Cognitive distortion and problem behaviors in adolescents

The authors investigated the prevalence of self-serving and self-debasing cognitive distortions and their specific relations to externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors in 96 incarcerated male and female delinquents and a comparison sample of 66 high school students. The incarcerated participants evidenced higher levels of cognitive distortion (self-serving and self-debasing) and problem behavior (externalizing and internalizing) than did comparison participants. Both self-serving and self-debasing cognitive distortions were associated with unique variance in overall problem behaviors. Most notably, self-serving cognitive distortions specifically related to externalizing behaviors, whereas self-debasing cognitive distortions specifically related to internalizing behaviors. The theoretical and treatment implications of the findings are discussed.