The relationship between cognitive style and emotional/behavioral expression in a clinical sample of children

The concept and identification of cognitive style have been debated in the literature. Furthermore, previous research examining the correlation between cognitive style and emotional or behavioral characteristics has been inconclusive. The purpose of this study is to identify cognitive style with a commonly used assessment tool and to explore the relationship between cognitive style and the expression of psychological symptoms. Archival data from 118 children were examined. This author created two different continuums of cognitive style called Verbalizing-Visualizing and Imagining-Doing. The cognitive styles were measured using Index discrepancies on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fourth Edition (WISC-IV), and correlated with scores from the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) parent rating scale. Results indicated that the Verbalizing-Visualizing cognitive style correlated with delinquency behaviors, such that children who tended to process information more visually or perceptually relative to their verbal processing had increased delinquency (p < .05). The Imagining-Doing cognitive style correlated with several emotional-behavioral domains. Specifically, children who processed information using more abstract reasoning skills relative to a more immediate, hands-on processing style had higher incidences of somatic symptoms (p < .05), attention problems (p < .01), and total problems scores ( p < .05). These results should be considered given the following limitations: use of a clinical sample, lack of a non-clinical control group, and nacrent definitions of cognitive style.