The Structure and Dynamics of Worry: Theory, Measurement, and Cross-National Replications

This article presents a comprehensive conceptualization of the structure of worry and the relation of worry to mental health and well-being. It is assumed that worries have two facets, namely, the object of a worry (e.g., self, close others, society, the world) and the domain of a worry (the field of life with which it is concerned). The object of a worry is presumed to be more important than its domain in determining the impact of worries on mental health. Only worries concerned with self and close others (micro worries) are expected to be related to poor mental health, whereas worries about society or the entire world (macro worries) are expected to be positively related to mental health. An instrument is introduced to study worries in accordance with the proposed structure. Its validity is tested by two confirmatory techniques (similarity structure analysis and confirmatory factor analysis) in samples from Israel, West Germany, and (the former) East Germany. Worry scores are also related to five mental health indicators. Results show that across samples micro and macro worries can validly be distinguished. Micro worries are strongly related to poor mental health, whereas macro worries are unrelated to mental health or relate marginally to positive well-being.     

Cognitive variables related to worry among adolescents: avoidance strategies and faulty beliefs about worry

Studies aiming to better understand worry have neglected children and adolescents. This constitutes an important limitation considering that excessive worry is frequent among adolescents and that patients suffering from excessive worries associate the beginning of their disorder with adolescence. This study evaluates the cognitive variables associated with worry in a sample of 777 adolescents. It attempts to determine whether cognitive avoidance and false beliefs about the usefulness of worries are present and associated with worries in adolescence. The results showed that participants with a high level of worry used more avoidance strategies and held more beliefs about worry. The results also revealed that avoidance of stimuli that trigger unpleasant thoughts and thought substitution were the major avoidance strategies related to worry among adolescents. The belief that worry helps to avoid future negative events was also related to worry. These findings may suggest that adolescents' worries are maintained by processes similar to those observed among adults.     

What Do Youth Referred for Anxiety Problems Worry About? Worry and Its Relation to Anxiety and Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents

This study examined worry and the parameters of worry that may be associated with clinical anxiety in a sample of 119 children and adolescents referred to a childhood anxiety disorders specialty clinic. Using an interviewing procedure, results indicated that the types of worries reported by the children were similar to those reported in previous studies of nonreferred community children. Also similar to previous community studies were findings showing moderate but significant correlations between different indices of worry (i.e., number, intensity, and frequency of the worries) and children's scores on self-rating scales of anxiety. Results further indicated that worry contributed additional variance beyond that of anxiety in predicting fear. In addition, intensity differentiated clinic children's worries from nonreferred children's. Intensity, and number of worries differentiated subsamples of children within the clinic-referred sample (i.e., children with overanxious disorder or generalized anxiety disorder and children with simple phobia). The importance of examining children's worries to further understand anxiety and its disorders in youth is discussed.     

The Metacognitive Model of Generalized Anxiety Disorder in Children and Adolescents

Worry is a common phenomenon in children and adolescents, with some experiencing excessive worries that cause significant distress and interference. The metacognitive model of generalized anxiety disorder (Wells 1995, 2009) was developed to explain cognitive processes associated with pathological worry in adults, particularly the role of positive and negative beliefs about worry. This review evaluates the application of the model in understanding child and adolescent worry. Other key issues reviewed include the link between cognitive and metacognitive development and worry, and the measurement of worry and metacognitive worry in young people. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.     

Worries in expectant parents: Its relation with perinatal well‐being and relationship satisfaction

Although much has been written about the impact of pregnancy on expectant parents, less is known about the worries couples experience during pregnancy. Sex differences in worries and the link between self and coparent worries on perinatal well‐being and relationship satisfaction in 104 primiparous couples were examined. It was found not only do expectant mothers and fathers worry about different things, but also type of worry is related to different outcomes. Moreover, using structural equation modeling, childbirth worries and worry frequency indirectly predict lower relationship satisfaction through worse well‐being. However, coparent's worries did not significantly relate to their partner's perinatal well‐being or relationship satisfaction. This study suggests the importance of examining perinatal worries in parents, as well as the dyadic interaction between coparents.     

