ain speculativ e .

In the present s tudy , and ag ainst predic tion, the negative cognitions of

the anx ious g roup ex te nded to m em orie s as w e ll as expe ctanc ie s . This

® nding is som ew hat surpris ing , g iv en the theore tic al and ex pe rim ental

em phas is on anx ie ty not be ing m em ory-re late d. How eve r, there is som e

ev idence that anx ie ty is re late d to dif fe rential autobiog raphical m em ory

recal l (B urke & Mathew s, 1992 ). In addition, panic pati ents , unl ike gen-

e ralised anx ie ty disorde r patients , hav e been found to show enhanced recal l

AN XIETY , DEPRES SIO N , AN D CO G N ITIO NS 477

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for catas trophic as soc iations to body sensation w ords (Cloitre , Shear,

Canc ienne , & Ze itl in, 1994 ). The anx ious partic ipants in the present study

al l m e t c rite ria for panic disorde r, w hich m ight explain the enhanced

negative m em ory of the anx ious group. O f course , i t rem ains an open

ques tion w he the r other anx ious groups, such as gene ral ised anx ie ty

pati ents , w ould show the sam e e ffe c t. The present s tudy asked partic ipants

to think about both the future and the pas t and found that anx ious pati ents

could th ink negativ e ly about the pas t as w e ll as the future . A diffe rent

approac h w ould be to prom pt and sam ple indiv iduals ’ present thoughts and

subsequently c ate gorise those thoughts as past, present, or future oriente d.1

It m ay be that w hen asked, anx ious partic ipants can th ink negative ly about

the past, although the ir negative thoug hts are m ore com m only sponta-

neously c entred on the future .

Pe rhaps it should not be surpris ing that m em ory recall and future

antic ipation show ed the sam e patte rn. W ill iam s e t al . (199 6 ) hav e argued

that the sam e proce sse s that are used for autobiographical m em ory recal l

are used to antic ipate the future . Spec i ® c ally , the se authors argue that the

inte rmediate des c riptions that are used to search autobiographical m em ory

are al so use d to g ene rate im ag e s of possible events in the future. It rem ains

for future research to dis cove r m ore about the proce ss es w he reby m em ory

recal l and future antic ipation are l inked.

M anusc ript re c e iv ed 1 1 June 1 9 9 6

Re v is ed m anusc rip t re c e iv ed 3 Decem ber 1 9 9 6

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