Date of Award

1998

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Mary Lou Kelley

Abstract

The overall purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between worry and anxiety in a community sample of adolescents. As no psychometrically sound instruments for measuring parameters of worry in adolescents exist, the first purpose of this study was to devise a reliable and valid measure of worry for this population. The Worry Inventory for Adolescents (WIA) was administered to 606 adolescents between the ages of 11 and 18. Based on the factor analysis, the WIA was divided into twelve factors and yielded two scores, Number of Worries and Worry Severity. The WIA demonstrated good internal consistency, moderate test-retest reliability, and moderate concurrent validity. The second purpose of the study was to examine demographic differences in worry parameters in adolescents. Age, gender, and ethnic differences in number and severity of worries were found. Results are discussed in the context of a developmental model of worry and anxiety. The final purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between worry and anxiety by examining worry parameter differences in a group of high and low anxious adolescents. Overall, high anxious adolescents endorsed significantly more worries and more severe worries across a variety of content areas than low anxious adolescents.

ISBN

9780599213128

Pages

106

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.6858

Download

Share

COinS