Annals of General Psychiatry · Published 2026-06-20 · DOI 10.1186/s12991-026-00683-0
Wisteria Deng, Reut Zabag, Saumya Narain, Tyrone D. Cannon, Jutta Joormann
Abstract Growing research highlights interpretation inflexibility as a key transdiagnostic mechanism across psychopathologies. Yet, few studies have examined its role in everyday socio-emotional processing. This review bridges that gap by exploring how interpretation inflexibility contributes to psychopathology—particularly depression and psychosis—in social contexts. Evidence suggests disrupted interpersonal processes, including rigid interpretations of social scenarios and impressions of others, are central to understanding depressive and psychotic symptoms. Depression is marked by valence-specific, context-dependent inflexibility, with difficulty disengaging from negative biases. In contrast, psychosis shows a broader inflexibility across emotional valences. The review also outlines evolving measures of interpretation inflexibility, emphasizing the need to account for social context in interpretation revision. Current findings highlight the value of examining inflexibility within social frameworks to better understand its role in adaptive functioning and psychopathology. Future research on interpretation inflexibility in social contexts could inform novel interventions and improve clinical outcomes.
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Deng, W., Zabag, R., Narain, S., et al. (2026). Examining clinical relevance of interpretation inflexibility in social contexts. Annals of General Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12991-026-00683-0