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