Fears, worries, and scary dreams in 4- to 12-year-old children: their content, developmental pattern, and origins

Investigated anxiety symptoms in normal school children 4 to 12 years of age (N = 190). The percentages of children reporting fears, worries, and scary dreams were 75.8, 67.4, and 80.5%, respectively, indicating that these anxiety symptoms are quite common among children. Inspection of the developmental pattern of these phenomena revealed that fears and scary dreams were common among 4- to 6-year-olds, became even more prominent in 7- to 9-year-olds, and then decreased in frequency in 10- to 12-year-olds. The developmental course of worry deviated from this pattern. This phenomenon was clearly more prevalent in older children (i.e., 7- to 12-year-olds) than in younger children. Furthermore, although the frequency of certain types of fears, worries, and dreams were found to change across age groups (e.g., the prevalence of fears and scary dreams pertaining to imaginary creatures decreased with age, whereas worry about test performance increased with age), the top intense fears, worries, and scary dreams remained relatively unchanged across age levels. An examination of the origins of these common anxiety phenomena showed that for fears and scary dreams, information was the most commonly reported pathway, whereas for worry, conditioning experiences were more prominent.     

Worries in restaurant managers

This paper explores the concept of job specific worries (JS worries) in managers in the restaurant industry. The focus of interest in the present explorative study was the degree and content of restaurant managers' worries. Of a total of 58 eligible managers in a Norwegian (fast food) restaurant chain, 57 (representing an equal number of restaurants) were surveyed for JS worries and personal worries. These managers also judged aspects of their relation to the organization they work for, such as perceived organizational hierarchy, job commitment and perceived risk at work. The results indicate that the concept of JS worry is state dependent as opposed to personal worry, which may be regarded as a trait. In addition, the observed correlations indicate a connection between characteristics of perceived job environment and the respondents' degree of JS worry, whereas no such correlations were observed between trait worry and job environment.     

Trait anxiety, trait depression, worry, and memory

A study is reported which investigated the proposal that high trait anxiety is associated with a memory bias for worry themes. Forty-five participants were categorised as being high or low trait anxious on the basis of scores on the (Spielberger et al., 1983) (Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Form Y) (1983)). The participants were requested to rate a number of worry and non-worry statements for how much they generally thought about the issues represented by them. Analysis of the ratings given by the participants showed that low trait anxiety individuals thought about the non-worry items significantly more than worry items. The high trait anxiety participants, however, showed little or no difference in the amount of time spent thinking about worry and non-worry themes. In a subsequent free recall task of the statements it was observed that the low trait anxiety group recalled significantly more non-worry than worry items, whereas there was no such difference for the high trait group. It was also found that the degree of memory bias was related to both positive affectivity and trait anxiety. The implications of such findings are discussed.     

Domain-specificity and individual differences in worry

Worrying is generally perceived to be an undesirable mental state. An evolutionary approach suggests, however, despite the potential distress, worry may function to focus individuals’ attention on evolutionarily-relevant tasks. In the current study (N = 193), we demonstrated that participants’ primary worries were focused within domains central to reproductive success and mate-value. Furthermore, mating strategy predicted worries in the domains of social status and mating. Neuroticism, as an individual difference reflecting vigilance to threats, was correlated with worry about fitness-relevant but not fitness-irrelevant domains. The current study documents the first domain-specific assessment of worries and complements this analysis with intriguing individual difference predictors of worry.     

How does thought suppression impact upon beliefs about uncontrollability of worry?

According to Wells’ metacognitive model of generalised anxiety disorder (GAD; [Wells, A. (1995). Meta-cognition and worry: A cognitive model of generalised anxiety disorder. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 23, 301–320]), GAD patients attempt to suppress intrusions that trigger worry. Wells postulates that these attempts are rarely effective and may increase the frequency of worry triggers. These apparent failures are interpreted as evidence for loss of mental control, thereby exacerbating beliefs about worry uncontrollability. The current study tested these predictions. Sixty-two high worriers completed a naturalistic experiment comprising two sessions separated by 1 week. In Session 1, participants recorded their beliefs about worry in general, including its uncontrollability. They then selected a current worry and recorded how often it came to mind over the following week. The Suppression group (N=32) suppressed their chosen worry during the week. The Mention group (N=30) simply monitored its occurrence. In Session 2, Session 1 measures were repeated. Contrary to prediction, the Suppression group reported a significant increase in worry controllability in general. No shift was demonstrated by the Mention group. In addition, relative to the Mention group, the Suppression group reported more success at suppressing their chosen worries, spent less time thinking about them, and found them more controllable and less distressing. Findings are discussed within the context of Wells’ model.     

