DOI: 10.5176/2251-1865_CBP45
Authors: Joo-Eun Lee and Kyung-Ja Oh
Abstract: Recent research on worry emphasizes the role of intolerance of uncertainty in the development and maintenance of excessive worry and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. However, few empirical attempts have been made to find out if attentional bias for uncertainty exists in individuals with excessive worry. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether worry is associated with attentional bias for uncertain stimuli over neutral stimuli. The present study showed that there was a high correlation between worry and intolerance of uncertainty and that there was a significant group difference in the attentional orienting bias for uncertainty. However, this group difference became nonsignificant when anxiety was controlled. The finding that individuals with moderate worry showed highest attentional orienting bias for uncertainty suggests that their attentional orientation may be most influenced by anxiety, compared to low or high worry individuals. The present findings suggest that intolerance of uncertainty in excessive worry may not operate at the attentional level or the initial stage of information processing. At which information processing level intolerance of uncertainty operates still remains to be explored.
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