SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF WORRYING - EVIDENCE FOR WORRYING AND ANXIETY AS SEPARATE CONSTRUCTS

This series of three studies investigated some of the characteristics of worrying which are independent of related constructs such as trait anxiety. The results from all three studies suggested that worry and anxiety can be considered as separate constructs, each with their own unique sources of variance. Worrying was associated with adaptive problem-focussed coping strategies and an information-seeking cognitive style. Trait anxiety was independently associated with psychological processes that are normally considered to result in poor psychological outcomes, including (i) poor problem-solving confidence, (ii) poor perceived personal control, (iii) responsibility for negative but not positive outcomes, (iv) the tendency to define events as threats and (v) avoidance or emotion-focused coping strategies. The results also suggested ways in which pathological worrying might be generated, especially where adaptive worrying is thwarted or where processes characteristic of adaptive worrying interact with psychological phenomena associated with high levels of anxiety. © 1991.