The Priority of “Liberty” or “Ping An ”: Two Different Cultural Value Priorities and Their Impacts

“Liberty” is a core, prior value of modern Western culture, and particularly of Anglo-American political and economic discourse. For more than a century, the US and other Western countries have been doing their utmost to promote the value of liberty around the world. However, different nations and cultures have different value priorities. Considering “liberty” as the essential, unassailable prior value is an Anglo-American cultural particularity without universal applicability. In China, “liberty” as a high value is a new idea imported from the West at the beginning of the modern era which never enjoyed a very important position in ancient China. Generally speaking, in Chinese culture, the value of “ping an,” with its connotations of peace, safety, equality, health, harmony, and tranquility, is obviously a prior value. Different value priorities have different impacts on culture. This paper tries to compare the American value priority of “liberty” with the Chinese value priority of “ping an,” while discussing their different historical backgrounds and cultural impacts. It argues that values and value priorities are neither absolute nor universal, but that they are rather historical, situational, and dynamic. Value priority in a society should be based on that society’s particular social reality and on the stage of development and the life requirements of its people, rather than on an outside imperative. In the era of globalization, different and even sometimes contradictory human values may actually mutually complement and counterbalance one another.     

Moral worry and religiosity in US and Canadian college samples

The objective of this study was to investigate the presence of worry about personal moral attitudes and behaviors in two college samples, and to check associations with religiosity, age, gender, personality traits, and geographic region. The study sample was drawn from college students in Minneapolis, Minnesota (N?=?333) and Sydney, Nova Scotia (N?=?137). Instruments consisted of moral worry and religiosity questionnaires, and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Principal-components analysis was used to develop components for the worry and religiosity scales, and MANOVA for correlations between variables. Moral worry emerged as a domain distinct from worry about practical issues. Moral worry was not related to religiosity, age, gender, or Eysenck personality traits. Whereas the US sample scored higher in religiosity than the Canadian sample, the Canadian sample scored higher on moral worry. The present study supports our previous work and that of others that worry about one's moral emotions and behaviors is an important aspect of daily life. As such, consideration should be given to including some inquiry about moral worries (guilt, shame, regret, remorse, and others) in psychiatric assessments.     

Exposing Worry’s Deceit: Percentage of Untrue Worries in Generalized Anxiety Disorder Treatment

Theories of cognitive therapy have long proposed that those with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) have inaccurate expectations. By challenging them with objective evidence, symptoms are thought to decrease. To test these premises, this study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) during the Worry Outcome Journal (WOJ) treatment to determine the percentage of GAD worries that did not come true. We then analyzed the association between participants’ untrue worry percentages and GAD symptom change across treatment. Twenty-nine participants with GAD recorded worries when prompted for 10 days, reviewed them online nightly, and tracked their worry outcomes across 30 days. These recordings were then coded by independent raters. Analyses applied bias-correct bootstrapping path analysis on slopes extracted from longitudinal linear mixed models. Primary results revealed that 91.4% of worry predictions did not come true. Higher percentages of untrue worries significantly predicted lower GAD symptoms after treatment, as well as a greater slope of symptom reduction from pre- to post-trial. Participants’ average expected likelihoods of worries coming true were much greater than actual observed likelihoods. The most common percentage of untrue worries per person was 100%. Thus, worries in those with GAD were mostly inaccurate. Greater evidence of this inaccuracy predicted greater improvement in treatment. As theorized, disconfirming false expectations may significantly contribute to treatment’s effect.     

A new inventory for assessing worry in managers: correlates with job involvement and self-reliance

This work introduces the ‘Worry Inventory for Managers’ (WIM), a 24-item measure of jobrelated worries in managers. A sample of 138 managers responded to the WIM and to measures of pathological worry, job involvement, and self-reliance. Factor analysis of the WIM revealed two facets of job-related worry, namely worry about

1. (1) organizational processes and about

2. (2) work overload.

Results indicate that job-related worry shows differential correlations from pathological worry with the three factors of self-reliance (counterdependence, overdependence, and interdependence).     

Are Gender Differences in Basic Human Values a Generational Phenomenon?

The Schwartz Value Survey (SVS) was administered to 979 Canadian knowledge workers to determine whether differences in value priorities between men and women differed significantly between members of the Baby Boomer generation and members of Generation X. Multivariate analysis of covariance controlling for education, income, and scale use revealed a significant gender-by-generation interaction, which signifies that the patterns of differences between men's and women's value priorities were different for Baby Boomers and Generation Xers. Four of the 10 SVS value types (i.e., power, tradition, universalism, and achievement) were associated with both gender and generation. A number of other value types were associated solely with generation. The findings suggest that both gender and generation are important variables in the study of values and should not be considered in isolation of each other.     

