Year

2011

Paper Type

Master's Thesis

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Degree Name

Master of Arts in General Psychology (MAGP)

Department

Psychology

Committee Chairperson

Dr. Brian Fisak

Second Advisor

Dr. Randall Russac

Rights Statement

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Abstract

Although worry is a common source of distress in children and adolescents, relatively few studies have focused on understanding worry in both of these age groups (Cartwright-Hatton, 2006). This area of research is of particular relevance, as understanding worry in youth may have implications for the assessment and treatment of adolescent worry and other anxiety-related difficulties. Consequently, the focuses of this study were to examine the validity and relevance of metacognitive measures of worry in an adolescent sample, to determine the degree to which metacognitive worry is associated with worry in adolescents, and to examine the potential association between adolescent metacognitive worry and intolerance of uncertainty, another cognitive variable hypothesized to be associated with worry, in an adolescent sample. A total of 175 adolescents between the ages of 11-17 were recruited from local middle and high schools to complete a series of self-report measures, which included the following: the Metacognitive Questionnaire for Children, the Meta-Worry Questionnaire, the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale for Children, the Penn State Worry Questionnaire for Children, and the Spence Children‘s Anxiety Scale. The findings of this study suggest that metacognition may play a role in the development and maintenance of excessive worry and related generalized anxiety disorder symptoms in adolescents. Further, current findings provide support for the combined influence of metacognitive beliefs and intolerance of uncertainty in the development and maintenance of worry.

Download

Included in

Psychology Commons

Share

COinS
 

Accessibility Statement

This item was created or digitized before April 24, 2027, or is a reproduction of legacy material created before that date. It is preserved in its original, unmodified state specifically for research, reference, or historical recordkeeping. In accordance with the ADA Title II Final Rule, the Library provides accessible versions of archival materials by request. If you are experiencing difficulty accessing the information on the site due to a disability, please submit a request through the following form for assistance.