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Browsing Psychology - Student Works by Subject "anxiety disorders"
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Item Examining anxiety sensitivity, metacognitions, and anxiety symptoms(2023) Styba-Nelson, Kevin; Penney, AlexanderGeneralized anxiety disorder (GAD) is defined by chronic, distressing worry regarding multiple areas of a person’s life. One thought pattern that is known to contribute to GAD symptoms is anxiety sensitivity (AS). AS can be thought of as the fear of anxiety and its consequences. Two other thought patterns that contribute to GAD are positive beliefs about worry (PBW) and negative beliefs about worry (NBW). PBW refers to beliefs that worry is a positive tool for things like problem solving. NBW refers to beliefs that worrying is harmful or uncontrollable. While both PBW and NBW are related to GAD, NBW’s relationship is much stronger. In Fall 2022, I conducted a study that examined how PBW and NBW interact with AS to contribute to GAD. Given NBW’s much stronger relationship with GAD than PBW, I predicted that only NBW would interact with AS to contribute to GAD symptoms. Data from 573 student self-reports showed that AS, NBW, and PBW all independently related to GAD without relying on one another. However, these findings may have been affected by an abnormally anxious student sample. Given this, a second running of this study with a non-student sample is planned, which will additionally examine how fears of uncertain future events, as well as tendencies to experience negative emotions, are associated with GAD. While these preliminary findings were unexpected, they provide a valuable foundation for future research, and may be relevant to understanding how different thought patterns can contribute to the same disorder.Item Exploring which anxiety-related disorder symptoms and mechanisms are associated with COVID-19 anxiety(2022) Byam, Layton; Penney, AlexanderIn the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a rise in anxiety has been reported among the population. This rise coincides with the introduction of COVID-19 anxiety, which is the fear and emotional distress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous research has found an association between COVID-19 anxiety and symptoms of health anxiety, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. COVID-19 anxiety has also been associated with mechanisms such as anxiety sensitivity, maladaptive metacognitions, intolerance of uncertainty, and the emotion of disgust. In the current study, self-report questionnaires were used to examine which anxiety-related disorder symptoms, and related mechanisms, were associated with COVID-19 anxiety. A total of 593 MacEwan students completed the study between September 2020 and February 2021. A set of regression analyses examined which anxiety-related disorder symptoms were uniquely associated with COVID-19 anxiety. The two symptoms most associated with COVID-19 anxiety were health anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms. When examining the anxiety-related mechanisms, a second set of regression analyses identified disgust sensitivity and health anxiety-specific intolerance of uncertainty as having the strongest association with COVID-19 anxiety. Based on these findings, clinicians may wish to screen for COVID-19 anxiety in clients experiencing health anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, or panic disorder symptoms. Lastly, clinicians may find it helpful to target the clients' responses to feelings of disgust, and their health anxiety-specific intolerance of uncertainty, when working with clients experiencing high levels of COVID-19 anxiety.Item The relationship between COVID-19 anxiety and anxiety disorder symptoms(2021) Byam, Layton; Penney, AlexanderThe COVID-19 pandemic has increased anxiety amongst the general population. Several scales have been developed to measure COVID-19 anxiety, including the Coronavirus 19 Phobia Scale (CP19-S), the Fear of Coronavirus Scale (FCV-19S) and the COVID Stress Scales (CSS). The present study examined if COVID-19 anxiety was associated with symptoms of specific anxiety-related disorders. A non-clinical university sample (N = 416) completed online measures of health anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms, along with the CP19-S, FCV-19S, and CSS. All three COVID-19 anxiety scales correlated with symptoms of each anxiety-related disorder, rs = .38 – .62. Three multiple regression analyses were conducted. Panic disorder symptoms were a unique predictor of COVID-19 anxiety on the CP19-S, p = .020, and FCV-19S, p = .018. Obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms predicted COVID-19 anxiety on the CP19-S, p < .001, and CSS, p < .001. However, health anxiety was the strongest predictor of COVID-19 anxiety on all three measures, ps < .001. The findings show that health anxiety, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms are particularly relevant to COVID-19 anxiety. Therapists with clients experiencing obsessive-compulsive, panic, or health anxiety symptoms may wish to screen for COVID-19 anxiety.Item Testing an online worry induction procedure(2022) Parkinson, Sydney; Penney, AlexanderIn-person worry induction procedures effectively induce increases in state worry, negative affect, and anxiety. However, the efficacy of conducting a worry induction online has yet to be examined. This study investigated the effectiveness of an online worry induction, as well as the predictors of an individual’s emotional response to the induction. A sample of 268 undergraduates completed online self-report measures of worry, GAD symptoms, state positive affect (PA), state negative affect (NA), and state anxiety. Participants were then prompted to worry for 5 minutes, after which they completed the measures of PA, NA, and anxiety a second time. As expected, the participants experienced an increase in NA and anxiety, as well as a decrease in PA. GAD symptoms and trait worry severity were both found to predict changes in NA and anxiety, but neither predicted changes in PA. Further, the magnitude of the emotional changes was less pronounced than was observed in a previous in-person worry induction. Our findings suggest that an online worry induction can lead to reported increases in overall distress, and appear to reflect trait levels of worry severity and GAD symptoms. However, the intensity of the worry appears to be less pronounced than in-person induction procedures. Potential methods for improving an online worry induction will be discussed.Item Testing an online worry induction procedure(2022) Parkinson, Sydney; Penney, AlexanderIn-person worry induction procedures effectively induce increases in state worry, negative affect, and