michael knepp, m.s., chad stephens, b.s. & dr. bruce friedman, phd introduction methodology one...
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Michael Knepp, M.S., Chad Stephens, B.S. & Dr. Bruce Friedman, PhD
INTRODUCTION
METHODOLOGY
•One component for diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is excessive worry on most days for at least a 6 month period with little control associated with that worry (American Psychiatric Press 1994).
•Worry involves a predominance verbal thought whose function appears to be the cognitive avoidance of threat (Borkovec, Ray, & Stober 1998).
•One reason for studying worry is its links with cardiovascular disease: • Men reporting higher levels of social worry had higher risks
for nonfatal and fatal CV disease when compared with men who had lowered worry levels (Kubzansky et al., 1997).
• Evidence of slow blood pressure recovery due to emotional stress and worry during rumination periods (Glynn et al. 2002).
•This study explores which previous life events relate to increased trait worry.
•Primary Hypotheses: • Negative physical health events would be unrelated with trait worry
unless significant mental stress was involved.• Individuals with GAD but not other phobias or anxieties would
have increased trait worry scores.• Tobacco and Alcohol would be used as self-medication and should
negatively relate with trait worry while caffeine would have a positive relationship with trait worry.
RESULTS
CONCLUSIONS
Previous Life Events•No relationship between previous hospitalizations and worry
F(1, 307)=.194, p=.66•No relationship between previous concussions and worry
F(1, 309)=.005, p=.95•Increased trait worry score if an individual has visited a psychological professional (psychologist, psychiatrist, counselor)
F(1, 307)=7.963, p<.01•Increased trait worry score if an individual has been diagnosed with a physiological disorder (e.g. depression, GAD)
F(1, 309)=12.07, p<.01•No interaction effect between previous physical health problems and visiting a psychological professional on trait worry scores
F(1, 307)=1.885, p=.17
Current Health Concerns•No relationship between present physical health problems and worry
F(1, 309)=2.951,p=.09•No relationship between present learning disabilities and worry
F(1,309)=1.122, p=.29•Increased trait worry scores were related to self-reported present mental health issues
F(1,309)=8.753, p<.01
Daily Life Habits•No relationship between tobacco use and worry
F(1, 308)=.291, p=.59•No relationship between alcohol use and worry
F(1, 309)=1.237, p=.27•Curvilinear relationship between caffeine use and worry; As caffeine use increases, trait worry score increases. At highest extreme of caffeine use, trait worry begins to decrease
F(2, 308)=3.450, p<.05
Mind-Body Laboratory, Virginia Tech Psychology Department
Daily Habits, Physical Wellbeing, Mental Health, and the Relationships with Trait Worry
•311 undergraduate females were screened during the Worry and Cardiovascular System Project Recruitment Phase
• Participants completed the Penn State Worry Questionnaire and the Mind-Body Laboratory’s Physical and Mental Health Questionnaire
•Penn State Worry Questionnaire: 16 item validated measure of an individual’s level of trait worry (Meyer et al. 1990)
•Mind-Body Laboratory’s Physical and Mental Health Questionnaire:• Self-report of previous hospitalizations, concussions, psychologist
visits and diagnosis of psychological disorder. • Also included were reports of present physical health issues, learning
disabilities, and anxiety disorder diagnoses. • Daily habits included were daily caffeine, weekly alcohol and tobacco
use.
•The strictly mental components of a negative life event were found to relate with increased trait worry while physical health issues, previous and current, were found to have no impact on worry levels.•Neither alcohol nor tobacco use were found to have a self-medicating effect on worry. Individuals with higher worry scores did, however, drink larger amounts of caffeine per day, the exception being a decrease in worry scores for the highest caffeine consumers.
Presented at the 19th Annual Meeting of the Association for Psychological Science
RESULTSPrevious Negative Health Events and
Trait Worry
46
48
50
52
54
56
58
60
Yes No
Previous Medical Issue
Tra
it W
orr
y S
core
a
Relationship beween Psychological Disorder Diagnosis and Trait Worry
48
50
52
54
56
58
60
62
Yes No
Psychological Disorder
Tra
it W
orr
y S
core
a
Relationship between Present Physical Ailments and Trait Wory
48
50
52
54
56
58
60
Yes No
Present Physical Ailment
Tra
it W
orr
y S
co
re
a
The Relationship between Present Mental Ailments and Trait
Worry
46
48
50
52
54
56
58
60
Yes No
Present Self-Reported Mental Ailment
Tra
it W
orr
y S
co
re
a
Relationship between Self-Reported GAD and Trait Worry
48
5052
54
5658
60
6264
66
Yes No
Self-Reported Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Tra
it W
orr
y S
co
re
a
Relationship between Caffeine Use and Trait Worry
44
46
48
50
52
54
56
58
60
0 1 2 or 3 4 or 5 6 ormore
Caffeine Cups Per Day
Tra
it W
orr
y S
core
a
Relationship between Previous Visits to a Psychological Professional and Trait
Worry
46
48
50
52
54
56
58
60
Yes No
Visit to Psychological Professional
Tra
it W
orr
y S
core
a
Interaction between Hospitalizations and Visits to a Psychologial Professional
46
48
50
52
54
56
58
60
Previous MedicalProblems
No Previous MedicalProblems
Physical Health Issues
Trai
t Wor
ry S
core
a Visited Psychological
Professional
No Visit toPsychologicalProfessional
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