Michael Knepp, M.S., Chad Stephens, B.S. & Dr. Bruce Friedman, PhD

1. Daily Habits, Physical Wellbeing, Mental Health, • and the Relationships with Trait Worry Michael Knepp, M.S., Chad Stephens, B.S. & Dr. Bruce Friedman, PhD INTRODUCTION RESULTS RESULTS • 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. • 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 METHODOLOGY • 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. CONCLUSIONS • 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. Mind-Body Laboratory, Virginia Tech Psychology Department Presented at the 19th Annual Meeting of the Association for Psychological Science