The Penn State Worry Questionnaire—Past Day: Development and Validation of a Measure Assessing Daily Levels of Worry

Based on the widely used Penn State Worry Questionnaire for trait worry, a scale was developed to measure the level of worry experienced during the past 24 h. This instrument, the Penn State Worry Questionnaire—Past Day (PSWQ-PD), was administered to a student sample and two clinical samples. The PSWQ-PD demonstrated high internal consistency, good convergent validity and adequate test-retest reliability. A confirmatory factor analysis revealed that a unifactorial solution provided the best fit. Moreover, it was shown that the PSWQ-PD is a more state-like worry measure than the original PSWQ. The PSWQ-PD is a promising, brief tool for daily worry assessment, which is apt for frequent administration.     

Worry and rumination: do they prolong physiological and affective recovery from stress?

Background: Anxiety and depression have been linked to repetitive negative self-regulation styles in the form of worry and rumination respectively. Following predictions of the metacognitive model [Wells, A., & Matthews, G. (1994). Attention and emotion: A clinical perspective. Hove: Erlbaum], the current study compared the effect on recovery from stress of three strategies: worry, rumination, and distraction using a stress exposure paradigm. It was predicted that worry and/or rumination would be associated with delayed recovery on physiological and/or self-report indices when compared to distraction.

Method: Fifty-four participants were randomly assigned to one of the self-regulation conditions and then completed a modified version of the Trier Social Stress Test [TSST; Kirschbaum, C., Pirke, K. M., & Hellhammer, D. H. (1993). The “TSST” – A tool for investigating psychobiological stress responses in a laboratory setting. Neuropsychobiology, 28, 76–81. doi:10.1159/000119004]. Skin conductance and negative affect (NA) measurements were obtained at six different time points.

Results: Skin conductance indicated a prolonged recovery in the rumination condition when compared with the distraction condition. Individuals in the worry condition reported an immediate-delayed recovery from stress marked by higher NA scores in comparison to the distraction condition.

Conclusions: These findings may provide important insights into the effects of different forms of repetitive negative thinking on physiological and psychological recovery from stress. The different response patterns observed are discussed within the context of the metacognitive model.     

Initial Validation of the Children’s Worry Management Scale

We investigated the psychometric properties of a new instrument, the Children’s Worry Management Scale (CWMS). The CWMS has three subscales that specify methods of regulating worry: inhibition (the suppression of worry), dysregulation (exaggerated displays of worry), and coping (constructive ways of managing worry). Using a Caucasian, middle-class sample of 214 children (M = 9 years, 1 month), Study 1 provides reliability and validity data through patterns of correlations to parent- and child-completed measures of emotion management and behavioral problems. Internal consistencies range from .69 to .74. Study 2 establishes discriminant validity by demonstrating that the CWMS Dysregulation and Coping subscales differentiated, in the expected directions, between a group of children (n = 27) with DSM-IV anxiety diagnoses and a control group of children with no psychological disorders.     

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.     

Intolerance of Uncertainty–Focused Treatment for Adolescents With Excessive Worry: A Pilot Feasibility Study

Bouts of excessive worry are common across the lifespan, increasing in frequency and complexity during adolescence and adulthood, and are found in several psychiatric disorders, particularly the anxiety disorders. There are evidence-based treatments for adolescents with anxiety disorders but psychological treatments designed specifically to target excessive worrying in adolescents are rare. Intolerance of uncertainty (IU), a cognitive predisposition described as a fear of the unknown, is highly associated with worry among adolescents. This study investigated the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of IU-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (IU-CBT) for adolescents with excessive worry. Twelve participants (aged 13–17 years) with excessive worry, irrespective of psychiatric diagnosis, were provided weekly face-to-face sessions, primarily including therapist and self-guided exposure to situations involving uncertainty. Sessions were supplemented with an internet-delivered educational program for parents, designed to teach parents about worry, IU and helpful parental behaviors. The main outcome measure was the Penn-State Worry Questionnaire for Children (PSWQ-C). The treatment was well tolerated with no dropouts and families reporting being satisfied with the treatment. Participants were able to grasp the notion of IU and its relationship to worry and avoidance. Significant reductions were observed for self-reported worry, anxiety, depression, IU, and parent-reported worry, as were significant increases in global functioning. Based on a clinician rating, 58.3% were categorized as much or very much improved at posttreatment, rising to 66% at 3-month follow-up. Participants with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) benefitted more from treatment than those with social anxiety disorder. The findings suggest that this IU-focused psychological intervention is acceptable and feasible to adolescents with excessive worry but may be most effective for those with GAD.     

Confirmatory factor analysis of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire: Multiple factors or method effects?

The latent structure of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) was evaluated with confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) in 1200 outpatients with DSM-IV anxiety and mood disorders. Of particular interest was the comparative fit and interpretability of a two-factor solution (cf. Behaviour Research and Therapy 40 (2002) 313) vs. a one-factor model that specified method effects arising from five reverse-worded items. Consistent with prediction, the superiority of the one-factor model was demonstrated in split-sample CFA replications (ns=600). Multiple-group CFAs indicated that the measurement properties of the PSWQ were invariant in male and female patients. In addition to their direct relevance to the psychometrics of the PSWQ, the results are discussed in regard to methodological considerations for using factor analytic methods in the evaluation of psychological tests.     

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.     

“It Makes Me Worry About Her Future Pain:” A Qualitative Investigation of White Mothers of Non-White Children

In the United States, increasing numbers of White women are mothering children of color. Little is known about their psychosocial experiences of racially socializing non-White children within a culture that transmits socially constructed meanings about race. Such messages influence employment and quality and access to health care. Thirteen White mothers of non-White children (school age to adulthood) residing in the U.S. were interviewed. Their psychosocial experiences and racial socialization practices were explored. Through an analysis of transcribed interviews and interview notes, seven themes emerged: (1) Looking Like a Family and Looking Alike; (2) Mothering as Vulnerability; (3) Teen Daughters’ Perceptions of Black Men as Undesirable and Frightening; (4) Exposing Children to Culture; (5) Children and Mothers’ Experiences as “Other”; (6) Hostility from Black Women; and (7) Not Talking About Race. Study's limitations and future research are discussed.     

People's Perceptions of Women's and Men's Worry about Life Issues: Worrying about Love, Accomplishment, or Money?

The study was designed to examine people's perceptions of women's and men's worry about life issues and self-perceptions of worry. Some undergraduates (n = 498) rated typical women's or men's worry, and others (n = 396) rated significant others' worry based on the Worry Domain Questionnaire (Tallis, Eysenck, & Mathews, 1992). As expected, participants perceived women as worrying more than men do about relationships, when they rated typical or significant others. As well, they rated typical men as worrying more than typical women about achievement and finances. Participants who rated significant others' worry also rated their own worry and parallel findings were expected. However, women tended to report more worry about achievement than men did. Overall, the findings indicate that the better people know their targets, the less likely they are to perceive their worry in gender stereotypical terms. This article is partially based on Wendy-Jo Wood's Master's thesis.