Dysphoria and Hostile Cognition: The Relationship Depends on Levels of Trait Anger

Previous research has found that persistent hostility was associated with a different pattern of attributions than persistent sadness in dysphoric episodes (W. D. Scott, R. E. Ingram, & W. G. Shadel, 2003). In the present study, we attempted to extend these findings by examining another cognitive correlate of hostility in dysphoria: hostile cognition. Measures of dysphoria, trait anger, and hostile cognition were administered to college students. We found that the relationship between dysphoria and hostile cognition depended on the level of trait anger. Specifically, the presence of high trait anger in dysphoria was associated with high levels of hostile cognition whereas low trait anger in dysphoria was not associated with elevated hostile cognition. Moreover, the relationship between trait anger and hostile cognition was stronger among dysphoric participants. This finding adds to existing evidence of affective confounds in clinical research and suggests that discrete moods should be taken into account when assessing cognitive correlates in dysphoria.