anxiety. However, the efficacy of conducting a worry induction online has yet to be examined. This study investigated the effectiveness of an online worry induction, as well as the predictors of an individual’s emotional response to the induction. A sample of 268 undergraduates completed online self-report measures of worry, GAD symptoms, state positive affect (PA), state negative affect (NA), and state anxiety. Participants were then prompted to worry for 5 minutes, after which they completed the measures of PA, NA, and anxiety a second time. As expected, the participants experienced an increase in NA and anxiety, as well as a decrease in PA. GAD symptoms and trait worry severity were both found to predict changes in NA and anxiety, but neither predicted changes in PA. Further, the magnitude of the emotional changes was less pronounced than was observed in a previous in-person worry induction. Our findings suggest that an online worry induction can lead to reported increases in overall distress, and appear to reflect trait levels of worry severity and GAD symptoms. However, the intensity of the worry appears to be less pronounced than in-person induction procedures. Potential methods for improving an online worry induction will be discussed.Item Transdiagnostic and unique mechanisms of health anxiety, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder(2022) Byam, Layton; Penney, AlexanderThe present study examined the transdiagnostic and unique mechanisms that may be associated with health anxiety (HA), panic disorder (PD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms. A non-clinical university sample (N = 549) completed measures of HA, PD, and OCD symptoms. Participants also completed measures of anxiety sensitivity, disgust propensity and sensitivity, intolerance of uncertainty, metacognitions related to health, and body vigilance. Each of these mechanisms moderately to strongly correlated with the symptom scales. A multiple regression analysis was conducted for each symptom scale. Anxiety sensitivity was found to be a transdiagnostic predictor of HA, PD, and OCD. The metacognitive belief that thinking positively about one's health will lead to negative outcomes was associated with both PD and OCD. Additionally, body vigilance was associated with both HA and PD. Unique factors associated with HA were HA-specific intolerance of uncertainty and the metacognitive belief that thoughts are uncontrollable. PD was associated with PD-specific intolerance of uncertainty. Lastly, OCD was associated with OCD-specific intolerance of uncertainty, depression-specific intolerance of uncertainty, and disgust sensitivity. The findings demonstrate that while HA, PD, and OCD share transdiagnostic mechanisms, each can be distinguished by disorder-specific mechanisms. Therapists may wish to target both transdiagnostic and disorder-specific mechanisms in their treatment plan when working with clients presenting HA, PD, or OCD symptoms.Item What maintains generalized anxiety disorder? Examining intolerance of uncertainty and negative beliefs about worry(2022) Parkinson, Sydney; Penney, AlexanderIndividuals with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) experience excessive and chronic worry over a variety of daily events. If left untreated, GAD tends to be chronic and cause difficulties in daily functioning. Therefore, understanding the factors that cause and maintain GAD is important to allow for the effective treatment of the disorder. The Metacognitive Model, Intolerance of Uncertainty Model, and Emotional Dysregulation Model each implicate specific mechanisms as the casual and maintaining factor in GAD. Existing research has shown negative beliefs about worry (NBW), intolerance of uncertainty (IU), and fear of emotions to be associated with GAD. However, the existing research is primarily cross-sectional, which does not allow researchers to determine whether these beliefs cause and maintain GAD. The present longitudinal study examined whether NBW, IU, fear of emotions, negative problem orientation, and cognitive avoidance predict worry severity and GAD symptoms at follow-up. Undergraduate psychology students, pre-screened for high levels of worry, completed a series of online self-report measures assessing levels of worry, GAD symptoms, NBW, IU fear of emotions, negative problem orientation, and cognitive avoidance. Participants (N = 372) returned 4-months later to complete the same series of questionnaires. Multiple regression analyses revealed that NBW was the only mechanism to consistently emerge as a predictor of pathological worry and GAD symptoms cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Exploratory analyses revealed that changes in NBW and IU were the only mechanisms to predict changes in GAD at follow-up. These findings have implications for the understanding and treatment of GAD.Item When worriers avoid their thoughts: cognitive avoidance predicts comorbid symptoms(2022) Parkinson, Sydney; Penney, AlexanderPrevious research has shown that generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is associated with several dysfunctional cognitive thinking styles and beliefs. While these different thinking styles and beliefs have been associated with GAD symptoms, they may also play a role in comorbid symptoms. Therefore, this study examined which dysfunctional thinking styles and beliefs common to GAD are associated with a range of emotional disorder symptoms in a group of chronic worriers. Specifically, we examined symptoms of anxiety-related disorders, depression, and bipolar disorder. A sample of undergraduate students, pre-screened for a high degree of worry (N = 565), completed online self-report measures. Questionnaires assessed symptoms of the following disorders: GAD, social anxiety disorder (SAD), panic disorder (PD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), health anxiety (HA), depression, and bipolar disorder. Dysfunctional thinking styles and beliefs measured include: metacognitions, intolerance of uncertainty, cognitive avoidance, negative problem orientation, fear of depression, and fear of anxiety. Although different thinking styles and beliefs were associated with each set of symptoms, regression analyses revealed that cognitive avoidance emerged as the only significant predictor across all symptom categories, with the exception of GAD. Although cognitive avoidance has been primarily explored within the GAD literature, these findings suggest that future research should also examine cognitive avoidance in SAD, PD, PTSD, OCD, HA, depression, and bipolar disorder. Additionally, when treating these disorders, or when working with anxious clients with comorbid disorders, therapists may wish to consider targeting cognitive avoidance, such as through written exposure exercises.