A cognitive theoretical framework for anxiety disorders

The four-factor theory of anxiety (Eysenck, 1997; Eysenck & Derakshan, submitted) has at its centre the assumption that experienced anxiety depends on four sources of information: (1) environmental stimuli; (2) one s own physiological activity; (3) one s own behaviour; and (4) one s own cognitions. The influence of each source of information on experienced anxiety is modified by cognitive biases, of which the most important is interpretive bias (the tendency to interpret ambiguous stimuli and events in a threatening fashion). It is assumed that four of the main anxiety disorders (panic disorder; social phobia; obsessive-compulsive disorder; specific phobia) involve an interpretive bias mainly for one of the four sources of information, and that generalized anxiety disorder involves an interpretive bias for all four sources. Therapeutic implications of this theoretical approach are discussed.