Author ORCID Identifier

0000-0001-9287-0270

Date of Award

12-13-2023

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Erin B. Tone

Abstract

High-anxious individuals may be particularly vulnerable to emotion dysregulation and overreliance on maladaptive coping strategies such as worry (e.g., Mennin et al., 2005). The existence of contradictory theories regarding the role of worry in anxious individuals’ emotion regulation raises questions about what beliefs may undergird the use of worry. I collected data via an online survey of college students to examine associations between beliefs about worry and worry behavior, as well as associations among trait anxiety, contrast avoidance, and beliefs about worry. I found that affective beliefs predicted worry behavior over and above more-commonly studied instrumental beliefs. I also found a main effect of contrast avoidance on affective beliefs about worry. The association between trait anxiety and worry was not significant. These findings highlight the importance of affective beliefs and contrast avoidance in developing a more complete conceptualization of beliefs about worry. Implications for treatments and future research are discussed.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.57709/36254417

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