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Browsing by Author "Jans, Syhdnnae"

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    An examination of implicit theories of worry
    (2025) Jans, Syhdnnae; Penney, Alexander; Moscicki, Michele K.
    Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a relatively common mental disorder defined by chronic, excessive, and difficult to control worry. Moreover, individuals who worry excessively may think about their worry differently based on the implicit theories they hold, which in turn may influence their willingness to seek treatment. Implicit theories are heuristics held about personal attributes. Specifically, we will be focusing on growth mindsets (i.e., believing that a personal attribute is malleable) and fixed mindsets (i.e., believing that an attribute is unchangeable). Limited research has explored implicit theories in mental health, and no published studies have examined implicit theories of worry. We hypothesize that students who report more severe worry are more likely to hold a fixed mindset regarding their worry (i.e., more likely to report their worry is unchangeable). We also plan to examine if implicit theories are related to interest in various forms of treatment. Separately, we are going to test if reading the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) “Psychology Works” Fact Sheet about GAD will increase growth mindset, and therefore interest in treatment. In the study participants will complete a series of online self-report questionnaires before being randomly assigned to read either the CPA GAD Fact Sheet or CPA Insomnia Fact Sheet. Our goal is to recruit 300 participants. To date, 279 participants have participated. Our findings could provide a greater understanding of the role of implicit theories in worry and GAD, and may also have implications for the treatment of worry.
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    Exploring anxiety-related beliefs in introversion and neuroticism
    (2025) Jans, Syhdnnae; Styba-Nelson, Kevin; Penney, Alexander
    Previous studies have shown that neuroticism and introversion are related to anxiety disorders, as well as the dysfunctional beliefs that underly anxiety disorders. We examined the association between anxiety sensitivity (AS), intolerance of uncertainty (IU), and metacognitions about worry with neuroticism and introversion in two samples. The first sample was recruited online from across Canada (N = 624), while the second sample was university students (N = 1020). In both studies, participants completed online measures of demographic characteristics, the anxiety-related beliefs, and personality traits. Hierarchal multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine which beliefs had unique associations with neuroticism and introversion. Across both samples, when controlling for demographic variables and introversion, both prospective and inhibitory IU, as well as negative metacognitive beliefs about worry, were associated with neuroticism. Further, across both samples, when controlling for demographic variables and neuroticism, AS social concerns and inhibitory IU were associated with introversion. Surprisingly, negative metacognitive beliefs about worry and prospective IU were negatively associated with introversion. Clinical implications and future directions will be discussed.
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    Is generalized anxiety disorder associated with Big 5 traits beyond neuroticsm?
    (2025) Jans, Syhdnnae; Styba-Nelson, Kevin; Penney, Alexander
    Previous studies have established that generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is significantly associated with high neuroticism, and potentially high introversion (low extraversion), but fewer studies have examined the association between GAD and the other aspects of the Big Five. The aim of this study was to compare people low in GAD symptoms versus people high in GAD symptoms on each of the Big Five Inventory-II factors. Participants consisted of 1020 university students, who completed the study online. Participants were first separated into two groups based on whether they were above or below the clinical cut-off score on the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire-IV (GADQ-IV). We also created a separate grouping variable that allowed us to compare participants in the top 16% of GADQ-IV scores against participants in the lowest 16% of GADQ-IV scores. Two sets of independent samples t-tests were conducted on these variables. In both sets of analyses, participants with high GAD symptoms were significantly higher in neuroticism and introversion, and surprisingly lower in agreeableness and conscientiousness. We then conducted a multiple regression to see which of the Big Five variables uniquely predicted GAD symptoms. As expected, neuroticism had the strongest association with GAD symptoms. The only other significant predictor of GAD symptoms was higher conscientiousness scores. The unexpected finding that higher conscientiousness also predicted GAD symptoms suggests that traits typically viewed as productive may play a role in GAD. These include a strong desire for order and responsibility, which may contribute to GAD through mechanisms such as perfectionism.