TY - JOUR
T1 - Experience and appraisal of worry among high worriers with and without generalized anxiety disorder
AU - Ruscio, Ayelet Meron
AU - Borkovec, T. D.
N1 - Funding Information:
This paper was supported by National Research Service Award MH12675 to Ayelet Meron Ruscio and Research Grant No. MH58593 to T.D. Borkovec from the National Institute of Mental Health. Portions of this article were presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy in Philadelphia, PA, November, 2001. We gratefully acknowledge the invaluable data analytic assistance provided by William Harkness. We also thank Michele Bedard, Shannon Darby, Marisa Gianvito, and David Wurtinger for their assistance with the study, as well as John Ruscio for his helpful comments on an earlier draft of this work.
PY - 2004/12
Y1 - 2004/12
N2 - Recent research has revealed that a large number of highly worried individuals do not qualify for a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). This raises the intriguing question of why some high worriers are more impaired and distressed by their worrying than others, particularly when the severity of their worry is the same. The present investigation sought to address this question by examining whether GAD and non-GAD high worriers differ in their actual worry experiences, their subjective appraisals of worry experiences, or both experiences and appraisals of worry. GAD and non-GAD worriers, selected for matching levels of trait worry severity, completed an attention-focus task with thought sampling before and after a brief worry induction. They also completed questionnaires assessing their experiences during and after the worry induction, as well as their general beliefs about worry. GAD worriers experienced less control over negative intrusive thoughts immediately after worrying, reported greater somatic hyperarousal following worry, and endorsed several negative beliefs about worry more strongly than their worry-matched controls. Results suggest that GAD is associated with unique experiences and appraisals that distinguish it from other forms of severe worry.
AB - Recent research has revealed that a large number of highly worried individuals do not qualify for a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). This raises the intriguing question of why some high worriers are more impaired and distressed by their worrying than others, particularly when the severity of their worry is the same. The present investigation sought to address this question by examining whether GAD and non-GAD high worriers differ in their actual worry experiences, their subjective appraisals of worry experiences, or both experiences and appraisals of worry. GAD and non-GAD worriers, selected for matching levels of trait worry severity, completed an attention-focus task with thought sampling before and after a brief worry induction. They also completed questionnaires assessing their experiences during and after the worry induction, as well as their general beliefs about worry. GAD worriers experienced less control over negative intrusive thoughts immediately after worrying, reported greater somatic hyperarousal following worry, and endorsed several negative beliefs about worry more strongly than their worry-matched controls. Results suggest that GAD is associated with unique experiences and appraisals that distinguish it from other forms of severe worry.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=6944250096&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=6944250096&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.brat.2003.10.007
DO - 10.1016/j.brat.2003.10.007
M3 - Article
C2 - 15500816
AN - SCOPUS:6944250096
SN - 0005-7967
VL - 42
SP - 1469
EP - 1482
JO - Behaviour Research and Therapy
JF - Behaviour Research and Therapy
IS - 12
ER -
