Differentiating the roles of intolerance of uncertainty and negative beliefs about worry across emotional disorders
Faculty Advisor
Date
2020
Keywords
anxiety disorders, depression, emotional disorders, intolerance of uncertainty, metacognition, negative beliefs about worry
Abstract (summary)
Background: Researchers have examined intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and negative beliefs about worry
(NBW) in emotional disorders. However, the distinct relationships of IU and NBW remain unclear. We
examined IU and NBW across emotional disorders, controlling for overlapping symptoms. We also
explored prospective and inhibitory IU. Methods: A sample of 565 undergraduates completed measures of
IU and NBW, as well as measures of generalized anxiety, depression, social anxiety, panic, post-traumatic
stress, obsessive-compulsive, and illness anxiety disorder symptoms. Regression analyses were used to
determine which factors were uniquely associated with symptoms of each disorder. Results: Both IU and
NBW were associated with generalized anxiety and social anxiety disorder symptoms. IU was also associated
with obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms and negatively associated with panic disorder symptoms. NBW
was also associated with depression. Neither IU now NBW were associated with post-traumatic stress or
illness anxiety disorders. Prospective and inhibitory IU also had differential associations with the emotional
disorders. Conclusions: Our results indicate that IU and NBW, while transdiagnostic, are differentially
associated with emotional disorder symptoms. Our results also support the discriminant validity of
prospective and inhibitory IU.
Publication Information
Penney, Alexander M., Geoffrey S. Rachor, Kendall A. Deleurme. (2020). Differentiating the roles of intolerance of uncertainty and negative beliefs about worry across emotional disorders. Journal of Experimental Psychopathology 11(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/2043808720970072
Notes
Item Type
Article
Language
English
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC)
