Can cognitive distortions differentiate between internalising and externalising problems?

A community sample of 405 adolescents were given the Youth Self-Report Form (YSR) and the Children's Negative Cognitive Errors Questionnaire (CNCEQ). Both regression and group comparison analyses, using the full sample and a subset of extreme scorers, respectively, indicated that internalising problems were specifically associated with the various forms of cognitive distortions assessed, namely, selective abstraction, personalising, overgeneralisation, and catastrophising. Furthermore, they displayed a curvilinear relationship; as the severity of internalising problems increased, the magnitude of cognitive distortions grew positively at a quadratic rate, displaying a U-shaped upward curve. However, in view of the potential measurement bias of CNCEQ toward internalising problems, the conclusion was qualified. Although our results found some specific event/schema-linked cognitive distortions that distinguished internalising from externalising problems, we could not conclude that the latter were free from any other event/schema-linked cognitive distortions that the CNCEQ might have failed to elicit.