TY - JOUR
T1 - Response expectancies and irrational beliefs predict exam-related distress
AU - Montgomery, Guy H.
AU - David, Daniel
AU - Dilorenzo, Terry A.
AU - Schnur, Julie B.
N1 - Funding Information:
Dr. Montgomery is Director of the Integrative Behavioral Medicine Program at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Dr. David is an associate professor at Babes-Bolyai University, in Romania. Dr. DiLorenzo is an assistant professor in the Psychology Department of Stern College. Dr. Schnur is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Oncological Sciences at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.This work was supported by the National Cancer Institute (CA81137) and the American Cancer Society (PF-05-098-01-CPPB). Address correspondence to Guy H. Montgomery, Integrative Behavioral Medicine Program, Cancer Prevention and Control, Department of Oncological Sciences, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, 1425 Madison Avenue, Box 1130, New York, NY, 10029-6574, USA; e-mail: [email protected].
PY - 2007/3
Y1 - 2007/3
N2 - Individual differences in cognitive factors such as response expectancies and irrational beliefs (IBs) have been shown to contribute to variability in distress associated with stressful situations. However, their independent influence on distress when examined within the same study has not been established, nor has the potential of mediational relationships. The purpose of this study was to investigate the contribution of response expectancies and IBs (both general and exam-specific) to exam-related distress in a prospective study. Results revealed that both response expectancies and general IBs separately predicted exam-related distress (p's<.05; N=105). Observed effects of general IBs were perfectly mediated by, and observed effects of exam-specific IBs were partially mediated by, response expectancies using the Baron and Kenny approach. These data support the view that cognitive factors contribute to psychological distress and are consistent with response expectancy and rational emotive behavior theories. The results suggest that interventions focused on response expectancies and IBs might be an effective means to reduce psychological distress associated with real life stressors such as exams. Future research is needed to determine whether this effect generalizes to other stressful situations.
AB - Individual differences in cognitive factors such as response expectancies and irrational beliefs (IBs) have been shown to contribute to variability in distress associated with stressful situations. However, their independent influence on distress when examined within the same study has not been established, nor has the potential of mediational relationships. The purpose of this study was to investigate the contribution of response expectancies and IBs (both general and exam-specific) to exam-related distress in a prospective study. Results revealed that both response expectancies and general IBs separately predicted exam-related distress (p's<.05; N=105). Observed effects of general IBs were perfectly mediated by, and observed effects of exam-specific IBs were partially mediated by, response expectancies using the Baron and Kenny approach. These data support the view that cognitive factors contribute to psychological distress and are consistent with response expectancy and rational emotive behavior theories. The results suggest that interventions focused on response expectancies and IBs might be an effective means to reduce psychological distress associated with real life stressors such as exams. Future research is needed to determine whether this effect generalizes to other stressful situations.
KW - Distress
KW - Irrational beliefs
KW - Response expectancy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33947433276&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10942-006-0029-y
DO - 10.1007/s10942-006-0029-y
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33947433276
SN - 0894-9085
VL - 25
SP - 17
EP - 34
JO - Journal of Rational - Emotive and Cognitive - Behavior Therapy
JF - Journal of Rational - Emotive and Cognitive - Behavior Therapy
IS - 1
ER -