Do gender and age interact with dysfunctional beliefs in generalized anxiety disorder?

Abstract

Negative beliefs about worry, positive beliefs about worry, anxiety sensitivity, and intolerance of uncertainty are dysfunctional beliefs that are associated with the symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The present study explored whether gender and age interact with these beliefs in relation to GAD symptoms and worry severity. Analyses were conducted with a community sample of Canadian adults (N = 624; Mage = 43.20; 50.3% Women, 48.6% Men), as well as a sample of Canadian undergraduate students (N = 1020; Mage = 20.78; 72.0% Women, 24.0% Men). In both samples, it was found that negative beliefs about worry significantly interacted with gender in predicting the symptoms of GAD, with the association being stronger for men. Intolerance of uncertainty also interacted with gender in predicting GAD, such that its effect was stronger for women, but only in the undergraduate sample. In contrast to gender, age did not interact with the dysfunctional beliefs. Further, when worry severity was used as the outcome variable, no interaction effects were found. Past research has found that negative beliefs about worry and intolerance of uncertainty are strongly associated with the symptoms of GAD, and these findings suggest that these associations may be affected by gender. While women are more likely to experience GAD, the present study suggests that high levels of negative beliefs about worry show a stronger association with the symptoms of GAD for men. The findings also suggest that the effect of intolerance of uncertainty on GAD symptoms may be stronger in women. In practice, these findings could indicate that negative beliefs about worry may be of greater concern for male clients, while intolerance of uncertainty may be of greater concern for female clients, and that these effects may be more specific to GAD symptoms, rather than overall worry severity.