Fig. 2.

The best fitting model with circular relations among cognitive biases and anxiety on each of the three time points as well as paths from biases and anxiety towards both PEAC subscales. Standardized path coefficients are shown as well as residual correlations between the three repeated measures of the same PEAC variable and between modeling and threat information transfer at the same time point. C-bias confirmation bias, I-bias interpretation bias, mod modeling, threat threat information transmission. Equality constraints hold for the unstandardized path coefficients, but not for the residual variances, and thereby not exactly for the standardized path coefficients. Age and gender are not displayed in the figure, although they were entered as exogenous variables with an effect on all psychological variables in the model. For clarity reasons, non-significant paths as well as the residual correlations that are included in Fig. 1 are not shown in the figure, although they were included into the model