Social interpretation bias and inflexibility: Mapping indirect pathways from pathological personality traits to symptom clusters of anxiety and depression

Pathological personality traits are thought to predispose individuals to anxiety and depression by encouraging biased and inflexible interpretations of emotionally-ambiguous situations. This indirect effect was investigated in a diverse adult sample ( n = 214) from the local community and mental health care facilities. Participants completed assessments of pathological personality traits and symptom clusters of anxiety and depression. Additionally, participants completed a cognitive-behavioral task measuring inflexibility and bias in interpretations of emotionally ambiguous situations. Results from network analysis revealed that negative interpretation bias (tendency to infer negative interpretations from emotionally-ambiguous information) connected the traits of negative affectivity (experiencing intense negative emotions, hostile or passive interpersonal behavior) and detachment (withdrawal from interpersonal interactions, restricted emotional experience and expression) with symptom clusters of general distress, anhedonic depression, and anxious arousal. Positive interpretation bias (tendency to infer positive interpretations) was only connected to negative affectivity and anhedonic depression. Finally, inflexible negative interpretations (difficulty in revising initial negative interpretations based on positive information) connected detachment with general distress and anxious arousal. This study represents the first data-driven investigation of how distorted interpretations mediate the relationship between pathological personality traits and common mental health complaints. These findings have potential implications for tailoring interventions according to individuals' personality profiles. • Pathways from personality traits to symptom clusters via distorted interpretations are studied. • Negative affectivity is related to interpretation biases, while detachment is related to inflexibility and bias. • Negative interpretation inflexibility is related to general distress and arousal, biases to all clusters. • Biased and inflexible interpretations mediate the link between personality traits and symptoms. • The findings may inform personalized treatment for depression and anxiety.