Differentiating anxiety and depression: the State-Trait Anxiety-Depression Inventory
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The differentiation of trait anxiety and depression in nonclinical and clinical populations is addressed. Following the tripartite model, it is assumed that anxiety and depression share a large portion of negative affectivity (NA), but differ with respect to bodily hyperarousal (specific to anxiety) and anhedonia (lack of positive affect; specific to depression). In contrast to the tripartite model, NA is subdivided into worry (characteristic for anxiety) and dysthymia (characteristic for depression), which leads to a four-variable model of anxiety and depression encompassing emotionality, worry, dysthymia, and anhedonia. Item-level confirmatory factor analyses and latent class cluster analysis based on a large nation-wide representative German sample (N = 3150) substantiate the construct validity of the model. Further evidence concerning convergent and discriminant validity with respect to related constructs is obtained in two smaller nonclinical and clinical samples. Factors influencing the association between components of anxiety and depression are discussed.Keywords:
Anhedonia
Worry
Discriminant validity
Depression
Background: Childhood worry is common, and yet little is known about why some children develop pathological worry and others do not. Two theories of adult worry that are particularly relevant to children are Davey's problem-solving model in which perseverative worry occurs as a result of thwarted problem-solving attempts, and Wells’ metacognitive model, in which positive and negative beliefs about worry interact to produce pathological worry. Aims: The present study aimed to test hypotheses that levels of worry in young children are associated with poor or avoidant solution generation for social problems, and poor problem-solving confidence. It also aimed to explore beliefs about worry in this age group, and to examine their relationships with worry, anxiety and age. Method: Fifty-seven young children (6–10 years) responded to open ended questions about social problem-solving situations and beliefs about worry, and completed measures of worry, anxiety and problem-solving confidence. Results: Children with higher levels of worry and anxiety reported using more avoidant solutions in social problem situations and children's low confidence in problem solving was associated with high levels of worry. Children as young as 6 years old reported both positive and negative beliefs about worry, but neither were associated with age, gender, or level of anxiety or worry. Conclusions: Results indicate similarities between adults and children in the relationships between problem-solving variables and worry, but not in relationships between beliefs about worry and worry. This may be due to developmental factors, or may be the result of measurement issues.
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The current study examined Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU)—the tendency to react negatively to situations that are uncertain—in psychological problems among adolescents. Using data from 191 adolescents, aged 14 to 18, we examined (a) the dimensionality of IU as tapped by the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale short-form (IUS-12), (b) the relationship of IU with worry, social anxiety, and depression, (c) the specificity of IU to these variables, and (d) the role of IU as a mediator of the linkages between negative affectivity (NA) and worry, social anxiety, and depression. Results showed that the IUS-12 encompassed 2 components of IU, named Prospective Anxiety and Inhibitory Anxiety. Furthermore, IU was specifically related with worry and social anxiety, but not depression, when controlling the shared variance between these variables and NA, age, and gender. Finally, IU and its 2 components were found to mediate the linkages of NA with worry and social anxiety.
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Worry is a common human experience which, if excessive, can be associated with functional impairment. The experience of worry has been associated with a number of higher-order cognitive processes; however it is unclear how these processes relate to one another. This study was conducted with a non-clinical sample of 123 participants to explore relationships between several psychological factors in reflection of the dimensional nature of worry. Intolerance of uncertainty, the looming cognitive style, beliefs about worry and meta-worry each independently contributed to worry, accounting for 59% of the variance in worry scores when considered together. Intolerance of uncertainty and looming cognitive style were not independent predictors of worry when beliefs about worry and meta-worry were taken into consideration. Indeed, only positive beliefs about worry and meta-worry emerged as independent predictors in the full model that was explored. Of note, meta-worry mediated the relationship between negative beliefs about worry and worry. These results suggest that an integrated model of the mechanisms that underlie worry needs to take a number of cognitive constructs into account and that cognitive therapies targeting worry should have a particular emphasis on perceptions that worrisome thoughts are dangerous, harmful and growing rapidly uncontrollable.
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The aims of this study were to examine age-differences regarding various worry components among younger and older adults and to characterize the relationships between worry domains and anxiety. A total of 311 younger adults (18 - 30 years) and 100 older adults (65+ years) completed seven worry and anxiety questionnaires, focusing on worry content, worry severity, and responses to worry. A series of 2 × 2 ANOVAs was computed to examine differences in worry and anxiety related to age and gender. Interaction effects indicated that gender differences among younger adults were significantly more pronounced than older adults with women reporting greater worry and anxiety than men. Main effects of age indicated that younger adults reported greater worry than older across all worry domains. Worry and anxiety measures were found to be highly correlated across all domains. Findings indicate that worry is fundamentally related to anxiety across age groups and that a variety of aspects of worry should be considered to understand the breadth of worry's influence on anxiety. Additionally, age and gender have unique relationships with worry and anxiety and interact to complicate individuals' symptom profiles. Thus, worry is a multifaceted construct that is crucial to understanding anxiety in general and warrants multifaceted assessment and intervention.
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The Impact of Worry on Academic Performance Abdalla A. M. Hamid Abstract Worry is a basic cognitive characteristic of generalized anxiety disorder. It represents an effort to engage in mental problem solving of a problem whose consequences are vague or uncertain. The main objective of this study was to examine the impact of worry on academic performance. Another objective was to examine age and gender differences in worry. A sample of 366 undergraduate students was selected from United Arab Emirates university. One hundred thirty-eight (37.7%) of the participants were male and 228 (62.3%) were female ranging in age from 18 to 30 years (mean age = 21.28 years, SD = 1.66).The Anxious Thoughts Inventory- 22 items was used to measures worry. This inventory gauges three types of worry: social worry, health worry, and meta-worry. The Grade Point Average (GPA) was used to measure academic performance. The results showed gender differences in social worry but not in health or meta-worries.No significant differences were found in academic performance in relation to age. Students who reported elevated levels of health worry and social worry (type 1 worry) had higher academic performance. Results were discussed in light of relevant literature and previous findings. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jehd.v9n3a11
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