The effects of worry and rumination on affect states and cognitive activity

The effects of worry and rumination on affective states and mentation type were examined in an unselected undergraduate sample in Study 1 and in a sample of individuals with high trait worry and rumination, high rumination, and low worry/rumination in Study 2. Participants engaged in worry and rumination inductions, counterbalanced in order across participants to assess main and interactive effects of these types of negative thinking. During mentation periods, the thought vs. imaginal nature and the temporal orientation of mentations were assessed 5 times. Following mentation periods, negative and positive affect, relaxation, anxiety, and depression were assessed. Both worry and rumination produced increases in negative affect and decreases in positive affect. Worry tended to generate greater anxiety, and rumination tended to generate greater depression. Interactive effects were also found indicating that worry may lessen the anxiety experienced during subsequent rumination. Moreover, worry lessened the depressing effects of rumination. Worry was associated with significantly greater thought than imagery, compared to rumination. Rumination involved a progression from mentation about the past to mentation about the future over time. Implications for understanding the generation of negative affect and comorbid anxiety and depression are discussed.     

The Effects of Values on Worries Associated With Acute Disaster: A Naturally Occurring Quasi‐Experiment1

On April 12, 1995, a bomb exploded in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, destroying a federal office building, killing 168 people, and upending American notions of safety and security in the heartland. Using data collected before, immediately after, and 1 year after the bombing from 3 samples living within 25 miles of the explosion in a naturally occurring quasi‐experiment, research examined effects of values on people's worries in the context of a macrolevel traumatic event. High self‐transcendence and conservation values correlated with higher macro‐worries immediately after vs. before the explosion, but these worries were lower 1 year later. Findings indicate that values emphasizing broader social perspectives were associated with higher macrolevel worries, while values emphasizing one's own life and welfare were not.     

Differences and similarities between obsessive intrusive thoughts and worry in a non-clinical population: study 2

Differences between obsessions and worry have been clearly demonstrated on several variables [Langlois, F., Freeston, M. H., & Ladouccur, R. (2000). Differences and similarities between obsessive intrusive thoughts and worry in a non-clinical population: study 1. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38, 157-173.]. Previous factor analysis of obsessions or worries have typically been used in developing measures for OCD and GAD symptoms. These studies generally support the distinctiveness of obsessions and worries but there have been no direct comparisons of the factor structure of obsession and worry on the same measure. This study aimed to compare the general structure of worry and obsessional intrusions. It also attempted to identify the relations between the respective factors identified in the appraisals of intrusions and the factor structures of coping strategies used in reaction to the thoughts. 254 students participated in the study. They first identified an obsession-like intrusion and a worry and then evaluated them with the Cognitive Intrusion Questionnaire. Different factor structures were obtained for worry and obsessive intrusive thoughts. However, the factor structure for the strategies used to counter the thoughts were highly similar for both types of thought. Furthermore, regression analysis identified interesting relationships between the strategies, the thought characteristics and appraisal. Thus, despite the ability to find differences between obsessive intrusive thoughts and worry, and even to accurately categorize them based on these differences, there may in fact exist common processes that are shared over much of a continuum. Sharp differences in the processes involved may only become clear in prototypical cases. The implications for models of cognitive intrusion are discussed.     

Preliminary tests of a cognitive model of generalized anxiety disorder.

Although worry is the central feature of Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), little is known about the factors that contribute to pathological or problematic worry. In a recent cognitive model of GAD, Wells, A. (1995) proposed that negative appraisal of worrying itself (meta-worry or type 2 worry) should be distinguished from other types of worrying (type 1 worry). A central feature of this model is the idea that individuals with GAD hold rigid positive beliefs about the usefulness of worrying as a coping strategy. However, these individuals also hold negative beliefs and appraise worrying as uncontrollable and dangerous. This combination of cognitions and associated responses leads to an increased frequency and generality of worrying, and thus to the pathological worry characteristic of GAD. This paper reports a preliminary test of the hypothesis that meta-worry contributes to problematic and pathological worrying, and this relationship is independent of the frequency of other types of worry. In testing for associations between worry dimensions we controlled for overlaps with Trait anxiety, and the controllability of worrying. Results of a series of regression analyses support the hypothesis that pathological worry is associated with meta-worry and this association is independent of Trait-anxiety and type 1 worry. The clinical implications of these data are briefly discussed.