Cognitive Therapy and Research, Vol. 29, No. 2, April 2005 ( C 2005), pp. 219–242 DOI: 10.1007/s10608-005-3166-1 The Relationship Between Parenting Style, Cognitive Style, and Anxiety and Depression: Does Increased Early Adversity Influence Symptom Severity Through the Mediating Role of Cognitive Style? Lata K. McGinn, 1,4 Daniel Cukor, 2 and William C. Sanderson 3 Despite the central role accorded to cognitive style in mediating the relationship be- tween negative parenting and the development of anxiety and depression, few studies have empirically examined this relationship. Using a clinical sample, this study ex- amined the relationship between early experiences with low care, increased control, abuse and neglect, and symptoms of anxiety and depression, via the mediating effects of cognitive style. It was found that individuals who rate their parents as being more abusive and neglectful reported a greater degree of depression and that this relation- ship was mediated by dysfunctional cognitive style. These findings contribute to the growing literature by providing support for the role of cognitions in mediating the link between negative parenting and psychopathology. KEY WORDS: parenting; cognitions; vulnerability; schemas; anxiety; depression; cognitive style. Cognitive models of psychopathology have traditionally stressed the impact of early events on the later experience of anxiety and depression through the devel- opment of negative cognitive styles (Alloy, 2001;Alloy et al.,2001;Alloy, Kelly, Mineka, & Clements, 1990; Barlow, 2002; Beck, 1967; Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979; Beck & Steer, 1987; Chorpita & Barlow, 1998; Clark, Beck, & Alford, 1999; Ingram, Miranda, & Segal, 1998; Rose & Abramson, 1992). More recently, cognitive models have suggested that specific bonding patterns, such as those characterized by overcontrol and low care, may be key factors in the development of anxiety and depression (Abramson, Metalsky,& Alloy, 1989;Alloy, 2001;Alloy et al.,1990, 2001;Barlow,2002;Chorpita & Barlow,1998;Ingram et al.,1998;Segal,1988). 1 Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, Bronx, New York. 2 SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York. 3 Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York. 4 Correspondence should be directed to Lata K. McGinn, FerkaufGraduate Schoolof Psychology, Yeshiva University, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Rousso Building 126, Bronx, New York 10461; e-mail: Lmcginn@aecom.yu.edu. 219 0147-5916/05/0400-0219/0 C 2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.